Quality Sleep can it be linked to weight problems?

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It seems that scientist now believe there could be a direct link between your quality of sleep and your weight. We used to admire people who claimed they needed very little sleep. There was even a view that a need for little sleep was related to higher intelligence several famous people including British prime minister Margret Thatcher claimed to have slept as few as 3 hours a night.

Modern scientific research now suggests that not only were those “sleep rejectors” behaving unintelligently and producing lower-grade, lower levels of work which I guess could be argued in some cases at least but also they were setting themselves up for serious mental and physical disease.

Regardless of whether sleep dysfunction is self-inflicted or foisted on us by circumstance, the end result is the same. We suffer because all of the body’s systems are compromised, including our all-important metabolic rate. And it’s our metabolism that is the key factor in whether or not we lose weight, and then keep it off.

For instance many diet companies will tell you that weight loss is simple, just a matter of “energy in/energy out”. This is a particularly stupid lie or at very least mistruth, because the state of your metabolism is more important than either how much you eat or how much you utilize.

There are many lifestyle factors that impact on metabolic rate, and sleep is just one of them, so quality sleep is a crucial part of any serious weight loss program. The amount of sleep you need is unique to you, though probably it will be around 7 1/2 to 8 hours of good sleep each night. Of course younger kids need a lot more than that, often more like 12 or 13 hours of sleep nightly.

Your quality sleep is even more important especially if trying to recover from illness.

9 Ways to Improve Your Sleep

1 Sleep time is as precious as the air you breathe, so guard it well. Who cares if the house is a mess! It’s far more important that every member of the family get adequate sleep time.

If sleep interruption is beyond your control (for example if you have small children or a sick partner who needs care during the night) make sure you get extra sleep during the day, and also make sure you get some nights off.

2 It’s important to have a regular routine for your day. This means pretty much going to bed and getting up the same time each day, and having a regular “calm down” time in the hour before bed. This trains your brain to relax and sleep much better.

3 Slow Down Before Bed. Keep away from alcohol or stimulants for at least an hour before bed, and avoid stimulating books or television programs. Dim the lights, play some nice music, and relax.

4 Getting rid of stress from your life in general. When people suffer from repetitive thoughts at sleep time, with the mind turning over and over the same stuff, it’s generally because there’s an unacceptable level of stress in their lives. No-one needs to put up with this, especially with the advent of Logotherapy and NeuroStim, two relatively new techniques (see TopLifeSolutions.com for more information on these).

5 Is your bedroom actually conducive to good sleep? Is it quiet? Is it dark enough? Is there fresh air? Are your pillows, bed, and coverings, all comfortable and cosy? Do you feel safe and secure?

6 Don’t get up once you’ve gone to bed except for good reason. I’ve heard experts tell insomniacs not to stay in bed if they can’t sleep because they’ll end up associating their bed with their sleeping difficulties. Really this is rather illogical because bed is already associated with lots of things apart from sleep! Some peoples advice is to stay in bed if it’s an appropriate sleep time in order to train your brain that this time of night means bed.

There may be reasons why either is true dependent on circumstances but unless you are likely to disturb others I favor the staying in bed option and trying to relax.

7 Be Active During the Day. A good level of physical activity is essential to good sleep. It has been shown people who are less active sleep less well but like every statistic there are many that buck the trend.

8 Ensure you have great relationships with others: family, friends, colleagues, your neighbourhood. Quality relationships are essential to our wellbeing and we sleep so much better when our relationships are in a good state.

9 Enjoy a good, healthy diet with lots of variety. If you eat well your body is easily able to produce the hormones required for good sleep. Avoid fad diets like the extreme low-carb diet for example, because this robs the body of the ability to produce adequate melatonin (and also can lead to depression).