Get More Sleep as a Mom -

Sleep is imperative if you want to live a healthier life. It has been proven that if you are not getting enough sleep, you will have increased stress, anxiety, and depression. Therefore, you will want to snack more through the day and will hold onto stubborn belly fat due to hormone levels getting out of sync.

Overcommitted and overstimulated

We are a society that has become overcommitted and overstimulated, we don’t get enough down time or sleep time. 51% of us aren’t getting enough sleep as a mom, and it is affecting our health. We need to take more care of our sleep habits so that we can get a better night’s sleep. Sleep is a time for cell renewal and rejuvenation, it allows us to manage our stress hormones, gut health, weight gain, reduces chronic disease development, cognitive functioning and our overall safety.

If you aren’t getting enough sleep as a busy mom, you are increasing your risk of disease. Did you know that one week of poor sleep decreases your immune system function for up to a year.

Are you struggling with sleep as a mom?

-Do you have trouble falling or staying asleep more than 3 days a week?
-Do you struggle to fall asleep for more than 30 min, or if you wake up in the middle of the night are you up for more than 30 min?
-Does this happen for 3 weeks or longer?

If you answered yes to any of these questions you are struggling with sleep and your health will be affected. This not only will affect all facets of your wellbeing, but your hormones will be affected as well. The hunger hormone, ghrelin will go up which will have you craving more sweets and carbs. Leptin will go down which is the hormone that helps you to feel full longer, which will create you snacking more throughout the day.

7 things to help you get a better night sleep:

1. Make sure to dim the lighting on your electronics and dim the lights in the house, try to steer away from using overhead lights and just use table lamps in the evening.

2. Create a routine by going to bed and getting up at about the same time each and every day, (weekend warriors-you are messing up your sleep clock as it takes 4 days for your body to get back on track).

3. Another thing to do is practice breathing techniques to really let your body know that it is time to relax and calm down.

4. Consume alcohol at least 3 hours prior to bed as it will mess up your sleep cycle.

5. Try to go to bed before 10pm. There are 2 reasons for this. Your skin senses and processes light so even if you are sleeping your hormones are starting to be affected. Also, each hour before midnight you go to sleep you can count that as an extra hour of sleep.

6. Put down your cell phone not only because of the blue light but also because it creates stress and anxiety when you are scrolling “mindlessly” through social media.

Finally, if you are struggling to get the mind to stop racing in the evening I recommend the herbal tincture, Ashwagandha. It helps to relieve depression, anxiety, and stress. Or you can try Magnesium as it helps to calm you. Basically, Melatonin is the hormone of darkness. It doesn’t help you to sleep, it just tells your body it’s time to sleep. Instead of supplementing with Melatonin it is recommended to go outside as soon as you wake up in the morning to help regulate the melatonin response naturally.

Wishing you a good night’s sleep this week and if you are ready to dive in deeper, we have a fun challenge within our community for getting a better nights sleep. Try a week free of our classes and online membership.

Try a week FREE