Tips to help you get to bed earlier.
I have been so interested in the benefits of sleep and I know for some people it’s that time after you put the kids to bed it’s your time, or your friends are very social and you don’t want to miss out on social events, but sometimes we just get in a rut and find ourselves just searching through the internet or on social media for no real reason.
When you can – when you haven’t got a social engagement on you really need to understand the importance of sleep and why your body needs it.
When you sleep all the magic happens, your cells grow, your muscles repair, your brain cells shrink and you release toxins within your brain, you relax and your recover. With your body repairing your immune system also repairs and all the inflammation can settle providing you get adequate sleep as many nights as possible.
As I have mentioned before our skins has senses and made to sense light, in the prehistoric days when man was made, we lived in caves where there was no artificial light, when it was dark we slept and when it was daylight we were hunting – our cortisol was up and we needed to fight for food. Now when we stay up at night under artificial light our skin senses it, requires carbs (energy fuel) to be able to run and fight. Yes we eat the carbs at night after dinner but we are not out hunting and fighting to burn this fuel off. – Hello obesity and cancer.
At nights try to turn down the lights – keep intensity low, turn off your devices, save electricity, start to unwind – having a himalayan salt lamp is perfect to switch on, or burn candles and burn some lavender oil. Lavender essential oils are proven to release your oxytocin hormone which calms and relaxes you.
Keep your bedroom as dark as you can, keep you laptop’s charging in a different room and try to go back to a manual alarm.
If you are sick or overweight and you start going to bed earlier, you stop eating those unnecessary carbs, you stop having that extra wine or beer, you decrease the amount you smoke, you will start losing weight and you will start to get healthier. Your body will be so pleased it is actually recovering and repairing.
Along with getting to bed earlier – to improve your health please consider the following:
Eat protein at every meal – remember no protein, no neurotransmitters or immune function.
Consume fats – needed for cellular function – no fats, no hormones – can cause cancer.
Eliminate processed foods – it’s full of sugar, will keep your neurotransmitters flared up and inflamed.
Stay away from ‘low-fat’ – it’s got more sugar than full cream, and lots of additives
Carbohydrates should be your vegetables and fruits, eat what’s in season – fresh is best.
Keep up clean water intake – don’t drink out of plastic bottles if you can, make sure it is filtered.
So many people focus on getting into the gym, or go for a run – hey I’m all for that, but sleep is just as important in the whole health perspective.
I understand all this information can be overwhelming, but the best thing to keep in mind is to balance out work, rest and exercise.
Yours in health
Kerrie
