(excerpt from Sleep Module – Wise & Gorgeous: The Project)
Sleep Yourself Better
It’s all a bit Kevin and Perry
Our bodies are like teenagers…they like things the way they like them.
They throw serious strops if you try to change things…and wow – they’re sneaky.
And HORMONAL
With teenagers, we say hormones are the cause of most behaviours but actually that is true of ALL of us.
We mentioned the effect of the Hormones:
LEPTIN (which is the hormone that tells us ‘oi, you’re full, stop eating’)
and GHRELIN (tells our brain we are hungry in the first place)
And the work that is being done looking at the effect of the Sleep/Weight correlation
Which seems to makes the whole ‘losing weight’ thing harder.
Put simply:
If you want to lose weight you want less Ghrelin, and MORE Leptin
so you don’t get hungry and have an off-switch when you have had enough. These are some important tips to wrap your heads around.
Important to know, right?
We know what you’re asking..
WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THIS BEFORE?
We know…anyway
3 Steps to Better Sleep
1. Note your thoughts
You can use a piece of paper, notebook, diary or whatever you prefer,
The idea is that you take any worries or things to remember,
or top 3 tasks for tomorrow
and jot them down
This action can enable you to, let go more easily – as you don’t have that background ‘buzz’ of upcoming events.
This is incredibly effective, and literally gets things ‘off your mind’.
2. Get up at the same time every day
- Your bedroom needs to be dark and cool
When our ancestors saw the sunset – it increased the melatonin in their brains, that made them drowsy.
Still applies
- You fancy a lie in?
Go to bed earlier the night before.
With sleep, as with all the things we do in The Project is a matter of training your body to expect things to happen.
Natural Circadian (sleep) rhythms in adults CAN be adjusted, to better work for you.
- Light is a big factor – (the reason we sent you the eye mask)
- Cutting out light (curtains closed – even blackout blinds if you need it)
especially in the Summer…
Can REALLY help your body produce the right internal conditions for sleep. You need 7-8 hours.Count back from when you need to get up…THATS bedtime. No negotiation. A bedtime alarm is as important as a waking alarm.
- Your bedroom needs to be dark and cool
When our ancestors saw the sunset – it increased the melatonin in their brains, that made them drowsy.
Still applies
Bedroom is for 2 things
Sleep and … as Frank Skinner calls them ‘The Physicals’ 😉
Make sure you finish any of that business early enough in order to get enough sleep.
(You don’t want to rush that…done right it’s great exercise 😉 )
- No caffeine 4 hours before bedtime
- No BOOZE before bedtime.
ALSO
- Try Calcium and Magnesium supplements
(if you get restless legs that keep you awake)
- Set an alarm for BEDTIME as well as waking up
- Have some lavender on your pillow – calming and soothing
See if you can commit to changing just ONE bad sleep habit this week
Sleep Well,
xx
n.b. the 5:2 and other calorie restricted diets in peoples attempts to lose weight can backfire by lowering leptin levels and raising ghrelin, which to you means a boost in your appetite