Sleep is really, really important. I know, I know... here I go again, talking about sleep. Seriously though, sleep is SO crutial! Here's a few reasons::
That said, sleep isn't just about quantity. Quality of sleep matters. Some days I feel like I've had a great night's sleep and others not so much. But I've never had a way to analyze my sleep and see if was getting quality sleep. That's why when I received a complementary Sleeptracker from BeautyRest, I was over the moon with excitement! It comes with two sleep sensors, a processor and the power plug. It was super easy to set up and they even include an instructional video in the ap. The sleep sensors are placed under the pillow. For Rob and me, we placed them towards the outside of the bed to monitor us each individually. The first night, we were SO excited to get some sleep to test this out. The first night, it can take about 18-hours to get your results. I got mine in about 6 hours. I had felt like I got a great night's sleep, so I was interested to see if the numbers lined up with how I felt. Here are my numbers from the first night (& yes, I sleep for a long time haha): I was delighted to see that my sleep score and sleep efficiency were both above the range. Night two, I didn't get as much REM sleep. I felt pretty groggy all day. I decided to to a little research on the sleep cycle (I'll do a full post about that), but basically your body cycles through different levels of sleep. Each are important and have their own function. REM (rapid eye movement) is when usually when you're dreaming. REM sleep is the phase of sleep where your body is repairing itself.
The two features I really enjoy are the white noise maker and the alarm. The white noise maker is so relaxing. Since using it, I feel like I've been getting a deeper sleep. The alarm feature is really cool. You set your wake up time and the app will have the alarm go off within 30 minuets. Because of the sleep sensors, it knows what the optimal time to wake you up, leaving you less groggy. Since I've been using the app, I've been able to pin point why I've felt a certain way in the morning. On days where I'm feeling very energize, my sleep matches that. I've been in the deep sleep and REM sleep longer than light sleep. All in all this is a remarkable product! I would recommend this product to anyone, especially if you're having problems sleeping or, if you're like me and loveeee data! This has been a great tool for me to see what my sleep was like and follow the tips provided from the app to improve my sleep. Hope you are all having an amazing week! xoxo, Chelsea
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If you're like me you're probably watching what you eat (except on those cheat meals... can't live without those... am I right?), working out and drinking water but you can't seem to "lose two pounds" (Mean Girls reference). Well, you might not be getting enough sleep. Wait, what?! How did I just jump from weight to sleep? Surprisingly enough, lack of sleep could be causing you to gain weight! (NOTE: Weight isn't all about vanity either. Maintaining a proper weight is critical to your overall health. When you're at the proper weight, you lower the risk of stroke, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.) The National Sleep Foundation says the recommended sleep range for adults is 7-9 hours. Without enough sleep, your body isn't able to regulate key hormones that factor into the feeling of hunger and ability to feel full: ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin, aka the “hunger hormone”, works to regulate hunger and appetite. Leptin, aka the “satiety hormone” is the opposite of ghrelin and works to deter hunger. So, if these hormones could talk, ghrelin is hangry and is saying “I’m hungry… feed me NOW” and leptin says “I’m full. Time to put the fork down”. If these hormones aren't regulated properly, your body sends the wrong signals, which can cause overeating. When your body isn’t getting enough rest, it lowers the levels of leptin in your blood stream and increases the levels of ghrelin. This will cause your body to signal you're hungry, even when you're not or that you're still not full, when you really are, causing you to over eat and gain weight. In one study, people suffering from lack of sleep consumed 300 more calories per day than the group that was getting enough sleep. That could add up to 30 pounds in one year alone! Not only does lack of sleep cause an imbalance in the hormones that control hunger signals, it has also been shown to drastically slow metabolism. This means your body will burn fewer calories throughout the day than if you had been getting the proper amount sleep. So, combine heavier appetite, inability to tell when you're full and a lower metabolism?! No thank you!! That's just asking for some serious weight gain, which puts your entire body at risk for stroke, diabetes, and even cancer (not to mention, for me, shopping for a bigger size always stings). Make sure you're catching those zzzz's! xoxo, Chelsea PS - "Four for you Glen Coco, You GO Glen Coco! ....And none for Gretchen Weiners" |
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