Remember to Get a Good Night's Sleep

If you’re like most of us who actually care about being fit and healthy, you try to eat right and exercise, but there’s one thing you might be overlooking: A good night’s sleep. Sometimes this even happens to us as a result of trying to get ourselves in better shape, which is kind of silly. In order to be truly healthy, we need to find a way to eat right and exercise, but also leave enough time to get a decent amount of sleep.

Each person’s needs are different, so I can't tell you to get eight hours or six hours. I can only tell you to experiment and see what works for you.

Here are some things you can do to ensure you’re getting the right amount of sleep:

1. Stop eating at least three hours before you plan to go to bed.

2. Don’t do anything too stressful in that three hour period. That means no work or watching emotionally taxing television programs (like something especially scary or sad).

3. Turn off the television about an hour before you plan to go to bed. This is a good time to have some pleasant conversation with a spouse or just simply relax. You can take a bath or read a book. Just know that this is a time to wind down.

4. Set a specific bedtime each night. Start by taking note of the time you want to be awake in the morning. If you want to be up at 6 a.m., go to bed by 10 p.m. Do this for a week and listen to your body. If you find yourself waking up way too early, you might be allowing too much time for sleep. Move your bedtime to a half hour later, and try that for a week. Keep adjusting your bedtime until you find one that works for you. The goal is for you to wake up just before your alarm clock rings. Just be sure to allow at least one week to adjust to every new bedtime.