Healthy Sleep, Healthy Life

January 10, 2018
If you’re shopping all the mattresses San Diego has available, you may be wondering exactly how important a quality mattress is for your health and well-being.  While getting proper sleep has numerous benefits, it can be the make-or-break ingredient that determines whether you’ll achieve your fitness goals.

Fitness Land Mines

We all know how to improve our fitness:

  • exercise at least three times per week

  • focus on healthy foods

  • repeat over time

Simple, right?  So why do so many of us struggle to meet our fitness goals?  Maybe the answer is not willpower, genetics, or lack of knowledge.  Instead, the secret may be hiding in plain sight.

 

The Missing Key: Sleep

In our busy, modern lives, very few of us get as much sleep as we want.  In fact, according to the CDC, some 35% of us are formally sleep-deprived.  This might just be unpleasant if it wasn’t for the fact that lack of sleep contributes to so many preventable problems, from chronic pain to difficulties in relationships.  The one we’re focusing on today, though, is weight gain.  Did you know dieters who are under-slept can experience up to 55% less weight loss than those who are getting adequate sleep?

 

Being Tired Makes You Hungrier

Missing just one night of sleep can affect your body’s sensitivity to insulin, the hormone that controls your blood sugar.  By the time you’ve wracked up four bad nights, your “hunger hormones” leptin and ghrelin are also affected.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, not getting enough rest also slows down the part of your brain that keeps you from making impulse decisions.  The net effect?  You’re hungrier, and your brain doesn’t have enough energy to keep you from eating that bag of potato chips, even if you know you shouldn’t.

 

How To Fix It

What’s the solution to this problem?  It’s deceptively simple: just go to bed.  Many people find that an old, worn-out, or uncomfortable mattress prevent them from falling asleep or keeps them tossing and turning all night.  Don’t let your mattress come between you and your fitness goals.  Getting at least seven hours of sleep per night might seem like it’s too simple to make a difference, but the evidence says otherwise.  Don’t sabotage yourself before you even begin.  Make sure you’ve got the bedtime (and the mattress!) to get you to your goals, and sleep yourself to a healthier you.

 

Sources:

11 Surprising Health Benefits Of Sleep – www.health.com

Why Sleep Is The No 1 Most Important Thing  – www.shape.com