There is little that can prepare a person for the sleep deprived exhaustion of having an infant. I remember making a bleary-eyed morning emergency trip to the nearby grocery store for diapers after a night of what had felt like constant interruptions from our newborn and his siblings. I paused my minivan to make a left at the light at the intersection, yawned and closed my eyes for a second. Well, it must’ve been more than a second because not one, but two of the cars behind me blared their horns to let me know it was time for me to go. I made my turn in what felt like slow motion and had the thought, “this is why there are so many car accidents—people are too tired to make safe driving decisions!”
Luckily, I completed my mission without incident that day, but the realization of the effects of sleep deprivation I felt first-hand was startling. Turns out, science shows that not getting enough sleep can have tremendous impact on our health—from our cognitive abilities to even how well we fight colds and infections. The National Sleep Foundation refers to sleep as an “essential function” and cautions that chronic sleep deprivation can lead to a number of health issues including obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, poor mental health, and even early death. The bottom line is that getting good sleep is important! Once I decided to make sleep a priority, I made several changes in my daily habits and bedtime routine.
As a result, I’ve experienced better quality sleep and some awesome side effects like I wake feeling more rested and less groggy. My muscles seem to recover after workouts better and I feel sore for shorter periods of time. My skin looks better and I have fewer breakouts. I also feel less hungry in the mornings; my body isn’t looking for food first thing and I’m able to practice intermittent fasting fairly easily. Since this post is getting rather long and because each of them were “small steps” I took to improve my heath, in the next four posts, I’ll share the Top 4 Small Steps I took to Improve my Sleep Habits. Stay tuned! I hope you’ll read on.
