Fitness Coaching

This week I talked about some simple yet unknown strategies to help you lose weight.

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This week I talk about how to get better sleep by following my 3 step process, I then interview success coach Gary Haseldine on what it takes to have a winning attitude.

Enjoy!

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Sleep

Isn’t it nice when we get a good nights sleep. Sleep is a time when we ‘disengage’ from our environment. It’s our chance to have some time out and hit the off switch. During sleep your brain rests allowing your body to recover from the daily grind of our world.
Sleep is a really important part of the daily cycle and although we tend to skimp on it in order to get more done, we really need to invest more time to promote good quality sleep.

For people that are lacking good quality sleep I find there are 3 key areas we need to work on. They are:

1. Preparation stage

This is the 12-hour period leading up to sleep. Often neglected but what you do during the day impacts on how well you sleep that night. My tips are:

• Wake up at the same time every day. Your body clock will thank you for getting up in the same rhythm as it makes it easer for you to become tired that night.
• Movement. This means do some physical exercise during the day. Exercise not only makes you feel more energetic but also helps you unwind at the end of a busy day.
• Sunlight. 20 – 30mins of sunlight not only enhances your mood but also your sleep hormone. Ever wondered why you sleep so well after a day in the sun?

2. Warm up stage

This is the 2 hours before you need to go to sleep. This period is critical for you to unwind, relax and calm your stress levels down. My tips are:

• Turn all mobiles, computers and anything work related off! The rule is no work 2 hours before bedtime. Working up until bedtime will make it so much harder for you to fall asleep making you unproductive the following day.
• Dim the lights. This doesn’t mean you have to sit it a room with nothing but a candle shinning but it does mean turn most of the lights off. Having to much light on at night can trick your senses into thinking its mid-day and will make it very hard for you to fall asleep.
• Have a bath. Studies show that when you fall asleep your core body temperature drops half a degree. The same happens after you have a warm bath. This drop in core body temperature means that you start feeling fatigued.
• Have a glass of milk. Grandma was right. A warm milk before bed time actually does put us to sleep. Milk raises the sleep hormone melatonin.

3. Lye down stage

This period can cause the most problems but can also be Easley rectified. My tips are:

• Close the blinds. Keep your room as dark as you can, so keep out as much light as you can. Many people find they have difficulties sleeping on a full moon because of the extra light so make sure your room is dark.
• Don’t clock watch. Avoid watching the clock all night. This is one of the major reasons why people suffer to sleep during the night. Place a hanky over the clock, remove it or face it the other way. In other words do what it takes to stop yourself of watching the clock.
• Can’t sleep? Get up! Don’t lie there and dwell on the fact you haven’t fallen asleep. If you haven’t drifted off after 20-30 mins get up and do a light activity. This light stimulation will help you become tired again.

What not to do

Getting to sleep can be a delicate process. Some iron-clad types fall asleep the minute their head hits the pillow, even after they have downed a couple of espressos. But for most of us who do need to calm down before bed, try and avoid the following:

• Eating to close to bedtime – Try and allow a few hours before going to bed.
• Strenuous exercise before going to bed – keep it 3 to 4 hours before going to bed
• Watching T.V in bed
• Drinking coffee in the later afternoon or early evening

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