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How Many Times Have You Glazed At The Veiling Hoping YOU May Get Lucky and Fall Right to Sleep?
I know the feeling. You come home after a hard day's work, barely making it into the bathroom to wash-up. Only to find out that when you lay down, you suddenly are unable to fall asleep; you stare at the back of your eyelids for hours on end. Suddenly you doze off for a few minutes or hours, only to hear (bzzzzzz bzzzzzzz bzzzzzz) alarm clock is telling you WAKE UP. Wake up? You just fell asleep!
Most of us feel sleep deprived. In fact, in a recent "Sleep in America" poll by the National Sleep Foundation, almost 2/3rds of Americans say they don't sleep well at least three nights a week. Half of all adults can't get up without an alarm and on average, we're getting less than 7 hours of sleep per night.
If you have trouble falling or staying asleep, or you wake up feeling unrefreshed, you may be suffering from insomnia. Insomnia is a symptom. It may be caused by stress, anxiety, depression, disease, pain, medications, sleep disorders or poor sleep habits. Your sleep environment and health habits may also play a role in your sleep problems.
One study concluded that on average Americans are getting over an hour less sleep than decades before. This is frightening news. Or is it the news that's doing it? I use to make tons of sleep mistakes.
One major mistake that I would make is staying up late watching the news or TV. I found there to be several other consistent mistakes that most people, including my self makes.
If you didn't get enough sleep one night, why not go to bed early the next night. This will make up for the sleep that was lost on the prior night. WRONG studies show that your body needs consistency much more than "make up sleep".
I was thinking but why didn't I get a good night sleep the night before? The more I researched the matter I found there to be some other factors involved.
Many of times my I wake up (several times) to my girlfriend yelling at me "wake up lazy, it's past noon". Our body has signals and radars of when its time to sleep. If I am consistently sleeping late, than my body will consistently go to bed late.
Speaking of going to bed late; how about all those late night weekend parties or nights outs with the boys. This to will propel your body to stay up late during the week.
Sit back and think about this for a second every single mistake that I listed above is all intertwined with each other. Jesus Christ said "If you follow the whole law, but break one part of the law, you have broken the whole law." The moral behind this quote is simply, it takes one bad apple to spoil a bunch of apples.
As long as you allow yourself to break one of the mistakes listed above, you will most likely suffer from insomnia or sleep deprivation.
10 Healthy Sleep Tips
1. Maintain a regular bed and wake time schedule including weekends.
2. Establish a regular, relaxing bedtime routine such as soaking in a hot bath or hot tub and then reading a book or listening to soothing music. A relaxing, routine activity right before bedtime conducted away from bright lights helps separate your sleep time from activities that can cause excitement, stress or anxiety which can make it more difficult to fall asleep, get sound and deep sleep or remain asleep.
3. Create a sleep-conducive environment that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool. Design your sleep environment to establish the conditions you need for sleep - cool, quiet, dark, comfortable and free of interruptions. Also make your bedroom reflective of the value you place on sleep. Check your room for noise or other distractions, including a bed partner's sleep disruptions such as snoring, light, and a dry or hot environment. Consider using blackout curtains, eye shades, ear plugs, "white noise," humidifiers, fans and other devices.
4. Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillows.
5. Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex. It is best to take work materials, computers and televisions out of the sleeping environment. Use your bed only for sleep and sex to strengthen the association between bed and sleep.
6. Finish eating at least 2-3 hours before your regular bedtime.
7. Exercise regularly. It is best to complete your workout at least a few hours before bedtime. In general, exercising regularly makes it easier to fall asleep and contributes to sounder sleep. However, exercising sporadically or right before going to bed will make falling asleep more difficult.
8. Avoid caffeine (e.g. coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate) close to bedtime. It can keep you awake. Caffeine is a stimulant, which means it can produce an alerting effect. Caffeine products, such as coffee, tea, colas and chocolate, remain in the body on average from 3 to 5 hours, but they can affect some people up to 12 hours later. Avoiding caffeine within 6-8 hours of going to bed can help improve sleep quality.
9. Avoid nicotine (e.g. cigarettes, tobacco products). Used close to bedtime, it can lead to poor sleep. Nicotine is also a stimulant. Smoking before bed makes it more difficult to fall asleep. When smokers go to sleep, they experience withdrawal symptoms from nicotine, which also cause sleep problems. Nicotine can cause difficulty falling asleep, problems waking in the morning, and may also cause nightmares. Difficulty sleeping is just one more reason to quit smoking.
10. Avoid alcohol close to bedtime. Although many people think of alcohol as a sedative, it actually disrupts sleep, causing nighttime awakenings. Consuming alcohol leads to a night of less restful sleep.
For a more detailed look into sleeping tips and disorders visit www.sleepfoundation.org
Matt Shuebrook, CPT www.MyPhiladelphiaFitnessExpert.com & www.Burn-More-Fat.com
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