No sleep, no progress!

Is lack of sleep your roadblock?

Is your poor sleep hygiene a barrier to reaching your weight loss goals? If you are regularly getting less than 7 hours of sleep, the answer is most likely YES!

The truth is, lack of sleep negatively impacts our ability to make good choices. Think about your most recent late-night Netflix binge, or the last time you were up worrying about your teen daughter who stayed out too late. You nodded off around 1:00 am, only to be yanked out of deep sleep by the 6:00 am alarm. You hit the snooze button 3 or 4 times and shaved 15 minutes off your morning routine, leaving no time to make coffee and eat breakfast.

Rushing out the door, you likely forgot to grab your lunch out of the fridge. Feeling the ‘hangry’ monster rearing it’s ugly head, you pulled into the nearest fast-fat-food drive-through and ordered a breakfast sandwich combo. Next, you were downing that double-double(rather than your usual home brewed java) and cramming the egg/cheese and bacon sandwich into your mouth while driving to work, momentarily feeling that instant gratification of sweet creamy coffee, greasy bacon and warm, toasted glutinous white bread.

Then came the crash…

Not too long after as you scrambled into your workstation or desk, it hit you HARD. You started to feel sluggish and drained. You ended up skipping your usual lunchtime fitness class or after-work run. You grabbed pizza or a burger and fries from the cafeteria for lunch to top up that temporary ‘feel-good’ sensation from greasy spoon grub. You chugged more coffee instead of refilling your water bottle. You probably picked up convenience food for dinner too, since the thought of cooking a meal seemed overwhelming. What a recipe for disaster!

Sleep for sound choices.

Healthy fitness and nutrition choices that come about based on practiced skills are much easier to make when you are well-rested. When you have slept well, you depend less on willpower and can go about your daily food and exercise ritual as routinely as you brush your teeth. How can you promote longer, more restful sleep? You do this by establishing good sleep hygiene habits. You’ll need to determine what your roadblocks to falling and staying asleep are. Then, you’ll want an action plan, or a roadmap to build healthy habits to move past these roadblocks. Finally, you’ll need to implement the plan, follow the roadmap and stay accountable.

Need help with your roadmap?

Consult with a Catalyst Nutrition Coach to assess your current habits, address your challenges and create a plan to help change behaviours and achieve your goals! Your Coach will help you step-by-step to implement the plan, and keep you accountable by checking in and checking up!

Book your FREE Healthy Habits Intro call here to find out more about Nutrition Coaching at Catalyst Fitness & Nutrition!

Yours in health and fitness,

Miranda Stadnisky Mayhew

Nutrition Coach, Catalyst Fitness & Nutrition