What's YOUR Sleep Number?

My topic this time is sleep and your sleep number and I’m not talking about mattresses!

Did you know the minimum amount of sleep you need for weight loss is seven and a half hours a night. How many of us get that! It may sound odd, but the closer you can get to 7 ½ hours or your personal ideal sleep time, the better your results will be. And, sorry, but sleeping more than that won’t help you drop more pounds! This works whether you have a few pounds to lose or many. Here’s what to do:

1. Go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day.
Write down the time you need to get up in the morning, then count back seven and a half hours. That is the time you need to be in bed. But we’re not out to kill all your fun: On Friday or Saturday nights, you can go to bed one or two hours later than usual and sleep in one or two hours the next morning—as long as you get your required seven and a half hours.

2. Start a bedtime routine.
Create a pre-sleep ritual—such as light reading, a hot bath, stretching—beginning somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour before the time you’ve planned to close your eyes. Pretty soon, your body will start to associate specific actions with relaxation and falling asleep. And turn off your TV, computer, BlackBerry and cell phone before that time begins. “When your brain senses light shining in your eyes, it stimulates the wake response and lowers melatonin, the hormone that cues you to feel drowsy,” says Steven Park, M.D., author of Sleep, Interrupted.

3. Watch your caffeine and alcohol habits.
Don’t have any caffeine after 2:30 P.M. (including caffeinated tea and soda), and avoid sipping alcohol three hours before bedtime. Booze may knock you out at first, but it keeps you from getting deep sleep, says Breus. As the sleep-inducing powers wear off, you may even wake up.

4. Experiment with exactly how much sleep you really need.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, some women require as many as nine hours of sleep a night. If you’re snoozing seven and a half hours and still can’t wake up without your alarm, you need more. Try hitting the sack 15 minutes earlier each night until you reach the perfect time for you—it may take a week or so before you reach your own ideal sleep number.

Here are some other thoughts on getting a good night’s sleep.
You can stretch yourself to sleep. If you have trouble falling asleep, trade in the tossing and turning for a simple, gentle, daily stretching routine instead. Women who regularly stretch out their knots and kinks fall asleep more easily than nonstretchers do.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Another option that I have been doing lately is to use Arbonne’s Unwind massage oil. I rub this on right before going to bed. A am not only I getting the aromatherapy benefit from the chamomile, I’m also giving my skin some wonderful botanical oils to soften and moisturize through the night.

And last but not least, eating guidelines before bedtime. If you’re feeling hungry, then you may find that hunger interferes with winding down for that good night’s sleep, but you want to be careful about what and how much you eat.

If you must eat before going to bed, here are some ideas from different articles I found.
- Find something that combines a little bit of carbs with protein. One example is milk and bananas. The carbs in the bananas combine with the amino acids in the milk to boost the serotonin levels in the brain – serotonin becomes melatonin, which is the hormone that triggers sleep.
- Have a few spoonfuls of yogurt. I think I got that tip from San. This really does work for me.
- Or have a slice of whole grain bread, or a few whole grain crackers with a little bit of cheese.
- Sesame seeds – these are a great natural source of tryptophan – the sleep inducing amino acid.
- And if stress contributes to sleep issues, try adding more red bell peppers to your diet. A study showed that rats fed 200 milligrams of Vit C twice a day found that it nearly stopped the secretion of cortisol, a hormone released in your body when you are stressed. Calorie for calorie, red bell peppers give you more Vit C than any other fruit or vegetable.

Here's to Sweet and Healthy Dreams!