Behavioral insomnia often results from lifestyle choices. Lifestyle choices, including how much or how little you exercise, can affect your health.
Exercise Improves Sleep
Exercise helps promote good health, and good health allows us to combat common disorders including insomnia. Even light exercise is better than no exercise when it comes to improving your sleep. The best time to exercise is in the morning or afternoon, when you will get a burst of energy from your activity. You should avoid exercising 3 to 4 hours before bedtime, because this can reduce the quality of your sleep or promote insomnia. Stretching is a great way to ease into an exercise routine. This unique
stretching video demonstrates simple stretches you can incorporate into your life to promote healthier living and better sleeping. Exercise can dramatically improve your health and your wellness. Start out slowly, by walking three to four times each week for fifteen minutes. You can gradually work into a more aggressive physical fitness routine.
When you are fit and healthy, you sleep better, no matter the type of sleep disorder you suffer from. When you exercise regularly, you are more likely to lose weight and less likely to suffer from insomnia and other illnesses. You don't have to exercise every day to reap the benefits of exercise. In fact, if you can spend just 10-20 minutes each day enjoying light exercise, you may find your sleepless nights soon become a long lost memory.
Healthy Diet
A healthy diet can also encourage sleep filled nights. If you find you suffer from bouts of insomnia, try eliminating the following foods from your diet. They can all contribute to insomnia.
- Coffee
- Tea
- Soda
- Spicy Food
- Chocolate
- Alcohol
- Foods With Heavy Sauces
If you want to look and feel your best, take some time to evaluate your diet. Rich foods can slow digestion and leave you feeling uncomfortable at night. Coffee and other stimulants can cause you to wake during the night or experience trouble falling asleep. Processed foods including those filled with refined sugar can cause dramatic fluctuations in blood sugar levels. This can also lead to insomnia.
Foods That Help You Sleep
The good news is there are many foods that help you sleep. Examples include:
- A glass of warm milk with a dab of honey or lemon may relax you so you fall asleep faster.
- A small piece of plain toast or a couple of crackers can increase the level of feel good hormones in your body and encourage you to stay asleep.
- A cup of decaffeinated chamomile tea can also help relax you before bed.
- A small bowl of cereal one-half to one hour before bed can fill you up just enough to encourage sleep.
Why do these foods help? If you have a light snack before bed, you are more likely to maintain balanced blood sugar levels throughout the evening. Carbohydrates including those found in toast or cereal can also help you sleep better. Just avoid eating too many, or you will find the opposite is true.
Sleep And Lifestyle
Often insomnia results from poor lifestyle habits. These include:
- Not exercising - this can lead to obesity and result in poor quality sleep or insomnia.
- Watching television right before bed - this can actually stimulate your brain function making it harder for you to fall asleep.
- Working in or around your bedroom - this can make falling asleep difficult, especially if you tend to concentrate on work instead of sleeping.
- Living a stressful life - this has many effects on the body including weight gain, insomnia, chronic ill-health, and systemic illness.
Often simple lifestyle changes are all that you need to feel better and start sleeping better.
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