That’s right. I’m going there.
Admittedly, I didn’t think we’d be on this topic so soon. 🥵
I want to know if you’re getting enough…
Sleep. Because of course, if we’re going to talk about health then I’m going to have to talk about sleep! 😴
Sleep is as essential to your health as being active and eating well.
It’s one of the single most important activities we can do everyday to reset the health of our brain and body.
It impacts both our physical and mental development. But despite this, research suggests that more than 1/3 of adults get fewer than 7 hours of sleep each night (the minimum suggestion to keep your risk of increased health problems in check).
Sleep is divided into two types - Non Rapid Eye Movement Sleep (NREM) and Rapid Eye Movement Sleep (REM).
NREM (memory consolidation, immune system recharge) and REM (dream time, emotional processing) fight for dominance in 90 minute cycles throughout the night with NREM cycles typically dominating the first half of the night and REM the second. So waking up earlier then planned might not have a massive effect on overall sleep duration but you could be cutting out a big chunk of REM.
Poor sleep can effect memory, cognition, weight loss (Leptin the fullness signal hormone goes down in number and Gremlin the hunger signal hormone goes up), adds stress to the body which effects physical performance and impairs the regulation of our emotions.
So how can you improve sleep?
Aim for 7-9 hours nightly, create a regular sleep routine with the same wake up and bed time, keep your room cool, try and reduce caffeine in the afternoon/evening, minimise device and bright light use up to an hour before bed and if you can’t sleep after 25 mins, go do something else and return to bed once tired so your brain associates your bed with sleep.
Let me know your sleep tips (you can keep the real pillow talk to yourself! 😳)
Big love, Meg 💛✨