Wake Me Up! Wednesday

 

Waking up and falling asleep are the 2 significant big struggles of my day. Anyone else relate?  It might have a lot to do with my "crazy" days I have each week but we all experience craziness in our lives. Schedules, work, family...and the list goes on and on. Sleep is very very important to being healthy. Most of us know that eating well and being physically active impact our health factor the most. But did you know, sleep is just as important?

If you don't sleep enough, your body goes through a bunch of crazy chemical reactions that increases certain hormones in your body and lowers others. The worst one of these is cortisol. Cortisol is that hormone that likes to be happy and balanced, not too high and not too low. When you don't sleep enough, cortisol increases and helps you pack on the pounds in your midsection. No bueno! Since I have been dealing with a little bit of a sleeping issue, I thought I would share what helps me.

Exercise, but relaxing and deep breath/thinking type exercise. Yoga and walking your pet are great examples. 

Tea. Ya all know my love for tea but I have really found that a sleepy time tea about 30 minutes before bed, really helps me relax.

And finally....MUSIC!  I am a melomaniac (aka music lover) and really believe music helps everything. It wakes me up in the morning, helps me exercise and helps put me to sleep at night. 

Here is my alarm ringtone to get me up in the morning:

Avicii - Wake Me Up  https://soundcloud.com/aviciiofficial/avicii-wake-me-up-extended-mix

Here is my favorite place to find all the music for my workout playlists, just search what you're looking for and create your own. There is also a free app for your phone. www.soundcloud.com

And finally, this is how I get to sleep at night. Songza prompts you for what your in the mood for. Whether it's cleaning the house or sleeping at night, it creates playlist of the perfect music. There is also an app for your phone with this one too! www.songza.com

See, I told you I was a melomaniac!  

Eat well, move more and get enough sleep. And I hope music is something that will help you along the way as much as it has helped me!

~Crazy