Sleep is boring.
I mean, most people enjoy sleep I think. They certainly enjoy the way they feel after they've gotten a a decent amount of shut eye. But the whole topic is so UNsexy. It's not the new, promising tip we've never heard before that we crave.
But it works. Annoyingly so.
How many less car accidents, fights with spouses, and "mom brain" moments would there be if everyone just got enough sleep every night? I'd argue a lot.
But also ... sleep helps us make better choices, gives us energy to do things like exercise, cook, or even just take a nice walk during a work call. Quality sleep helps to balance our blood sugar, hormones, hunger, satiety, AND ramps up fat burning and muscle-building (which boosts metabolic rate).
Super annoying, right? Because that means in order to be the type of human you want to be in this world and make the type of progress you're after, you can't ignore your sleep habits.
So let's talk about a few of the biggest needle-movers:
Morning sun. Getting outside at close to sunrise as possible for about 10 minutes on a bright, sunny day and closer to 30 minutes on a cloudy day (without sunglasses!) is so powerful. Besides doing all kinds of other metabolism and mood magic, it shuts down melatonin production during the day (so you'll be more energized) and tells melatonin to start creeping back up closer to a reasonable bedtime. Not 2 AM when you finish episode 6 of the series, but the sleepiness will start to set in at a more natural time like 9 or 10.
Turn off bright, overhead lights a couple of hours before bed. Again, the bright light stop melatonin and asks it to return much later. So when you do this in the early part of the day, it's perfect. When you do this close to bedtime, you're shooting yourself in the foot.
No electronics before bed. Blah blah... you've heard this but it's worth repeating.
Sleep in a cool room.
No coffee within 8 hours of bedtime. I don't make the rules. I'm just a little messenger sent by your future self who really doesn't want to have trouble asleep or get lower quality sleep later tonight.
This week, I want you to focus most on number 1 as it's usually the most impactful and almost no one is doing this consistently. Will you do me a favor? Take a pic of your early morning view and tag me in it so I can see. It will help you stay on track and besides, I think everyone should know how important morning sun is even if we need to use a little FOMO to get there. ;-)
Most of you won't do this morning sun thing -- at least not consistently -- but for those who do, will you let me know how it goes after a week or two???
If fat loss, metabolism-boosting, and / or muscle-gaining is your thang, I cannot WAIT to share with you some details on what I've been working on! Check out TRANSFORM: Body + Mind deets and hop on the waitlist if it sounds like something you're interested in for the future.
Happy sunrise-chasing,
Tara
P.S. P.S. Last week I created a new, 3-day sample meal plan. It's balanced the PFF way ... with adequate protein, fat, and fiber at every meal and intentional carbs at some but not all meals. HERE IT IS. Enjoy!
