Am I Sleeping Well?

Most people will occasionally suffer from bouts of sleeplessness. 

Feelings of irritability, tiredness, and lack of motivation are common after a poor night’s sleep. Thankfully, returning to a pattern of restful sleep will help those symptoms disappear. However, some people may be suffering from chronic sleeplessness, and those same symptoms just seem to become the new “normal”. 

Sleep is vitally important to health. It plays a crucial role the brain and body’s repair and maintenance systems.

If sleep suffers, so does everything else.

Getting checked by a doctor for sleep apnea is an important first step, especially if you’re experiencing excessive daytime sleepiness on a regular basis. For those that do not have sleep apnea, the problem may be poor sleep habits. 

There are plenty of things that we can do (or not do) to help set ourselves up for a good night’s sleep.

 Recommendations:

• Early morning light exposure

• Bedroom should be dark (black-out curtains, no lights from electronics)

• No eating 3 hours before bed

• Ideal room temperature between 63-66 degrees

• No caffeine in the afternoon

• Hot shower/bath before bed

• Keep house lights dim after sunset

 There are also 3 key goals to be working towards regarding good sleep habits.

1. Wake up at the same time every day.

2. Keep the same bedtime every night.

3. Aiming for continuous sleep for 7-9 hours.

How Can I Deal With Stress?

Everyone experiences stress in their lives. 

Short-term stress can come from a tiger chasing you, or an upcoming test. The body’s reaction to these situations would be increased heart rate and muscle tension to run from the tiger, or increased focus and motivation to study for the test. Once you escape the tiger- or take the test- your body’s stress response is over and you can relax. 

Unfortunately, in today’s world our bodies often get stuck in the “I’m constantly running from a tiger” mode. This is known as chronic stress, where your body is caught in fight or flight, day in/day out.

Being chronically stressed can disrupt your immune, digestive, cardiovascular, sleep, and reproduction systems. It can cause headaches, sleeplessness, sadness, anger or irritability. Over time, chronic stress may lead to health consequences such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other illnesses. 

All hope is not lost however, there are plenty of things you can do to reduce the effects of chronic stress.

Examples:  

• Exercise

• Yoga/Tai Chi

• Meditation/Mindfulness

• Being in Nature

• Deep Breathing

• Gratitude Journal

• Enjoying a Hobby

• Spending time with Loved Ones

By engaging in some of these techniques, your body will essentially “hit the brakes” on the stress response and allow relaxation to begin.

Do I Have To Exercise?

IF THE BENEFITS OF EXERCISE COULD BE CONTAINED IN A PILL, IT WOULD BE THE #1 PRESCRIBED MEDICATION IN THE WORLD.

The U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines recommend at least 2.5-5 hours of moderate-intensity, or 1.25-2.5 hours of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise per week. Broken down by day, that equals:

• 30-60 minutes per day, 5 days per week for moderate intensity.

• 15-30 minutes per day, 5 days per week for vigorous intensity.

Muscle strengthening exercise at least twice a week for approx. 15-30 minutes is also recommended. Preferably, time spent on exercise is spread out across multiple days of the week. However, the time spent on an activity can be broken up into chunks (Ex. 10 minutes), rather than one long continuous exercise session.

For intensity levels, at a moderate level you should be able to talk, but not sing. Whereas at a vigorous level, you should not be able to speak in sentences, only yes or no responses would be possible.

BENEFITS INCLUDE:

Reduction of: depression, anxiety, blood pressure, osteoporosis, and some cancers.

Improvement of: cardiovascular health, metabolic health, brain health, insulin sensitivity, “good” cholesterol, and sleep quality.

The most important thing is to find something you enjoy doing!

If you hate it, you will not stick with it. Much like diet, there is no one perfect exercise for everyone. I personally love dance exercise classes, like Jazzercise or Zumba. Other activities could include; walking, hiking, running, biking, swimming, rowing, tennis, soccer, basketball, or anything else that gets you moving! Your body and mind will thank you!

What Should I Eat?

KETO, PALEO, VEGAN, MEDITERRANEAN, LOW-CARB, GLUTEN-FREE, LOW-FAT.

These are just a few of the possible “diets” that are popular right now. Which one is best? Each one of these diets has experts and proponents that will gladly explain why their version is the “best.”

The problem is that each one of these plans can claim people have had amazing success, though they fail to mention that people have also experienced utter defeat. We are all different, our gut bacteria are different, there is no one perfect diet for everyone. But we do have to eat, and there are some guidelines that all these varied diet plans can agree upon.

A recent article in Science magazine brought together several lead researchers from opposing diet philosophies to debate and discuss their differing views. The guidelines that they all agreed upon?

“…no specific fat to carbohydrate ratio is best for everyone, and that an overall high-quality diet that is low in sugar and refined grains will help most people maintain a healthy weight and low chronic disease risk.”

So, what should you eat?

Real food, that you enjoy.

You should be looking at plant-based foods for the majority of your diet, but if you hate kale, find something else that you do like (or learn to prepare it a different way, which can make a huge difference). Real foods are simple, and if it includes an ingredient list, it should be very short, with ingredients that you can recognize and pronounce.

It’s unrealistic to think you will throw out all of your packaged foods and start cooking every meal from scratch.

But consider picking one meal a week that you could devote the time to trying out a new simple recipe. Pick a few vegetables, add a protein source (fish, chicken, eggs, tofu, beans, etc.), and maybe include a whole-grain if you’d like. Once you’ve mastered this first meal, move on to learning how to prepare the next healthy recipe.

Changing eating habits happens one meal at a time!