Get Those Zzz’s Ladies … I’m Not Kidding!
I stumbled upon some great research by Uppsala University researcher, Jonathan Cedernaes, MD, PhD, that was shared in my Experience L!fe magazine. It shares the affects sleep deprivation has on your metabolism. EEK – I know … the one thing we women fight so hard to keep while we watch men lift a pinky and burn what took me like a month in the gym.
The summary of the research basically shares that sleep loss alters the gene in muscle and fat cells, which these particular genes are highly important to regulating our metabolism. To make matters worse, these particular genes also “regulate the activity of 5 to 10 percent of all other genes in most of the issues throughout our bodies. The clocks of these biological genes have to run in sync with each other, because various [muscle and fat] tissues are responsible for carrying out different functions in our bodies, and these functions work in concert with each other”, per Dr. Cedernaes.
So … let’s just keep piling it on because what the research ALSO found was losing as little as one hour of a night’s rest also affected glucose tolerance levels, an important factor in type 2 diabetes; “After one night of sleep loss by even healthy individuals displayed glucose values that in the long term would confer an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes”.
In speaking for myself, I feel like sleep is never on my new year’s resolutions … daily to-do list … or weekly priority. But, I have been able to change some habits that have given me a better chance for optimal sleep:
- Stop The Technology … after 9:00 p.m. Go ahead, you can say it out loud – “coming from you, Bridge, this is a contradiction to your existence”. But, seriously, I have found when I stop playing on technology (and that even includes not watching my Netflix) past 9:00 p.m. the sleep I get is more sound, and I actually do wake up feeling like I actually got sleep!
- Take Yourself To THAT Place. What I mean by this is take note of a moment in life, a picture you adore, or even a cherished memory that always puts you in a calm, surreal mood. Mine is on the beach in Maui. It was the morning we were flying back home and I asked my husband to take me just one more time to Lahana. I found myself with an empty beach, before the morning crowd made its way, and the water was in perfect, slow wave movement. I stood there just smelling in the air … watching the stillness of the water on the horizon, yet hearing the break of the small wave before it hit my feet. G (my husband) happened to take a picture of me and every time I look at that photo, or remember that moment, I am instantly calmed. I started using that as my equivalent of counting sheep – and it works! What is yours?
- Water + Honey. Anyone who knows me knows I am not a big drinker – at all! I am sure G saved A LOT of money when taking me out to fancy dinners, or even to the clubs (in our younger days) because one drink is all this gal needs to last hours … I am not even exaggerating! But, believe it or not, I have recently found a warm water with honey at night is quite soothing to the soul. Just put some water in a coffee mug, pop that in the microwave for 80 seconds, drizzle some honey in there … and voila!
Oh … and incase you’re asking yourself how many hours we SHOULD be getting in order not to jeopardize the metabolism we’re trying to hard to keep: 8+ hours per night. So … get your Zzz’s 🙂
