If you’re thinking about a healthier start to the new year, then make sleep your new year’s resolution. Scientists and doctors agree that it’s one of the keys to good mental and physical health. If you’re wanting to lose weight it can also help with that too.
The post-Christmas sleep hangover
Many of us have fallen into bad habits over Christmas and New Year. We’re not just talking about eating and drinking too much. Socialising and binging on holiday TV means we stay up later and have a nice lie in. While we all need a rest, changing our sleeping patterns by a few hours has the same effect as jet lag. This results in tiredness, poor concentration and motivation, and disrupted eating habits. This is because you’ve disrupted your own internal clock – your circadian rhythm.
If this sounds like you then you need to read our blog on The Good Sleep Habit. With a great, and free, downloadable bedtime routine we’re here to help get your body back in synch.
Does getting good sleep help you lose weight?
Yes, according to the scientists. So if having a trimmer figure is one of your resolutions, ensure you are sleeping well. Research suggests that there is a positive link between good sleep and healthy body weight. One of the reasons involves how our body transmits the message that it’s hungry. Some studies suggest that lack of sleep increases your appetite, and that it also makes you crave foods that are higher in calories and carbohydrates. Other studies indicate that sleep disorders impact your metabolism, the rate at which you burn calories, and can lead to weight gain. Less sleep might also simply mean that you’re awake and able to consume more food. If you can’t get to sleep late at night, or are waking in the early hours, you might turn to comfort food.
Finally, some research also indicates that if you are on a diet, insufficient sleep can restrict the diet’s effectiveness to lose fat. Having an unhealthy lifestyle, staying up late, being inactive and eating lots of comfort food means poor sleep and diet go hand in hand. But there’s clear evidence to suggest that if you sleep well and keep to a regular bedtime routine it can help battle the bulge and prevent obesity.
Download: Get The Good Sleep Habit
How do good sleep habits make you healthier?
Apart from your weight, getting good sleep has plenty of other health benefits. It keeps your immune system active for one thing, which we all need during a pandemic. During sleep your body repairs itself and produces what it needs to keep healthy. Poor sleep is also linked to an increased likelihood of getting dementia. A Harvard Medical School study found that getting less than five hours’ sleep at night made you twice as likely to develop dementia. While another study in Europe concluded that less than six hours sleep gave you a 30% increase in dementia risk. Other studies also suggest it increases the risk of diabetes and heart problems.
Sleep and its impact on motivation and mental health
The post-Christmas winter months are tough enough at the best of times, without the added stress and restrictions from Covid. Many people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder due to the lack of sunlight, which in turn disrupts sleep. Ensuring you have a regular bedtime routine and adequate sleep will help you with your mental and physical state. A recent John Hopkins study found healthy men and women whose sleep was interrupted throughout the night had a 31% reduction in positive moods the next day.
There’s no doubt that depression and insomnia go hand in hand. But it’s not clear which one comes first. What the doctors do recommend is that you should treat both symptoms if you want to be well. There’s no point trying to treat your depression if you continue to have poor sleep.
Practical ways to make sleep your new year resolution
If you do the same thing every day for 30 days, then it soon becomes a habit. You can download our bedtime routine now to help you improve your sleep in 2022.
Bedtime routine top tips include:
- Sticking to the same bedtime hours
- Getting ready for the next day the night before to reduce stress
- Switching off tech an hour before bedtime
- Having a warm milky drink – especially if it’s got natural sleep enhancing herbs like Sleep Well milk
- Write a journal to calm your mind
- Make your room as dark as possible.
We also have a downloadable 30 tips for getting ready for bed. Download it today for the best chance to make sleep your new year resolution.
All the Sleep Well team wish you a good, healthy sleeping 2022