Simple sleep tips are going to go a long way for your health and your sleep. Making small, tiny changes in your lifestyle and behavior is what Flourish Everyday Coaching is all about. We help you take these sleep tips, apply them to your life, stay consistent and hold you accountable. Why simple, small, and tiny? You need your health for the long run and making small changes will help you adjust and sustain these habits for the long haul. Getting a good night’s sleep depends on these tiny, but very important tips. Let’s jump right in!
What you do during the day matters for how you will sleep at night.
1. What you eat and drink.
The nutrition you put into your body all day long will affect your sleep at night(especially the meals closer to bedtime). Our bodies need support from the food we eat to be able to function properly, give us energy, and recover overnight. Believe it or not the human body is working hard while we sleep, repairing all of our functions and brain. Research has shown that the brain is more active during REM sleep than when we are awake. Pretty incredible!
What causes problems?
- Overeating
- Undereating
- Eating too much sugar and processed foods
- Not eating balanced macros
- Not getting enough vitamins and nutrients.
- Drinking too much caffeine, sugar or alcohol
What should you eat or drink?
- No one is saying to never eat processed foods, just try to make your plate balanced with fruits, veggies, and proteins. Avoid caffeine after 12pm.
- Avoid caffeine after 12pm. Caffeine can stay in the body for up to 12 hours after drinking it.
- Alcohol might make you feel sleepy but it plays a really bad role in quality sleep. Alcohol is a sedative but will keep your body from reaching Deep and REM sleep for long. You might sleep a long duration but be disrupted often and wake up feeling groggy and exhausted. If you do want to have a drink, have it earlier in the day so your body has some time to metabolize it before bed.
Drink a lot of water, seltzer is also ok. Avoid sugary drinks, and follow the guidelines above with your caffeinated beverage of choice. Fill your plate will mostly nutrient dense food grown outside. Avoid sugary, processed foods close to bedtime. Read more about a healthy lifestyle here.
2. Move your body.
When we don’t move our body, how does this affect our sleep? Nature.com says through research that 50 to 70 million adults have a sleep disorder in the USA. Their studies proved that a sedentary lifestyle produced poor quality sleep and low to high activity level promoted better sleep.In an article by Valley Sleep Center, 30 minutes of exercise each day has been proven to help you fall asleep quicker, stay asleep and get better quality sleep, it also alleviates stress(which will also help you sleep better). Here’s the kicker though..the BUT. While moving for 30 minutes a day is great, if you sit at a desk and don’t move for the next 8 hours there is a problem. Even though you did a 30 minute workout, not moving will basically cancel that out.
How do we get rid of this problem?
Since 80% of American jobs require sitting at a desk, the average person in America sits for 6.5 hours each day. You see where that 30 minutes of exercise gets canceled out? Here is what you can do!
- Plan your 30+ minute workout. Morning is best because this will send all sorts of endorphins through your body and give you incredible energy.
- Get up and move every hour. Don’t go telling me you don’t have time. This can literally be standing up and sitting back down. Walk to the bathroom, get a drink of water, do a loop around your office if you have time.
- Plan a short walk at lunch and at dinner.
- Get outside if possible, walk 5-10 minutes at lunch and after dinner. This is going to boost your energy, reset your nervous system, soak up some vitamin D and spread movement throughout the day to support the body to good quality rest.
Friends, make time for this. It will not only help your sleep but benefit your whole entire body. The human body is meant to be upright and moving. This will support every single function from mental health to digestion. If you need guidance finding time or establishing this routine contact me here.
3. Technology
This one is actually so simple. Limit technology an hour before bed(this includes emails and notifications). Winding down by watching TV or scrolling the internet is actually super stimulating for the brain. You might fall asleep doing either of these things but your brain is still going like crazy. This will produce very poor quality sleep, and is most likely the culprit if you are sleeping 8 hours but waking up exhausted.
- Start by turning off all technology 30 minutes before bed.
- Find something you like to do that doesn’t require a screen and is calm and relaxing.
- Build a new routine without technology close to bedtime. This one takes time but you will see a huge difference in your sleep. Feng Shui specialist Patricia Lohan says “there should be absolutely no technology in the bedroom for optimal rest and connection with your partner.”. No TV, no phones on the bedside table, nada.(this also goes for children)
Take these tips and start small. Remember you want to create habits that you can continue to do for a very long time. No quick fixes, you have to put in the work and continue to do that. The good news is habits once they are formed you won’t even think about it and just go through the motions, just like brushing your teeth. Want to learn more about quality sleep? Check out this blog! If you have no idea where to start, schedule a free 30-minute call today!
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