We all know what a good night sleep feels like. We say it all the time.. “I really need to get a good nights sleep”, because the known effects are simple and very evident. We feel more restored mentally, emotionally and physically.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been focusing our content on 5 lifestyle factors – Food Quality, Stress, Water Consumption, Exercise and movement. The final factor is sleep, and sleep is the most critical component to improving all of your other lifestyle factors. So how can lack of sleep affect your ability to maintain healthy habits?
Let’s paint a picture of the last time you did not get adequate sleep.
You may have woken up feeling really sluggish and made your way to Starbucks or Tim Hortons for a sugar filled drink to help take the edge off and kick start your day. Your lack of energy kept you from making your own healthy lunch and instead you opted to order in or eat out. Throughout the day for a pick-me-up you probably go for caffeine over water. By the time your day winds down, you have zero desire or energy to do a workout or go for a run. Your body has been under this “lack of sleep stress” all day, and is producing high levels of cortisol (which is known to cause cravings for things like sugar and comfort food) which leads to a bag of chips to satisfy your craving.
Fixing or limiting the domino effect from lack of sleep could be the key to maintaining consistency of healthy habits in the other lifestyle factors. On the flip side, if quantity and quality of sleep continues to be a problem this type of daily schedule will become your normal habits.
So how can you consistently gain more restful sleep?
- Start by making it a priority. Just like your morning coffee.
- Identify any clear roadblocks you have in falling asleep? Do you eat late? Do you bring your phone to bed? Is Netflix a real problem?
- Create a wind-down routine – Stretching, breath work, reading,
- Monitor your sleep to measure improvement – use any number of apps or invest in tech like a Whoop.
Improving your sleep doesn’t have to be complicated. However the benefits of consistent sleep will significantly improve all other lifestyle factors.
Need help with your lifestyle factors? Contact us today. We will assess your current habits, address your challenges and create a plan to help change behaviours and achieve your goals! Email karolina@416fitnessclub.com
