As a momma of 2, I know too well how hard it can be to get some real sleep at night (Sleep? What’s that?!)

Some “Real Talk” For You

Let’s have a real talk. Regardless of age, gender, race, religion… We are all living in uncertain times. Stress seems to be the common denominator in everyone’s life.

So when the time to catch some Zzz’s comes, I can understand if you too are having a hard time falling asleep or even staying asleep.

For me, since I had my first child, insomnia has been a real issue. Staying asleep or having any luck achieving deep sleep is a daily struggle.

Since having my second child, I had to add more “symptoms” to my discovery. Well, postpartum depression is a real thing…

Losing weight is 100 times harder now than after my first child…

… getting sick more often than I was used to was also a surprise.

All these things started happening to me and then I noticed that the worse my sleep got, the more aggravated the other issues would get so I decided to do some digging.

What I Discovered

Here are some things I found out and what you need to know:

• Sleep helps boost your immune system. It helps the body heal from infection and inflammation, so if you feel like you are always catching a cold or getting whatever is being passed around, you might want to check if you are sleeping enough
  Sleep can improve your mood – This one is a big one. Ever feel like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed or that maybe everyone is just…annoying? Yup! You guessed right… not enough sleep
• Sleep can improve your memory: It gives the brain a chance to repair, rewire and reorganize. This is particularly useful if you are in school. Sometimes it is super tempting to pull an all-nighter and just cram before an exam. I urge you to reconsider. Get some sleep. You’ll realize that you will remember a lot more if you get some rest
• Sleep can help improve your exercise performance: This one, as a Fitness Professional, is a very important one. Sleep helps muscle recovery and also helps improves coordination, gives you faster reaction , more energy and improve your endurance
• Sleep can help you prevent weight gain: If you are not getting enough rest, your body will produce ghrelin which will boost your appetite. But that is not all! It will also not produce enough of the hormone that tells you that you are full causing you to overeat!

4 PRO Tips For Getting More Sleep

These are just a few key points of the importance of sleep. Once I started reading into it, it all made sense.

So here are some tips for you that are helping me and hope they can help you too:

• STOP BINGING BEFORE BED! I can’t stress this enough. There are a handful of shows that I love and I got into the habit of eating dinner and then head to the couch for an hour (or three) of TV watching. I realized that by the time I went to bed, it would take me an hour to unwind from all the action of the show. And just as I would fall asleep the baby would cry so there would go my chance for a restful night. So do yourself a favor and have no screen time at least 1 hr before bedtime
• STOP GOING TO BED AT MIDNIGHT. You are not giving yourself enough time to rest. We all have an internal clock preprogrammed to start recovering. This process starts at around midnight…if you are in bed. The earlier you go to bed, the more time you will be giving your body to do its thing
• Do not SNACK before bed. Eating is an activity that excites the body. So don’t overstimulate yourself. Unwind instead
• Do not exercise too late. As a Fitness Professional I’ll probably want you to get in your workout at some point during the day but before going to bed is not a good time. Same as with food…your body will be ready for action after a workout making it harder for you to go to sleep

Closing Thoughts

So, you see? Our bodies can really work miracles. We just have to be nice to it and it will take care of us.

I hope these tips can help you at least get started on a healthy bedtime routine and with time, a healthier sleep.

As always, much love to all of you <3

Coach Fatima

Sources

“The Sleep Routines That Strengthen Your Immune System.” UC Health, UC Health, 15 Apr. 2020, www.uchealth.com/en/media-room/covid-19/better-sleep-habits-to-strengthen-immunity#:%7E:text=When%20we%20sleep%2C%20our%20bodies,disease%20such%20as%20COVID%2D19.

“The Benefits of Getting a Full Night’s Sleep.” SCL Health, www.sclhealth.org/blog/2018/09/the-benefits-of-getting-a-full-night-sleep. Accessed 25 Feb. 2022.

Myers, David, and Nathan DeWall. Loose-Leaf Version for Exploring Psychology in Modules. Twelfth, Worth, 2021.