Mindfully Written

Amber Erickson: Denver Content Marketing Strategist & Freelance Health and Lifestyle Writer

Trouble Sleeping?: The Key to Better Sleep

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sleeping rhinos - better sleepGetting good sleep is necessary for a happy, healthy life. Yeah, it’s that important, but many of us just don’t sleep that well. We wake feeling tired, struggle through the day and then lie awake at night. Luckily, there are some things you can do to get better sleep.

Why Sleep Matters

During sleep, your body is able to rest and repair. This rest and repair doesn’t happen during waking hours, so it’s vital to have quality, uninterrupted sleep to allow your body to work its magic.  Outside of resting and repairing, during sleep you are also consolidating memories and releasing hormones. These hormones regulate everything from appetite to growth. Getting too little sleep leads to fatigue, mental cloudiness, prolonged illness, compromised immune system and an inability to heal and regenerate cells properly. Falling into REM sleep (about every 90 minutes during sleep) your brain is the focus. This is when dreams occur and the brain is being recharged for the next days’ activities. If you aren’t sleeping soundly and getting into this stage, you will wake feeling exhausted and unable to focus. This makes productivity and creativity really challenging.

For adults, 7-9 hours per night is the commonly accepted rate. There is evidence that less than 7 or more than 9 hours per night is detrimental to health, so aiming for this range is best.

How to Get Better Sleep

So how can you get better sleep? Some people have sleep disorders and may need to talk to their doctor or sleep specialists for possible treatment methods. For those of us who have busy minds and or just don’t allow ourselves to sleep enough, here is a list of solutions to help you get more restful sleep that promotes health and longevity.

1. Create a perfect sleeping environment. Keeping your bedroom cool enough will help promote sleep. Also, the key is dark and quiet. Consider noise and light reducing shades for your windows if you live in well-lit or noisy areas (cities). Earplugs can help as well. Finally, keep the room clean and tidy, decorate in a way that makes you feel happy and comfortable. Remove excess stuff, especially from the nightstand. Use your bedroom only for pre- and post-sleeping activities like sex, sleeping and dressing.

2. Avoid stimulants after noon, especially caffeine and nicotine. Similarly, avoid alcohol because while it might make you feel sleepy, it disrupts the sleep cycle.

3. Don’t eat too late (or too early). You don’t want to go to sleep too full or too hungry. Ideally you’d still be satiated, but not at the hungry stage when you crawl into bed. If on occasion you can’t help but eat late, keep it light.

4. Exercise and move your body. Movement, sweating and ridding yourself of excess energy can help you feel tired and fall asleep. Avoid late-day exercise, especially stimulating varieties, but it can be nice to end the day with very slow, restorative types of movement, like yoga. Yoga and/or mediation are great to promote sleep because you can learn to calm yourself, calm your mind and relax your body, all necessary to falling asleep and staying asleep. With consistent practice, it’s possible your body would need less sleep because during meditation your body and mind are able to rest much like during sleep.

5. Get outside. You may remember being a kid and playing outside all day and then just collapsing at night. Blame it on the fresh air, but getting outside, getting out of your chair and being active is a great way to get tired. Wearing yourself out (within reason) is a good thing for sleep quality.

6. Develop a consistent schedule. Attempt to go to bed and get up at roughly the same time everyday, including (and perhaps especially) on the weekends. You may be tempted to sleep in, but establishing a routine is better for your quality of sleep in the long run. Sticking with a schedule will teach your body to start getting tired at a certain time and to wake up at a certain time, without an alarm.

7. Create a pre-sleep routine that prepares yourself for restful slumber. Avoid electronics, which mess with the brain’s ability to tell if it’s tired. Pick a time every night when you start to wind down. At that time, shut off the t.v., put away the phones and tablets, do not work or do stimulating activities, but instead, do calming, enjoyable activities like taking a bath, reading, listening to calm music, meditating, journaling or doing restorative or gentle yoga poses. Keep lights low or use only candlelight and make the activity meaningful to you. Before bed is a great time for spiritual practices, which are often calm and peaceful activities. Taking the time to set the tone for sleep can help you feel relaxed and tired by the time you crawl into bed.

8. Reduce stress. Again, yoga and meditation can help. Often poor sleep comes because you can’t turn your mind off or you’re stressed or worried about something. Yoga and meditation can help you calm your mind and more appropriately control your emotions. Other ways to reduce stress include setting priorities, delegating tasks, simplifying your life and taking a break from your biggest stressors. one way to work through stressors and get them out of your head before bed is journaling. Sometimes just giving them your attention for a few minutes, including potential action plans or to-do’s to reduce the stressor could help clear your mind before bed.

With these suggestions you should be sleeping like a baby in no time. What else helps you fall asleep? Share your experiences in the comments.

{Photo Credit: Diane Yuri}

The Scary Truth About Sugar

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picture of homemade cookiesSugar. Our favorite treat comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, from sodas and ice cream to cakes, cookies and candies. We all know the common sources of sugar. We know when we’re eating sugar…or do we?

The problem with sugar is that nowadays, it’s in everything. And if you’re not careful, your sugar intake will be sky-high, leaving you wondering why you can’t shed those last few pounds (despite plentiful exercise) or your doctor is warning you of pre-diabetes. But I don’t eat that much sugar, you say. The amount of sugar you’re actually ingesting could come as a shock. Let’s break it down.

First of all, what’s the risk, right? Sugar, often known for it’s ability to create cavities and obesity, is more than that. It’s a substance that creates inflammation and inflammation creates problems all over the body, from stomach aches to heart attacks. Sugar isn’t just a yummy food additive, it’s addictive, toxic and downright bad for us. Eating sugar is just like anything else, you get to choose how you want to live your life. But, if you’re concerned about health and wellness, exercise regularly and aim to live the healthiest life you can, ditch the sugar. All of it.

What is Sugar?

For our purposes, we’re talking about added sugars, not the stuff found in fruit and other natural sources. We’re talking about the stuff found on ingredient lists under the guise of sugar, cane sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), evaporated cane juice, fructose, maltose, malt syrup, honey, molasses and fruit juice concentrate. We’re mostly talking about refined sugars, which means they are processed.

Where Sugar Hides

Sugar hides in some of the strangest places – in foods that have no need for sugar in them. If you’re wanting to minimize or eliminate sugar from your diet, be prepared to spend some time in the store, reading labels and looking for better alternatives.

This article was the motivation for this blog because I believe most people don’t think to look for sugar in all these places. One of my biggest pet peeves is pasta sauce. I shop at a co-op, a tiny co-op at that, so all real estate is prime and usually, only one or two options exist. However, there are six or so pasta sauces, all of them with sugar in them. How frustrating is this?

If you don’t want to read the article, the eight sources of refined sugar are:

  1. Barbeque sauce
  2. Nutrition bars
  3. Tomato sauce
  4. Flavored yogurt
  5. Fruit juice
  6. Grown-up breakfast cereal
  7. Vitamin drinks
  8. Muffins

Any surprising items on that list?

The tricky part here is that you might think these kinds of refined, added sugars only come in unhealthy foods, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Just because it says organic or natural doesn’t mean it’s healthy. The general rule is anytime something is processed, it could have some sugar added to it. And just because it’s organic doesn’t mean it’s good for you.

Better Alternatives to Refined Sugars

Cutting down on sugar comes two-fold. You could either focus your attention on the things we know are loaded with sugar (desserts, drinks, etc.) or focus your attention on the hidden culprits (processed or canned foods, carbohydrates, etc.). Ideally, let’s do both! But let’s be realistic, sugar is addictive and cutting it from your diet is not going to be easy. Choose the route that is easiest for you to stick to. Spend some time with that transition and slowly try to cut back on other sources of sugar. Any little bit will help your body (and mind) function better and who knows, you could see dramatic changes.

If you love sweet stuff and loathe the idea of cutting out refined sugars from your diet, especially sodas and pastries, look for alternatives.  The internet is a great resource for finding recipes. Love banana bread? Find a version without sugar. You will learn to love the subtle sweetness of the fruit and other natural ingredients. Honey, molasses, coconut sugar, stevia and fruit are amazing sweeteners, with some practice and the right recipes, you can learn to live without sugar. That’s not to say we all don’t fall of the wagon from time to time, but getting off sugar is hard and it is a process.

The benefits of getting off sugar are potentially bigger than I’m going to get into, but from personal experience, I can say going sugar-free for two weeks left me feeling lighter (I lost 5+ pounds), slimmer and more energetic. I didn’t have the mid-afternoon crash and after just a few days, I didn’t have many cravings.

It’s less about food restriction and more about taking control of your health. It’s not about being extreme, it’s about making choices about what you put into your body. It’s about breaking old habits and mindless patterns and choosing to nurture your body – your health.

Have you tried reducing sugar? How’d it go? Or are you thinking about trying but need some help? Post your thoughts, experiences and concerns in the comments.

{Photo: jazzijava}