Sleep Your Way To Better Fitness

Can you really sleep your way to better fitness?

While a healthy diet and regular exercise are key to fitness success, you also need to get enough sleep to fuel your weight loss routine.

A lack of sleep causes impaired concentration, mimics the symptoms of impaired glucose intolerance which even leads to hypertension and diabetes. Your weight loss efforts are negatively effected when you lose sleep due to lack of energy to properly handle body processes.

Consider these ways to get enough sleep every night for improved overall fitness:

• Make your bedroom an oasis where you do nothing but sleep. Eliminate the phone, television, computer and bills to make way for low lighting, soft bedding and calm music.
• Don't eat heavy foods two to three hours before going to bed.
• Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcoholic beverages for at least three hours before bedtime.
• Minimize stress with a warm bath or meditation to calm down before bed.
• If you have ongoing trouble getting to sleep, visit your doctor to find out why.

Improve your body fitness with a good night's sleep every night.

Exercise Your Way To Better Sleep

According to the National Sleep Foundation, the average American sleeps only 6.9 hours every night, with a third getting less sleep than that.

The good news is that a simple regimen of regular exercise can help you to sleep better...and you'll enjoy improved overall fitness at the same time.

Half the adults in America sleep less so they can work or play more. However, without the required 7 to 8 hours sleep, people are becoming sleep deprived and unable to enjoy these activities.

Also, sleep-deprived people have higher sugar concentrations in their blood that could contribute to pre-diabetes and a lack of deep sleep inhibits your body's ability to fight disease.

For most people, working out regularly reduces insomnia and improves sleep quality by producing smoother transitions between the cycles of sleep.

Getting moderate exercise for 20 to 30 minutes 3 to 4 times weekly will give you better sleep and increased energy. You will be able to fall asleep and stay asleep more easily and remain in the deep sleep phase for a longer period of time for maximum benefit.

Additional benefits of regular exercise and sleep include reduced stress, ease of muscular tension, sharper brain power and increased production of endorphins, the substance that gives you a feeling of well-being.

Having an ongoing exercise routine will help you sleep better and feel better everyday.

Stop Late Night Snacking for Better Health

While it can be tempting to snack on goodies at night, you are adding extra calories to your daily diet while risking indigestion and sleep problems that can cause you to eat more than before.

Snacking before you sleep makes it more difficult to get to sleep and sleep deprivation makes you feel hungry, creating a vicious cycle.

In fact, when you don't get enough sleep the hormone ghrelin is produced which results in drastically increased hunger.

To stop this cycle of negative activity, you need to stop eating before bed.

Consider these ways to cut your cravings for better sleep and improved health:

• take a relaxing bath instead of snacking at night;
• often people snack to keep their hands busy so find an alternative;
• read a magazine or book about fitness;
• try relaxing fitness routines that involve tai chi or yoga;
• make sure you eat 3 meals daily and 1-2 snacks so you don't have the desire to binge before bed;
• drink water in the evening to feel full;
• have a regular bedtime schedule, even on the weekend, so your body knows what to expect;
• avoid alcohol, nicotine and caffeine before sleep time.

By making a few simple lifestyle changes, you can enjoy better sleep, increased fitness and improved overall health.

Five Ways to Get Better Sleep For Total Fitness

An essential part of your total fitness routine is getting enough sleep. While we sleep, our bodies rejuvenate cells and replenish essential energy.

Without at least six to eight hours of shut-eye every night, you are depriving your body of essential rest that can inhibit your efforts to lose weight, cause depression, impair concentration, impair glucose tolerance and just make you feel generally tired and irritable.

Consider these five ways to get better sleep and boost your fitness efforts:

1. use your bedroom for sleeping and avoid watching television, paying bills or other activities in this room so the environment is relaxing and invites rest;
2. regardless of your hectic schedule, develop a sleep routine so your body knows when to settle down for bed;
3. avoid spicy snacks, heavy food, caffeine, alcohol and nicotine before bedtime and choose herbal tea and a light snack such as toast instead;
4. minimize stress in your life and meditate or take a hot bath before bed to unwind; and
5. enjoy a 20 minute nap during the day when your energy levels drop but avoid long naps that could interfere with sleeping through the night.

By taking control of your sleep patterns, you will be healthier, have more energy and enjoy a greater level of fitness.

Benefits of Sleep for Weight Loss

Recent research conducted by the University of Michigan revealed that when children get more sleep, it may lower their risk of becoming obese. The November issue of the Pediatrics journal features the story about this study.

The benefits of sleep...

The bottom line is that researchers discovered that every additional hour of sleep that a 3rd grader enjoys will reduce the child's chance of becoming obese by the 6th grade by a significant 40 percent.

According to Dr. Julie Lumeng, leader of the University of Michigan research, no matter what the child's weight was in the 3rd grade, the less sleep they got the more likely they would be obese by the 6th grade. Children in the 3rd grade should get at least 9 hours and 45 minutes of sleep or more every night.

Endocrinologist Eve Van Cauter of the University of Chicago found that a lack of sleep plays havoc with the two hormones that are the "yin and yang of appetite regulation". VanCaulter found that sleep-deprived adults produce more ghrelin, the hormone that promotes hunger, and less leptin, which is the hormone that let you know you are full.

Clearly following the old-fashioned rules of a healthy diet and plenty of sleep should start when we are children and we should continue these positive behavior patterns through adulthood for maximum weight control.