The Importance of Sleep
Research confirms that 1 out of every 3 randomly selected adults gets less than 6 hours of sleep. (1)
If that many adults aren’t getting enough sleep - can it be that big of a deal?
Interestingly enough, 1 out of 3 adults are also overweight.
I know that it’s not as simple as just “getting more sleep.” But this just shows you how important it is to address and correct sleeping problems.
Sleep has been proven time and time again in scientific studies that it impacts your body composition in a large way. As you learned previously, body composition is all about increasing or preserving muscle and decreasing fat. Not getting adequate sleep will hinder both of these processes negatively.
70% of the growth hormone, a hormone that is largely responsible for muscle development, is released during Stage 3 sleep or “deep” sleep. Many people who don’t get adequate sleep are drastically reducing the amount of time spent in deep sleep.
Testosterone is also affected by sleep, with studies to prove that testosterone dropped 10% in males that got around 5 hours of sleep. (2)
Lack of sleep also drives cortisol levels up the following day significantly - about 40%. Cortisol is the “stress hormone” that if chronic, can lead to loss of muscle mass, and increase in fat storage.
Bad sleep habits can also derail your diet. Have you ever felt more cravings the day after not getting enough sleep? That is because lack of sleep drives ghrelin levels up and decreases your leptin. Increases in ghrelin causes an increase in hunger cues, and decreases in leptin decrease your satiety - or your ability to feel full. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) found that sleep deprivation caused people to consume, on average, 220 more calories in a day. (3)
To put icing on the cake - sleep also reduces your energy expenditure. So not only will you be consuming more calories, you will be burning less calories in a day. The AJCN also studied that energy expenditure was reduced by 20% the day after insufficient sleep (4). NEAT specifically was drastically reduced. (5)
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or N.E.A.T stands for Non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or in other words calories you burn from moving around doing your typical daily tasks - ie. not exercise. Examples of NEAT would be cooking, washing your car, or even shopping. It has been proven to be one of the best tools to reduce fat loss - even more so than planned exercise. Sleep promotes more of this movement throughout the day, allowing you to be more active on a consistent basis. Which adds up significantly over time.
Learning better sleeping habits will take time and practice. And it cannot be corrected without addressing all the other negative habits in your life - because they have a compounding effect on each other.
So getting to the bottom of the issue is really like unraveling an onion. Each layer is another negative habit that is contributing to the symptom we want to remove.
Here are some of the things I still practice today to help with my sleep. All of these combined drastically helped me overcome my insomnia.
I will also include a few habits that I know maintain that prevent me from ever getting to that point again. Note that it wasn’t until I did all of the items on this list TOGETHER that I saw results, and improved my sleep.
And let me tell you - the effort is worth it. Life is so much easier on the other side. Things get clearer, problems are solvable. Your body works with you, not against you.
I encourage you to work your way through the suggestions below if you have chronic anxiety or insomnia.
Meditate
This is a long-term habit that has drastically improved my well-being in general. Any time I get anxiety due to my current life circumstances, meditation brings me back to the present. It has allowed me to remain calm in the chaos, and remember that everything is temporary.
That being said, this will not solve your sleeping problems today. It takes consistently practicing this daily over a long time to see the impacts it has on improving your life.
Try the Headspace app linked here.
Melatonin
Melatonin is something your body naturally produces when it’s time to sleep. It’s your body’s signal to “shut the lights off” if you will.
When your body is overly excited, taking melatonin 30 minutes before bed helps gently remind it that it’s time to shut it down. I don’t recommend taking any more than 5mg, however, because this can make you extremely drowsy the following day.
Try this sleep supplement created by Layne Norton, PhD. Containing 3mg of melatonin, L-theanine, and saffron,
CBD
CBD will give you the most immediate results. I remember how surprised I was when I tried it for the first time, and got a full night of sleep with no side effects. How was what the doctor prescribed NOT working, but this stuff worked like a charm?!
It is completely safe to take , and you will not wake up groggy. I consumed it as a gummy at first (initially it only worked for me by ingesting it as food - the reason for this I am unaware of) about 20 minutes before going to sleep.
The effect is pure relaxation. Instead of your mind continuing to spin “What-if” scenarios in your head, it gently quiets down, and you drift off to sleep.
Try this award winning CBD mixture from Nanocraft that includes melatonin Linked here.
Ear Plugs & Eye Masks
At first I was also concerned with how I looked at night. I want to be the hot wife, how can I wear earplugs to bed?
I now wear these religiously - especially when I am sleeping with my partner. If he happens to snore, guess what? I still get a full night of sleep and look amazing in the morning because of it.
I really like the 3M ear plugs, and find that they cancel noise the most effectively. I also recommend a silk eye mask.
Magnesium
Magnesium deficiency is pretty common, especially since the main natural sources are leafy greens and nuts - which our diet doesn’t always contain a lot of. A magnesium deficiency can actually have the same effect on the body as stress. Ensuring you get ample magnesium, however, can help your body to relax.
Known for its relaxation effects, magnesium citrate can relax your muscles and reduce cramping from working out. This is great for weightlifters, especially if you are working out at night. Taking magnesium before bed will loosen up those active muscles.
Taking magnesium is also shown to improve the quality of your sleep, reduce your stress levels, improve your blood pressure, and relax the muscles in your digestive tract.
You can get ample magnesium through your diet, but I find that supplementing before bed has given me the best effect on my sleep since you can time it accordingly.
It is recommended to get 300-600mg of magnesium daily. I stick with 300mg supplements. The best supplement I found on the market isn’t pure magnesium, but it’s the Puori Organic Magnesium Zinc Supplement (linked here).
