You have been putting on weight and went straight on a new diet? Added some exercises too? Great idea! However there is more that you can do and it might be easier than you think. A big factor is your sleep! Did you sleep well this night? If you don’t feel rested when getting up, your sleeping behaviour might not be ideal.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that the your body is an extremely complex system. Whilst maintaining a healthy diet is crucial for a healthy weight, so does your daily sleep impact your hormonal balance and therefore your weight and mood too. This is even more important if you are having trouble with your hormone balance e.g. when suffering from hypothyroidism and therefore being on a thyroid diet. There a few little tips that can help you to improve your night sleep and they are all free!
Don’t bother about things in bed
Usually there will be a lot of things on your mind during the day. It is really hard to let go and when trying to sleep your mind will constantly wander off, try to solve problems or plan the day tomorrow. There are some easy habits to fight this. After going to bed, lie on your back and relax. Try to think of ‘nothing’. This sounds weird, but once you get used to it, you can do it for at least a few seconds. Your mind will always wander off. Stay calm, wash the thought away and refocus. Over time you will get better and better in this basic technique and it will make a huge difference!
Reduce late exercises
Plain and simple: Exercising is good, but not if you want to sleep soon. Avoid any exercises at least 2 hours before going to bed. Allow your body for enough time to calm down after a workout. If you go to bed and feel awake and alerted after your gym session, it’s a sign to give yourself more time to cool down.
Reduce caffeine after 5pm
There are people that drink coffee after dinner. The truth is, it’s not good for you. Caffeine is a strong stimulant and it will keep you awake even after years of drinking it. Avoid having any coffee or other caffeine rich drinks after 6pm. You will sleep better.
Enjoy a late light snack
Do you get up in the middle of the night hungry? While eating dinner too late is not healthy, having a light and protein rich snack an hour before going to bed won’t harm you. In fact it might make the difference between sleeping through or waking up early unrested. Of course you should avoid anything that looks like fat, chocolate or chips.
Try these four ideas tonight and you will feel the difference. You won’t have to do them all together, if you select one that effects you most, you will make a big step ahead. Remember the general positive impact this will have not only on your weight, but also on your mood day after day!
If you notice a difference after rebalancing your hormone levels, you should consider a thyroid diet as well described on http://www.thyroiddiethq.com.