Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Feeling Sleepy?

Most of the content below is a repeat from a post in 2022…and yet, it’s still true.

Also?

It’s getting worse.

A recent AP News story caught my attention: only 42% of the people who took a recent Gallup poll felt they were getting enough sleep.

42%. And not the fun kind of 42, either. (Don’t panic! Do you know where your towel is?)

That’s not good.

Where do you fall? Are you getting enough sleep?

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

***

I recently had an absolutely awful night’s sleep. I couldn’t get comfortable, I hurt, I couldn’t get into a good position for sleeping, and I woke up still tired. The day after the absolutely awful night’s sleep was also absolutely awful. I had multiple appointments and plans, all of which I cancelled because I could not face leaving my house.

Luckily, the following nights were much, much better, so it didn’t take me long to recover. But here’s the thing. Even a single night of poor sleep can have a negative impact on your overall health & wellbeing.

I’ve posted about sleep several times over the past however many years, mostly because World Sleep Day (in March!) reminds me to do so. LOL! I gave it more thought again recently because of the aforementioned lousy night’s sleep.

How much sleep do you need? How do you know if it’s quality sleep? Why does it matter?

Let’s start with that last question. Why does it matter? What does sleep do for you anyway, other than waste time you could be cross stitching or crocheting? (Oh, wait…that’s me. But I digress…)

Sleeping helps you form memories as well as holding on to and recalling details about your life and everything you have going on. (And let’s face it, our attention spans are decreasing, so recalling details about life is even more important.) Sleeping soundly helps rest your heart by decreasing your blood pressure. It also gives your body important down time during which your body repairs any issues that may have come up during the day, as well as fighting off any germs you may have encountered. Glucose levels drop when you’re sleeping deeply, which potentially helps fight off type 2 diabetes. A solid night’s sleep also helps with appetite control! It’s important for your mental health, too.

Ok, let’s go back to that second question. How do you know if it’s quality sleep? How do you feel when you wake up? Are you refreshed? Feel rested? Are you cranky, creaky, or grumpy? Check in with yourself for a few mornings in a row to see how you’re feeling. That will help you determine if you’ve slept well.

Last but not least because it was first on the list: how much sleep do you need? This really is the million-dollar question, isn’t it? Some people border on bragging that they function just fine on 4 or 6 hours of sleep. That may be true (I have my doubts) but it isn’t necessarily a good thing (reference all of the text above or the links I’m sharing later). The recommendations on hours of sleep are based on age, generally, but also depend on overall health and activity levels, which makes sense if you think about it. Infants? Experts suggest 12 to 15 hours a night. (Zoikes!) Teenagers? Eight to 10 hours. Older adults? Seven to eight hours. Honestly? It’s important for you to figure it out for yourself. How? I have ideas. (Of course I do.)

Start picking a bedtime and stick to it. If you can, try not to set an alarm and see if you wake up naturally and feel good about waking up, then see how many hours of sleep you’ve had. Try that for several days and see what happens. (I’ve become so accustomed to waking up between 5-5:30 a.m. that I ALMOST don’t need an alarm to do so!) Put away your technology; the light from cellular phones, tablets, and laptops messes with your body’s ability to get good sleep. Create a bedtime routine that helps you wind down, and stick to it, even on weekends and vacations. Make sure you have a comfortable place to sleep and a quality mattress and pillows. An awful lot of this seems like common sense…so why aren’t we sleeping better? “I’ll just check Facebook one more time,” and suddenly it’s 45 minutes later and you’re wide awake because you’ve had an argument over whether Star Trek or Star Wars is better.

(For the record? It’s both. Now move on.)

 Sleep. It’s good for your health. What are you going to do to sleep better? Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Sleep Matters

Is there anything better than a snoozy dog? Sleeping dogs…they’re an inspiration to us all to get good sleep!

I recently had an absolutely awful night’s sleep. I couldn’t get comfortable, I hurt, I couldn’t get into a good position for sleeping, and I woke up still tired. The day after the absolutely awful night’s sleep was also absolutely awful. I had multiple appointments and plans, all of which I cancelled because I could not face leaving my house.

Luckily, the following nights were much, much better, so it didn’t take me long to recover. But here’s the thing. Even a single night of poor sleep can have a negative impact on your overall health & wellbeing.

I’ve posted about sleep several times over the past however many years, mostly because World Sleep Day (in March!) reminds me to do so. LOL! I gave it more thought again recently because of the aforementioned lousy night’s sleep.

How much sleep do you need? How do you know if it’s quality sleep? Why does it matter?

Let’s start with that last question. Why does it matter? What does sleep do for you anyway, other than waste time you could be cross stitching or crocheting? (Oh, wait…that’s me. But I digress…)

Sleeping helps you form memories as well as holding on to and recalling details about your life and everything you have going on. (And let’s face it, our attention spans are decreasing, so recalling details about life is even more important.) Sleeping soundly helps rest your heart by decreasing your blood pressure. It also gives your body important down time during which your body repairs any issues that may have come up during the day, as well as fighting off any germs you may have encountered. Glucose levels drop when you’re sleeping deeply, which potentially helps fight off type 2 diabetes. A solid night’s sleep also helps with appetite control! It’s important for your mental health, too.

Ok, let’s go back to that second question. How do you know if it’s quality sleep? How do you feel when you wake up? Are you refreshed? Feel rested? Are you cranky, creaky, or grumpy? Check in with yourself for a few mornings in a row to see how you’re feeling. That will help you determine if you’ve slept well.

Last but not least because it was first on the list: how much sleep do you need? This really is the million-dollar question, isn’t it? Some people border on bragging that they function just fine on 4 or 6 hours of sleep. That may be true (I have my doubts) but it isn’t necessarily a good thing (reference all of the text above or the links I’m sharing later). The recommendations on hours of sleep are based on age, generally, but also depend on overall health and activity levels, which makes sense if you think about it. Infants? Experts suggest 12 to 15 hours a night. (Zoikes!) Teenagers? Eight to 10 hours. Older adults? Seven to eight hours. Honestly? It’s important for you to figure it out for yourself. How? I have ideas. (Of course I do.)

Start picking a bedtime and stick to it. If you can, try not to set an alarm and see if you wake up naturally and feel good about waking up, then see how many hours of sleep you’ve had. Try that for several days and see what happens. (I’ve become so accustomed to waking up between 5-5:30 a.m. that I ALMOST don’t need an alarm to do so!) Put away your technology; the light from cellular phones, tablets, and laptops messes with your body’s ability to get good sleep. Create a bedtime routine that helps you wind down, and stick to it, even on weekends and vacations. Make sure you have a comfortable place to sleep and a quality mattress and pillows. An awful lot of this seems like common sense…so why aren’t we sleeping better? “I’ll just check Facebook one more time,” and suddenly it’s 45 minutes later and you’re wide awake because you’ve had an argument over whether Star Trek or Star Wars is better.

(For the record? It’s both. Now move on.)

Sleep. It’s good for your health. What are you going to do to sleep better? Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Best Bedtime Snacks

If you suddenly get hungry before bedtime, you’re not alone. There can be many reasons you get snackery (as I call it) late in the day; among the possibilities are meals loaded with unnecessary fats, preservatives, and sugars. It’s also entirely possible that over the course of the day, if you’ve been very active, you’ve burned up more calories than you’ve consumed, and that can cause hunger pangs as well!

Things to avoid before bed include anything spicy or high in fat; these foods can cause acid reflux and indigestion, and that’s definitely going to keep you up! (No more rocky road ice cream before bedtime!) Avoid foods high in sodium, as it raises your blood pressure and dehydrates you. On the flip side, if you’ve sweated a lot you might need to replace sodium that’s been lost due to sweating in order to avoid leg cramps. Everything is about balance, right?

Herbal tea is a great bedtime snack, especially peppermint or chamomile. No caffeine and each of those herbs are soothing, which can help you wind down and sleep better. Focusing on foods that promote production of serotonin is helpful too; much of the body’s production of serotonin happens in the gut, so have high-fiber foods such as popcorn (in small quantities). Nutrients such as the B vitamins, iron, magnesium, and calcium, for example, promote better sleep. Non-fat or low-fat milk or yogurt, nuts, pumpkin seeds, tart cherries, spinach, popcorn, turkey, kiwi, tuna, or bananas; you have multiple options for healthy, sleep-supporting snacks!

And while this is Wine & Wellness Wednesday…alcohol before bed is not actually great for helping you sleep. So skip the red wine and the dark chocolate at bedtime; have it with dinner instead!

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Heart Health

Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s #winewellnesswednesday, so my glass of red wine & I would like to talk to you about heart health. (Of course! What an appropriate topic for Valentine’s Day!)

Let’s start with red wine and your heart, or Concord grape juice and your heart. You can get similar benefits from either, so there’s no need to start drinking alcohol if you aren’t a drinker! Red wine has antioxidants and resveratrol. The antioxidants may help protect the lining of blood vessels in your heart, and resveratrol may help prevent damage as well as break up LDL cholesterol, improving your overall cholesterol count. Again, you can get the same benefits from Concord grape juice. So have a glass of a good, dry red wine, or have a glass of Concord grape juice. They’re both good for you, in moderation!

A healthy diet is critical for your heart, and it can be a lot of fun as well! Lowering cholesterol, raising fiber, lowering sodium, and focusing on more fruits & veggies in your diet are all beneficial. And even better, there are dozens of ways to do all of those things without feeling as though you’re consumed every day by managing your meals. Add spinach to a salad, or to your breakfast eggs. Substitute sweet potato for potato. Substitute black bean pasta for regular spaghetti. Select a smaller steak and have broccoli with it instead of mashed potatoes. Have a nice piece of a quality dark chocolate for dessert. See? Fun!

Exercise, exercise, exercise. Even just 40 minutes of a brisk walk three times a week can be beneficial! If all you ever do is sit at a desk, get up from your desk regularly and walk around. Take the stairs if you can. Walk up and down the block around your neighborhood. Park further away from the grocery store. If you already exercise, add to it and add some variety! But GET MOVING! If you’ve never been into exercise, what are you waiting for? You don’t have to run a marathon, but you do need to move.

Get good sleep! If you don’t get enough sleep, you are at risk for diabetes, weight gain, and cardiovascular disease. Sleep for solid periods of time so your body can rest, heal, and prepare for the next day. This isn’t just a good idea; it’s a critical necessity to protect your heart and your overall health!

Heart health. Not just on Valentine’s Day, but every day. Take care of your heart, and take care of you!

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Get Good Sleep!

A little over a year ago, I wrote a post about celebrating World Sleep Day. :) Today I was reminded just how very, very important it is to get a good night's sleep, not only for the reasons listed below but also because it helps prevent me from snacking too much and for all the wrong reasons. Monday night I didn't sleep enough and I didn't sleep at all well. Tuesday was awful; I snacked too much, and I snacked badly (M&Ms and mini Rolos). Tuesday night I slept earlier and much, much better, and today's snacking was greatly reduced from the previous day. Not only did I realize it midway through the day, even though the same snack options were available, I was much less inclined to succumb to the temptation.

Get a good night's sleep...for lots of reasons!!

Cheers! Here's to your health!

(Original post: 3/16/16)

Sleep! Yes! There’s a day to celebrate everything, or so it seems, and so of course there’s World Sleep Day. (Although if you ask our dogs I’m sure they’d say every day should be World Sleep Day!) And thank you to my husband for pointing World Sleep Day out to me! :) This year’s World Sleep Day is this Friday. You can even take a pledge to go to sleep 30 minutes earlier than normal! (As a side note, I didn’t have a Wine & Wellness Wednesday last week as we were on vacation…and yes, lots of sleeping made for a great vacation!)

Sleep! It’s important for your health. (It’s super frustrating to suffer from insomnia, on top of the health issues that can result.) Getting the right amount of sleep helps with focus, learning, weight loss, and safety (particularly behind the wheel), just to name a few benefits.

What interferes with getting a good night’s sleep? I’m going to differ somewhat from most references and say it is different for everyone. Some people may be able to drink a caffeinated beverage right before bed and sleep really well; some people may have caffeine at 2:00 p.m. and not sleep until 3 a.m.  You may be one of those who can’t eat anything too late in the day or you won’t sleep well, or you may be able to eat and fall asleep immediately. One thing that helps me sleep better is trying to cut back on screen time near bedtime, particularly using the iPhone or iPad. Although for me, it may also be wise to cut back on TV time as well. Sometimes I have the craziest, most realistic dreams inspired by whatever we watched before bedtime! And when I remember my dreams very clearly, I haven’t always slept well. Where I will agree with most references is that it’s important to have a routine, and have the same routine on weekends and weekdays. Try to get to sleep at the same time every day. Find a relaxing activity to help your brain wind down. If you find yourself awake and thinking about work, get up and write everything down; dumping it on a piece of paper and getting it out of your brain can help clear your mind and let you relax into sleep. Figure out what works for you. Your health depends on it!

Cheers! Here’s to your health!