Why Sleep Matters

Years ago, I had a wonderful client who we’ll call Patty. Patty was in her mid-forties and already eating “healthy” and working out. Through our work together, she learned how to step up her nutrition by eating “correctly” and maximizing her workouts to optimize her fat blasting abilities. The results were extraordinary.

Patty dropped about 15 pounds of pure body fat, toned up places she has avoided looking at in the mirror for years and finally had enough energy to get through her work day without nodding off at her desk (her boss tends to look down on that kind of thing).

And then tragedy happened. In a freak accident, Patty’s home caught fire. Though both she and her husband were unharmed, their years of memories and belongings were nothing but ash. 

Patty’s health began to decline again.

Though she continued to work out and still eat correctly, her body fat started creeping back up. Her energy slumped. Patty came to me in frustration and asked, “I’m still eating well and working out. Why is my body failing me now?”

Patty’s story isn’t all that uncommon. How many times have we prevailed with our nutrition and fitness efforts during tough times only to watch our results stop or worse, take a few steps backwards? Maybe this has happened to you in the past and you had no idea why.

After our appointment, Patty and I realized that though she was still stabilizing her blood sugar with the right nutrition, and working out to the best of her ability at the time, she was not sleeping. And who can blame her? Her home and memories that had taken years to build were destroyed and she was now forced to adapt to a temporary living situation at a friend’s home. To say that’s a lot to deal with is an understatement.

By not getting enough sleep each night (and the little sleep she got being so fitful), Patty’s body wasn’t working for her anymore. Here’s why.

Sleep is the most critical factor in creating a solid health plan; it is your base that allows all of the good nutrition and exercise to really penetrate and actually work.  Without consistent and restful sleep, your body struggles to metabolize food (hello digestive issues), stress levels skyrocket (body craves carbohydrates) and energy quickly dwindles (goodbye exercise). All of these add up to weight gain.

It’s hormonal too. Skimping on sleep creates a hormonal imbalance of cortisol and adrenaline. Throw these two hormones out of whack and you’re stuck with low energy, bloating, fluctuating blood sugar levels, crankiness, increased cravings… well you get the point.

But Patty is a survivor and she was determined to get her health back in check because that was one aspect of her life that she could control. And she knew if she didn’t feel well, she wouldn’t be able to handle all that life had thrown at her.  So we worked together on creating a plan that allowed her to get consistent, regular sleep.  Here are the steps we took together that you can follow too.

1. Figure out your sleep number and stick to it. We all have an individual number of hours of sleep we need to feel rested and refreshed.  Some people are ready to roll after only six hours while others (OK, me) are incredibly cranky and not exactly pleasant to be around without a full eight hours. If you know your sleep number is eight hours and you’re currently getting only six, for example, each week aim to go to bed 30 minutes earlier. Slowly build your way towards your targeted sleep number by making doable 30-minute increments. Eventually you’ll be on target with your sleep hours every night.

2. Your body craves balance. If it was up to your body, you would go to sleep at the same time every night and wake at the same time each morning every day for the rest of your life. We all know real life doesn’t always work that way, but it is a good idea to try to wake and sleep at roughly the same time each day to help induce restful sleep. That includes the weekends too.

3. Create your dream sanctuary. This is the fun one and a great excuse to go room shopping… as if we need one, right?  Here’s what your “dream” bedroom should include to enhance your comfort and the likelihood of restful sleep: a comfortable, supportive bed, pillows that feel “right” and don’t strain your neck, soft sheets and a blanket that doesn’t make you feel too warm at night (that’s the worse). Your room should be as dark as possible, so shut off small lights or extra clocks if necessary, or buy one of those silly eye masks (yup, me again) to shut out the light. Thick heavy curtains also work wonders at blocking out the early morning sunshine.

4. Relax! I do two things each night before I go to sleep. First, I write out a list of all of the tasks I need to complete the next day for work and my personal life (it’s not uncommon to see a note like, “wash hair” or “make chicken” on my list). I even draw these ridiculous little boxes next to each item because it makes me feel good to check them off.  

By taking all of the many things you need to do tomorrow that are swirling around in your brain  and putting them on paper, it removes the stress.  It’s sort of a, “I’ll get to it tomorrow so I can relax tonight”-type of feeling.

Secondly, I read every night before bed. I may watch a little TV first but I always follow it with light reading to unwind. And by light reading, I basically mean brainless entertainment. You will never see me studying or reading a client’s nutrition file while I’m lying in bed. Nope. You will find me with glazed eyes completely absorbed in some frivolous “chick lit” novel with an obnoxious pink cover. I don’t want to think before bed. Like you, I’ve done enough thinking all day long.

So what should you do if sleep seems impossible these days? Let’s be honest, we all know that life doesn’t always allow for consistent, restful sleep. But it is important to recognize if your own sleep patterns are off and why this is so critical to your well being (it may just be the reason the scale isn’t moving). Only then, can you make small steps, like the ones above, to improve your sleeping habits when life gets back to normal.

One last thing. We all know that one annoyingly efficient person who gets a secret thrill out of forgoing sleep to get just one more thing done on their to do list (OK, this used to be me). To all of those people, here’s a reality check. You don’t become more effective by skipping sleep. Quite the opposite, in fact. You become cranky, hungry, bloated, less competent and hormonal. So do yourself a favor and go to sleep already!

Have a nutrition or fitness question? Please email me at valerie_cogswell@yahoo.com.