CFT, FT, CLFC, FNC

              According to the many medical studies conducted, lack of sleep could be a contributor for weight gain and/or lack of weight loss even when eating healthy and exercising.  Who knew!  Now that we have come to be a 24 hour, 7-days a week nation, with growing technology, working many hours just to provide for your family, stress of the high cost of living, no wonder we are not getting adequate sleep!  Stress, over-time, running, running, running yourself ragged?  Let us discover together, what we can do to decrease stress, and get an adequate night of restful sleep. 

  Cortisol, which has been a new topic in the popular diet books, is very true, according to the medical studies, which may cause weight gain.  Although, there is no evidence of the amount of cortisol produced in the body by a healthy individual who exercises regularly and eats healthy to cause significant weight gain due to stress.  But, if you are under constant stress for a prolonged period of time, such as, years, this may lead to what is described as Cushing’s Syndrome, which is a medical condition of your adrenal glands making too much cortisol.  A blood test can check the level of your cortisol.  (Check with your doctor always).  Other studies have been conducted to show the effects of restful sleep and lack of sleep.  To make a long story short, sleep is a very important aspect of weight loss along with exercise and healthy choices of food. 

  Stress, we all have it to a certain level, some more than other, so how do we reduce it?  Let us write down exactly what causes our stress.  Is it work?  Keeping up with your children(s) activities?  Split your paper into two columns, one for what causes your stress, and one for ideas of how we can reduce the stress.  Keeping a stress journal will be very helpful for identifying exactly how much stress we endure in a day, week, or even a month.  Try to rate your stress level from 1 – 5, one being not-intense, five being intense.  Also, try to improve your time management skills by indentifying your goals, setting priorities, and minimizing stress.  Create realistic expectations and deadlines for yourself, set the pace, and have regular progress reviews.  Throw away unimportant papers on your desk and prepare a master list of tasks and throughout the day scan that master list and complete tasks by priority.  This will help minimize the demands or expectations that some of us may put on ourselves.  For especially important tasks or projects, set a reserved time each day, (until the task or project is due), of uninterrupted time to complete.

  Another very important issue that also causes intense stress, burn-out.  My clientele notices that I do take “vacations”, this is to prevent burn-out, to re-energize, de-stress; catch up with family time, and to keep up on my education.  This helps me re-focus on my job, of helping people.  Any job that you have, it is good to reduce stress by trying the following:

• Take care of yourself. Eat regular, balanced meals, including breakfast. Get adequate sleep and exercise.

   

• Develop friendships at work and outside the workplace. Sharing unsettling feelings with people you trust is the first step toward resolving them. Minimize activities with "negative" friends who only reinforce bad feelings.

   

• Take time off. Take a vacation or a long weekend. During the workday, take short breaks.

   

• Set limits. When necessary, learn to say no in a friendly but firm manner.

   

• Choose battles wisely. Don't rush to argue every time someone disagrees with you. Keep a cool head, and save your argument for things that really matter. Better yet, try not to argue at all.

   

• Have an outlet. Read, enjoy a hobby, exercise or get involved in some other activity that is relaxing and gets your mind off work.

   

• Seek help. If none of these things relieves your feelings of stress or burnout, ask a health care professional for advice.

   

• Alcohol reduces overall quality of sleep. Many people think that an alcoholic drink before bed will help them sleep. While it may make you fall asleep faster, alcohol reduces your sleep quality, waking you up later in the night. To avoid this effect, stay away from alcohol in the last few hours before bed.

   

• Caffeine. You might be surprised to know that caffeine can cause sleep problems up to ten to twelve hours after drinking it! If you rely on coffee, tea or caffeinated soda to keep you going during the day, consider eliminating caffeine after lunch or cutting back your overall intake.

   

• Smoking. Smoking causes sleep troubles in numerous ways. Nicotine is a stimulant, which disrupts sleep. Additionally, smokers actually experience nicotine withdrawal as the night progresses, making it hard to sleep.

   

• Is your bed large enough? Do you have enough room to stretch and turn comfortably in bed, or are you cramped? Having a bedmate makes this even more important- both of you should have plenty of room to stretch out. Consider getting a larger bed if you don’t have enough space.

   

• Your mattress, pillows and bedding. Waking up with a cramp in your back or a sore neck? You may want to experiment with different levels of mattress firmness and pillows that provide more support. If your mattress is too hard, you can add a foam topper for additional softness. Experiment with different types of pillows – feather, synthetic, and special pillows for side, back or stomach sleepers. Consider your bedding—scratchy sheets might be making you uncomfortable in the middle of the night, or your comforter might not be keeping you warm enough. Consider soft, breathable cotton sheets. Flannel sheets may be cozy for the winter months.

   

• Keep the noise level down. Too much noise- loud outside conversations, televisions blaring, traffic noise - can make it difficult to sleep well. When the source of outside noise can’t be eliminated, sometimes it can be masked. A fan or white noise machine can help block outside noise. Some people enjoy recordings of soothing sounds such as waves, waterfalls or rain. Earplugs may also help, although you want to make sure they don’t block out important noises like an alarm clock if you use one.

   

• Keep your room dark during sleep hours. Early morning light can send your body clock the wrong signal that it is time to wake up. Or perhaps there is a streetlamp shining right in your window at night.  Heavy shades can help block light from windows, or you can try an eye mask to cover your eyes.

   

• Room temperature and ventilation. Who can sleep in a hot stuffy room? Or for that matter, a cold drafty one? If you can, experiment with the room temperature. Most people sleep best in a slightly cooler room.  Make sure that you have adequate ventilation as well - a fan can help keep the air moving. You also might want to check your windows and doors to make sure that drafts are not interfering with sleep.

   

• Reserve your bed for sleeping. Do you sometimes balance your checkbook propped up on your pillows? Or jot down some notes for tomorrow’s meeting? It might feel relaxing to do tasks like these on a comfortable bed. However, if you associate your bed with events like work or errands, it will only make it harder to wind down at night.  Use your bed only for sleep and sex.

   

• Take the TV out of the bedroom - The optimum setup for better sleep is to have your bedroom reserved for sleeping. So if you watch TV in bed, even if you don’t fall asleep watching it, you are unconsciously associating another activity with the area you use to sleep. It’s best to remove the TV from the bedroom entirely, saving your viewing for the living room or den.

   

• Trouble falling asleep without the TV - You may be so used to falling asleep with the TV that you have trouble without it. Be patient. It takes time to develop new habits. If you miss the noise, try turning on soft music or a fan. If your favorite show is on late at night, record it for viewing earlier in the day. Although the first few days might be difficult, better sleep pays off in the long run.

   

• Like tea?  Try Celestial Sleepytime tea.  I have found this to be one of the best for myself and un-winding for the night.  You can find Celestial Sleepytime Tea at the local grocery store, or even Walmart.  It is best to consume 1 to 2 hours before you lay down. 

   

• Set a designated time for sleep.  Starting a designated time for sleep will help your body relax for a restful night sleep.  Waking and sleeping at the same time everyday will help prevent any sleep disorders, or disturbances.