The Importance of Getting Enough Good Quality Sleep
THE POWER OF SLEEP
When it comes to looking after your health and trying to lose weight, one of the most important things to consider is getting enough sleep each night. While most of us focus on trying to achieve seven to eight hours of sleep a day, the overall quality of our sleep also needs to be considered. Today we’re going to look at the health benefits of sleep and how fat loss and sleep work hand in hand to achieve your dream body.
The Health Benefits of Sleep
Here at Prana Fitness GT in Gulf Shores, we know that many of our clients focus on their diet and exercise when looking to lose weight or improve their fitness. However, learning about sleep to lose weight is something we highly recommend considering. Let’s take a look at a few of the health benefits of sleep, which will hopefully inspire you to get into a good sleep routine moving forward.
Healthy Weight
When it comes to the health benefits of sleep, one of the most important reasons to get quality sleep is to maintain or lose weight. Even if you are exercising regularly, poor quality sleep can stop you from reaching your weight loss goals. One of the main reasons to get more sleep to lose weight is to ensure you make good food choices. You are far more likely to pick high carb food choices and over caffeinate with coffee or energy drinks if you are tired and need the energy to get through the day. These two things combined raise insulin and stress hormone levels leading to weight gain. Fat loss and sleep are closely linked, so if that’s one of your current fitness goals, make sure you set enough time aside for sleep each night.
Get Sick Less Often
When training at Prana Fitness GT, the last thing you want to do is miss a session because you are unwell. Unfortunately, when we don’t get enough sleep each night, our bodies soon become run down and exhausted. In time, you’ll find that you get sick more often, and your immune system weakens. Especially with the challenges of the past two years, we all need to do everything we can to keep ourselves feeling at our best with good quality sleep.
Reduce Your Risk of Serious Health Problems
While many of the health benefits of sleep deal with short-term health concerns, you’ll want to think about the long-term benefits of getting good-quality sleep. Getting enough sleep will help to lower your risk of serious health problems, including diabetes and heart disease. If you are looking to live a long and healthy life, this is just one of many ways to make this more of a possibility.
Improve Your Mental Health
Although we often pay attention to the physical health benefits of sleep, you’ll also find that more sleep will help to improve your mood and reduce your stress levels. If you suffer from anxiety or negative thinking, this may just be a result of over-tiredness. When you have enough sleep, you’ll be far more likely to enter the new day with a positive mindset, ready to tackle your training session at Prana Fitness GT.
Improved Decision-Making Skills
Every aspect of your life can benefit from improved decision-making skills. If you often find yourself getting into petty arguments at work or home, it might be due to a lack of sleep. When we don’t get enough sleep, we are often unable to react quickly and make good decisions.
What Happens If I Don’t Get Enough Sleep?
By improving your sleep this year, you’ll find that you experience all of the benefits we listed above. However, if you still find yourself getting poor-quality sleep each night, expect some of the issues below to appear in your life over time.
Daytime Sleepiness
We all want to be able to perform our best throughout the day. Whether you’re working, at home, or training at Prana Fitness GT, a good night’s sleep will ensure you don’t feel drowsy during any of these activities. Most of us can’t afford to take a couple of hours out of our afternoon for a nap, so focus on improving your quality of sleep at night.
Poor Memory
While there are other reasons you might be experiencing poor memory, a lack of sleep can impact your ability to remember key pieces of information. Depending on the type of job you do, this could be incredibly detrimental to your performance or put other people’s lives at risk. Getting more sleep will ensure you are more alert and ready to tackle anything that the day has in store for you.
Your Quality of Life Decreases
All of these areas listed above contribute to your overall quality of life. When you don’t get enough sleep, your relationships, work, and family life will all start to suffer. While most of us can get away with a day or two of poor sleep, endless nights of minimal sleep will soon take their effect on your body and mind.
Depression, negative attitude, irritability, weight gain, foggy mind, acne, weakened immunity, low sex drive, and thoughts of suicide can all be caused by chronic sleep deprivation. Getting regular good quality sleep can be the cure for all of these problems.
Start Getting More Good Quality Sleep Today
The good news is that it’s never too late to start improving your sleep and enjoying the health benefits of sleep we shared above. Our top tip for anyone struggling to fall asleep at night is to cultivate a good nighttime routine. Try to avoid going on technology late at night or drinking or eating anything that might keep you awake. Working out regularly at Prana Gulf Shores will help improve your sleep, physical activity is known to improve sleep quality. Make sure your bedroom is set up so you can switch off and relax. Remove things from your room that distract you from getting to sleep. Your bedroom is your sleep sanctuary.
Simple Rules To Follow To Get Better Sleep
- No caffeine after 3 pm
- No sugar or other high glycemic foods after 3 pm
- Plan your dinner time so you eat 2-3 hours before bedtime
- Do not watch TV after dinner. The light from the screen tells our brain to stay awake.
- Do not work on your computer after dinner. A busy mind can not rest and the light from the screen will keep your brain working past exhaustion.
- Stay off social media after dinner. Emotional stress keeps us awake along with the bright screen.
- Reading a book or listening to an audiobook is a great way to unwind from the day that has a relaxing effect on the mind and body.
- Create a habitual evening routine that calms your body and mind.
- Go to bed at the same time every night, including the weekends.
- If you sleep next to a snorer help them fix the problem. Kindly recommend seeking medical help if needed. Snoring is a serious problem because it keeps both of you from getting good quality sleep night after night.
As you can see, there’s a strong relationship between getting enough sleep to lose weight, feel great, work productively, think positively, and feel motivated to conquer life.
We hope that you can apply the tips we shared above to enjoy the benefits of a good night’s sleep and start enjoying your training at Prana Fitness GT more than ever before.
The Coaches at Prana are always happy to help and answer any questions you may have about any Prana blog posts.