So I’ve not had the best week this week, I have some sort of virus and I am in the middle of a pretty grim cold sore breakout – a personal best at 4 no less!  I wasn’t going to blog today but then I decided to man up, get a long shower and apply an inordinate amount of concealer to look vaguely human again…without fear of becoming repetitive I used 5-4-3-2-1 to get myself up and about – it works for me.

I have been reflecting a lot about my well being and lifestyle these last few days.  I get so lit up about new ideas and I have a ton of things I want to share on here in the coming weeks and months, things that have helped me get more organised and things I have thrown myself into whole heartedly as well as things I have started and loved but have then lacked consistency in keeping them up.  So I am obviously run down at the moment and the biggest single factor I can attribute this to – and the thing that most impacts my ability to maintain new routines – is a lack of good quality sleep.

I love my bed, I am always tired, I will cat nap at every opportunity if I can get away with it but I cannot seem to get a good night of uninterrupted sleep.  I wake every night around 3am and I am often awake for a couple of hours.  Over recent weeks there have been numerous news articles about the dangerous health consequences of poor sleep.  I have turned to Audible for help and I am part way through a great book by Shawn Stephenson called Sleep Smarter which has brought it home to me that I have little to no chance of sticking with all my aspirational routines if I am fundamentally lacking in good quality sleep.

I have to be honest, I do like a good quick fix, I filled up my Amazon basket yesterday with a host of things that claim to help you get a better nights sleep, things like an air purifier, cooling mat, supplements, pillow spray and even a daylight alarm clock!  But then I stopped before hitting the Checkout button, what a ridiculous amount of money I was preparing to spend when there are a ton of other things I need to do first that don’t cost any money.

So back to basics – these are the first basic things I am going to try and be consistent with over the coming weeks to see if I get any results before I spend any money on other things:

• Caffeine – I love a cup of tea but my last one will now be no later than 6pm (I will try and cut back on prosecco too – I will!).
• Exercise – Optimum time to workout to improve sleep is early in the morning – I will try my best to incorporate this back into my routine starting slowly and working up to 3 to 4 times a week.
• 10pm lights out – apparently staying up after 10pm you often experience a second wind but that can have a negative impact on the quality of your overall sleep and number of sleep cycles per night.  I don’t often stay up late but I am going to try and go at a consistent time from now on.
• Phone and I Pad out of sight – despite hearing from many sources the negative impact on sleep from the blue light that emits from our smart phones, laptops and tablets – I have to admit when I wake in the night I will watch hours of videos to try and tire myself out.  This will be my biggest challenge, leaving the phone and I Pad in the kitchen overnight.
• Darkness / Noise – apparently any light source can interfere with our sleep so the eye mask will be on and as I am such a light sleeper my ear plugs will be in.
• Notepad – ready to jot down anything that I think of if I do wake in the night this has helped in the past but I haven’t been consistent.
• Eat for a good nights sleep – apparently there are a whole host of foods that can increase the levels of Selenium, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Omega 3, Melatonin, Pro and Pre-biotics that all contribute to our quality of sleep – this week I will focus on increasing my intake from these sources:

• Lean Meat – Chicken, Beef and Turkey
• Leafy Green Veg, Peppers, Avocado, Kale, Asparagus, Spinach, Sweet Potato
• Tuna, Salmon, Mackerel
• Ginger Root, Garlic, Pineapple, Tomato
• Cashews, Almonds, Walnuts, Brazil Nuts, Chia Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds
• Sauerkraut, Shitake Mushrooms

Please let me know in the comments below if you have any tips to share on getting a better nights sleep.  Have a great week folks, sleep well and thanks so much for stopping by, hopefully I will be rested and raring to go very soon! x