Why is a good night’s sleep so important? Because without it, you’re fuzzy in your decision making, you don’t perform well, feel tired, and usually start to exhibit dark circles under your eyes. Sleep deprivation can cause you to eat more calories and cause your body to retain more fat.
Sleeping is an important and complex process, it helps to understand how it works. Here’s what happens when you sleep. During sleep, you are unconscious, but your brain and body are very much awake and alive. Your brain is busy going through two different kinds of sleep: REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM sleep.
The first cycle, non-REM sleep is between being awake and falling asleep. Next is light sleep, when your heart rate and breathing adjust and your body temperature lowers. As you cycle into REM sleep, your eyes move about quickly behind closed eyelids, and your brain waves are like those when you’re awake. Breathing rate increases and your body becomes temporarily paralyzed as we dream. The cycle repeats, but as it does, you spend less time in the deeper sleep stages three and four and more in REM sleep. You will cycle through four or five times during a typical night’s sleep.
1. You don't make sleep a priority. Research has shown that those who are sleep-deprived tend to eat hundreds of calories more, not just because they are awake longer, but because sleep affects levels of hunger-regulating hormones. If you're constantly saving sleep for the weekends or always surviving on too little sleep, you could be causing your body to crave more food than it needs.
2. You never get quality sleep. Even if you hit the hay at a reasonable time, if you're constantly waking up at night, it could cause your body to hold onto more belly fat, since you're more likely to feel stressed and anxious when you don't have quality sleep. Help ensure you fall asleep and stay asleep by creating a comfortable bedroom environment, turning off electronics at least 20 minutes before you go to sleep, and avoiding alcohol.
3. Losing sleep makes you hungrier. Scientists from Penn State university have not only confirmed what many people already know—that losing sleep makes you hungrier—but they've put a number on it: For every hour of sleep you miss, you eat about 200 extra calories the next day. (These Sleep Mistakes Cause Weight Gain too.)
IIt was previously thought that REM sleep was the important sleep cycle, but recent findings show that non-REM sleep is more important feeling rested and restored.
Because sleep is an intricate biological process, it affects how we look, feel, and perform. Healthy sleep helps you process new information, stay healthy, and feel restored, rested, and rejuvenated. That is, if you get a truly good night’s rest.
4. Instead of working out, you hit the snooze button. If mornings are the only time you have to fit in your workout, you won't make going to the gym a habit if you constantly choose the snooze instead. If you find yourself swept up in mindless TV and Facebook time before bed, cut out the distractions so you can be sure you go to bed early enough to feel ready for a 6 a.m. sweat session.
Exercise is important and doing it on a regular basis is even better, but don’t exercise too late in the day. Stretching, deep breathing, and certain yoga positions can contribute to a good night sleep. (more on this in our next blog). If you want to wind down after a tough day, do something relaxing like taking a bath, reading or listening to mellow music.
5. And if you find yourself tossing around and can’t sleep, don't lie in bed awake. If 20 minutes goes by and you’re still awake, get up and do something relaxing. Try a warm cup of tea or glass of lemon water. Chamomile tea. This herbal tea lacks the caffeine found in traditional teas, and it has a calming effect on the body. Also, a warm liquid before bed can make you sleepy by raising body heat.
Or you could put on your sleep mask along with some relaxing, ambient music.
Sleeping in a dark environment is one of the easiest and most effective things you can do to sleep better. Island Slumbers luxury 3D sleep mask provides velvety darkness for a blissful slumber. The key is the 3D design, this soft and luxurious mask rests on the face around the eye area, it does not touch the eye directly providing maximum eye coverage.
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It is fully adjustable creating a personalized fit with 100% blackout. The thin memory foam layer is soft and light.
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The hollow eye contours prevent pressure on your eyes which encourages the 4 stages of sleep, the type of sleep that makes you feel well rested and ready to take on the day.
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Our luxurious 3D sleep mask is a natural sleep aid.
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Perfect for resting, naps, work recharge, meditation, and traveling.
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May also help with insomnia, headaches, post-surgery pain, tiredness from hours at the computer, and dry eye sufferers.
What about your pillow? Are you sleeping with a bamboo memory foam pillow? If not, you should try it. You can rest easier and, also reduce back and neck pain. You can even adjust the softness and firmness that you want. Go ahead, try one for 90 days, risk free, and see for yourself. A good night’s rest is the goal. Not just every now and then, but every night. Feel better than ever and enjoy life more when you sleep well.
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