Tips for getting good sleep

[Tiff]

Hi everyone. I've never been good with getting regular quality sleep. I know that sleep is important for weight loss. Does anyone have any tips that could help me get the sleep that I need?

[madscientist]

The best things to do to help encourage sleep is to not eat 3-4 hours before bed. If you need to drink have water and keep your consumption of water low to limit your chances of needed the washroom in the middle of the night. Do a low-key activity an hour before bed, such as reading or listening to calming music or nature sounds in dim lighting, etc. Avoid playing games or watching tv as this can stimulate your mind, which can make it harder for you to sleep. If you use an alarm clock with a bright display, turn it away from you so you can't see it.

Get up when your alarm goes off, don't snooze. You'll feel better if you just get up than if you try to catch 15 extra minutes of broken sleep.

At some point during the day be active. Exercise can help you get a better night's sleep. Hopefully one of those tips will prove helpful :)

[bruceH]

I really think the most important one is to not eat too close to bed time and to watch how much water you drink before bed. Although getting to sleep may be difficult, once you are asleep, the last thing you want to to do is have to get up to go to the washroom.

[bonniekins]

I think madscientist and bruceh pretty much covered it all. For me, I find that I get the best sleep when I don't do anything or eat anything stimulating before bed. The trick is finding out what makes you wind down and stick with that. Also, I've found that going to bed and getting up at the same time helps too. It's important to have a sleep routine that's at least 7 hours long. Good luck!

[tracy1976]

Try turning the temperature down in your room or stick your bare feet and hands outside of your blankets. Cooling your body down will help you to relax and sleep. It could be that your core temperature is too hot for you to drift off to dreamland. Cooling your feet and hands will help to cool your body down.

[Tiff]

Thanks everyone! Those are some great tips. I'll be sure to give them a try. I've got to say I've never heard about the cooling your feet down one. I'm very interested in seeing if that will help at all. I guess when you think about it it does make a lot of sense. I can never sleep when I'm overheated!