Weight Loss - Sleep

How to ensure a good night sleep?

If you find it difficult to fall a sleep, there are several things you could be doing other than reaching for sleeping pills to help you sleep:

• Make sure your bedroom is prepared for sleep.

  The bedroom must be dark and cool (but not too cold). The bed must be comfortable enough for you to feel relaxed sleeping (not too hard or too soft). Its also important that you do not watch TV or work in the bedroom. Bedroom should only be used for sleeping and quiet reading.

• Wake up at the same time everyday.

  Set your alarm clock for the same time (early in the morning) every day. You should get up as soon as the alarm goes and do resist the temptation to go back to bed during the day. It will be hard for the first couple of days but after that, this will help you with a good night sleep.

• Exercise

  Research shows that people who exercise sleep better than those who don't. But you should not exercise before sleeping.

• Eat lettuce leaves.

  Lettuce are descended from the ancient wild lettuce that the greeks used in sleeping potions. This is because Lettuce contains an opium like substance which relaxes you. The recommendation is to eat lettuce, then drink Horlicks, Ovaltine or cocoa. This will act as an alternative to sleeping pills.

• Don't take naps.

  Napping in the afternoon has been shown to be the root of many insomnia cases. Napping can disrupt the normal sleep cycles. Resist the temptation to sleep.

• Relax your mind.

  Try forgetting about work, family and other worries. Try simple deep breathing exercises everyday. Inhale from your abdomen rather than your chest for three seconds in and three seconds out. You may also want to try Yoga for weight loss it has both been shown to effect the nervous system.

• Don't eat the wrong bedtime food.

  Avoid eating food with Tyramine in the evening as it over-stimulates the brain. Food that contain Tyramine include: bacon, aubergines,raspberries, avocados and cheese. Also, try to avoid hot foods and curry.

• Stop worrying about insomnia.

  Worrying about insomnia will actually make it difficult to fall a sleep. What you have to realise is that most insomniacs get about six hours of sleep, which is enough for the brain to function normally.

• Don't drink, smoke or take sleeping pills.

  All these may seem as though they help you fall a sleep, but you will wake up feeling worse the next day which means you will find it hard to fall a sleep the following night, unless you resort to these artificial methods again, making you dependent on them. The problem is that over time, your body will adapt to these artificial methods and you would need to increase the dosage to make them work. This is very damaging to your health and your sleeping pattern.

• Don't lie in bed wishing you could sleep.

  If you try to force yourself to fall a sleep you are actually preventing your brain to relax. The best thing is to read a boring book or listening to soothing music at low calming volume.

• Have sex.

  Men often find it easy to fall a sleep after ejaculation as it makes them tired.