Rest is an undervalued essential component to weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight. When you are over-tired, over-worked, dragging your butt around you're more likely to rely on food to keep you awake and alert. Also, because of your fatigue you're more likely to have less 'will power' to stop from reaching for some convenient, quick, fatty, delicious food item (mmm... sounds delicious!). Also, another way I look at it is "I'm not tempted to eat when I'm asleep" lol.
Hormones:There are a number of physiological processes that happen during sleep that are incredibly important to your over all health. Various hormones are secreted during sleep that help to 'curb' your appetite. Also sleep helps to lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels in your blood. Cortisol is linked with weight gain because high levels of it in your blood will ultimately lower your metabolism and increase the breakdown of protein into glucose... which will then be stored as fat. You can read more about these hormones and weight loss in an article I found online: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/you-snooze-you-lose-weight/
Rest time:
One of the things I have been striving to achieve in the past few years is adequate rest time. Being a shift worker this can be very difficult. My sleep cycles are all over the place usually. Ultimately my goal is to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night. I know 'experts' have always said in the past to get '8 hours' of sleep a night... but I find that hard to achieve on a regular basis. If it's my day off then I can usually sleep anywhere from 7hrs-11hrs (the latter being rare, but if I sleep that long I somehow feel that my body must have 'needed' it. Usually the following night I sleep less, so I think in the end it all evens out.)
I'm also a firm believer in a good, solid nap! Some days I really look forward to my nap time and schedule it in on my 'to do list' for the day. I don't have children either, so I realize that to a lot of my readers this may seem super luxurious... which it is ;) But, the main idea I'm trying to share with you is to value your rest. Make time for it when you can.
Get into the Mood:
Sometimes I find it very hard at the end of the day to 'unwind' and get the 'sleepy feelings' flowing. I've learned over the years that's it's necessary to "prepare myself for sleep". If I need to get to bed early for a day-shift I turn off the T.V. and/or put away my laptop at least a half an hour to an hour before 'lights out' time. I will even go around and dim the lights or turn off some lamps in attempt to "get into the mood" for sleepy time. The computer screen and television are very stimulating to the brain and I'm a firm believer that before sleep your mind needs time to calm itself. It's also essential, in my opinion, to have your bedroom designed for 'rest and sleep'. This means it's a No T.V- No laptop- No cell phone Zone!!! None of those items are conducive to a good nights rest, so get them out! :D
Body Temperature:
I also have the house temperature lowered at night to help with sleep (16-17 degrees Celsius). One of the natural physiological triggers for sleep is a drop in the body's temperature. When I go to bed I try to mimic (or expedite) this temperature drop to give me 'the sleepy vibe'. Sometimes a hot bath before bed helps because the warm water raises your body temperature (and it's also super relaxing) and then when you come out that drop in body temperature happens. I find that after a bath, no matter what time of the day it is, I like to lay down, dry off as God intended, and I will usually end up dozing off pretty quickly.
White Noise:
Another trick I always use is to have a fan running through the night. I have two dogs and a cat scampering around the house making all sorts of sounds at random hours, so I find the low sound of a fan drowns out all of those sounds. It's also come to the point where the very sound of the fan turning on makes me feel a little sleepy.. like a Pavlov experiment lol.
Darkness:
Due to my shift work it's also essential for me to have 'black out' drapes. When I need to rest during the day or have a good nap session I like my bedroom to be pitch black. The presence of light is a natural stimulant to the brain and helps 'wake you up'.. which is all good and dandy if you're trying to revitalize yourself. But when it comes to getting a good night's sleep you need your bedroom to be nice and dark.
Hope these tips are helpful! I'm feeling sleepy all of a sudden ;)
Cheers,
Bootsy
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