Archive for the ‘Sleep’ Category

5 Quick Money Saving Tips For a Healthy New Year

Sunday, January 1st, 2012

New Year’s resolutions!  Yep, it’s that time of the year, now we don’t know if any money-piggy-bankyou have set out to make a resolution or even what they might be but, we thought we might help get you started with discussing a few easy tips to getting healthy and in turn just might help put some extra cash back into your wallets.  So here you go!

1.     Get to bed early- not only does sleep help to rejuvenate your body but if you get to bed early, you can get up earlier & more easily.  Therefore, having time to make yourself a healthy breakfast and instead not have to spend money on grabbing breakfast on the go.

2.     Stop or cut back on drinking caffeine - caffeine stresses the adrenal glands and in turn can make loosing weight difficult.  Cut back or if you’re brave enough stop caffeine all together.  See how much moola you save from ordering those triple venti latte’s.

3.     Plan your weekly menu- when planning your weekly menu you not only eat healthier during the week you also save an incredible amount of money.  I have found that when I don’t plan my menu I can spend anywhere from $30.00-$180.00 extra a week.

4.     Drink water- if there is only one health change you make for the better, let it be to drink more water.  It’s an easy and cheap way to detoxify the body.  So instead of grabbing that afternoon coke from the vending machine, pocket that change and drink out of that water bottle you brought from home.

5.     Exercise- if exercise is one of those things that is hard for you to fit into your schedule, then do it over your lunch.  The point is that you just need to get your body moving! Rather than spending money on lunch and gas spend that time more wisely and use it to exercise and bring leftovers from last night’s dinner.  Ask a friend to join you and get healthy together.

We hope these quick 5 tips help you start your New Year off right!  If you would like a health plan designed specifically for you please give our offices a call to set up your consultation!

Health & Happiness in 2012

Lori


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The importance of sleep

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

Wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of every day life, so many of us are sleep deprived? Since sleep is so critical to our health and well being, we’ve made it the focus of this month’s newsletter.

Even with a good diet and exercise routine, if you are not getting proper sleep you can still suffer from nagging aliments such as neck pain, headaches, skin changes, itching, poor recovery from exercise, forgetfulness, a hard time staying focused and adrenal fatigue. These can also lead to many more serious medical conditions.

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP

Our bodies are meant to function with the rising and setting of the sun. Cortisol, a natural stress hormone within your body, helps to assist with this. As cortisol rises in the morning it causes you to wake up. As the sun goes down, your cortisol level decreases which makes you sleepy. As this happens, your growth and repair hormones increase. From 10:00pm to 2:00 am, these hormones are responsible for the physical repair of your body. Psychological/mental repair follows from 2:00am to 6:00am. So, if you go to bed at 2:00am, you’ve lost all of your physical repair time. You’re body doesn’t play catch up!

What so many people don’t realize is that you can have a disruption at any point of your sleep/wake cycle. A brightly lit house, watching TV, using the computer late into the evening, high levels of caffeine, a late vigorous workout, reading an intense novel or working late hours will keep your levels of cortisol high in your blood stream. As a result, melatonin and other growth/immune hormones can’t be released and proper bodily repair doesn’t take place. For example, your liver empties at approximately 2:00-3:00 am. If your stress hormones are high and your immune hormones haven’t been released or if you’re up during these hours then the liver will not empty and replenish itself for the next day. These toxins that weren’t able to be dumped and excreted through the body remain in your body and over time can lead to other complications.

 

QUICK TIPS FOR BETTER SLEEP

  • Try to get into bed by 10:30pm.  If you are one who goes to bed late this may be difficult for you. If so, each night try to get into bed 5 minutes earlier.
  • Minimize your exposure to bright lights and make sure your room is completely dark (the light fools your body into thinking that it’s daytime, increasing your cortisol level) This includes the alarm clock, TV, and street lights.
  • Avoid stimulates such as sugar and caffeine.
  • Getting into a good exercise routine can also help with sleep.  Be careful though, high intensity workouts over 30 minutes long can increase cortisol levels. So, if you are exercising late in the evenings and find yourself wired with difficulty sleeping, try to change the time of day you work out.
  • Check your levels of cortisol through simple saliva testing which can be performed here at Replenishing Soul.

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