We all know that sleep is essential when it comes to promoting fat loss, right? And we also know that we are reccomnended to get at least 8 hours of sleep daily for optimal performance. Now, can you guys give some good tips to get a good night sleep, because I can't seem to get enough. I always wake up at 6 AM, and some times I have to sleep late because of work... Any advice?

If you want to sleep in later from now on, you need to change ur biological clock. friday night - stay up till 3 or 4am. this will ensure you wake up around 10, which will break ur 6am habit.

or - try going to bed at 10pm.

do whatever common sense tellz u to i guess...


We all know that sleep is essential when it comes to promoting fat loss, right? And we also know that we are reccomnended to get at least 8 hours of sleep daily for optimal performance. Now, can you guys give some good tips to get a good night sleep, because I can't seem to get enough. I always wake up at 6 AM, and some times I have to sleep late because of work... Any advice?

We all know that sleep is essential when it comes to promoting fat loss, right? And we also know that we are reccomnended to get at least 8 hours of sleep daily for optimal performance. Now, can you guys give some good tips to get a good night sleep, because I can't seem to get enough. I always wake up at 6 AM, and some times I have to sleep late because of work... Any advice?

- eliminate alcohol from your diet. Zero. It helps a lot.
- eliminate caffeine from you diet. Since caffeine hides in lots of places, you need to work on this one.
- eliminate all light from your sleeping area - you want it really dark
- get daily exercise even on "rest" days.

Yes, I always try to sleep at 10 PM, but sometimes, I still woke up in the middle of the night without knowing the reason. And by the way, I don't think I want to reset my biological clock at 6 AM because I have to go to school. So it is beneficial for me to be able to wake up at 6AM.

- eliminate alcohol from your diet. Zero. It helps a lot.
- eliminate caffeine from you diet. Since caffeine hides in lots of places, you need to work on this one.
- eliminate all light from your sleeping area - you want it really dark
- get daily exercise even on "rest" days.

spot on! i may also add try to sleep in a cool almost cold room. a fan for slight breeze helps a bunch too. A nice hot shower just before bed works wonders for me

I don't know how this with fit into your diet plan but I know that warming up milk is supposed to release tryptophan which is a natural knockout drug. So that my be worth a go half an hour before you want to sleep.

Other then that, what about something like nytol or other similar herbal sleeping pill?

Im the opposite though, i could quite happily sleep 12 hours a day if I wanted/was allowedto!

edit: Tryptophan, how it works and what foods ar high in it:- http://home.howstuffworks.com/question519.htm/printable :tu:

I never have alcohol in my diet, but perhaps the caffeine... well I don't know if it's that bad, but I usually have a cup of coffee in the morning. I don't drink sodas or eat chocolate, so on the second though, I think caffeine is not a problem too... Anyway, thanks for the replies guys, I'll try your advices and see if any works... Thanks again...

Sleep is not that inportant to lose fat for me. I lose easyier wth less sleep because i use more cals when i am awake.

For me the best way to get a full nights sleep is a hot bath before I go to sleep with lavender in it and if I don't have time just a little lavender oil on your pillow case will work wonders especially if you are prone to waking up during the night.

Just because the average time slept is 7.5 hours dosen't mean that you need that much. If you're only getting 6 hours, and feel rested and refreshed, then trying to force yourself to get an extra 2 hours is just wasting your own time. Some people are healthy and happy on as little as 4 hours per night, so don't aim for an arbitrary figure, find your own happy medium.

Andrew.

Some time ago (and I wish I could remember where and how I heard this...I think I read it somewhere) I came across some info about human sleep habits and sleep cycles. Based on what I remember and what I have experimented with along these lines, this is how I base my sleeping patterns...

Humans sleep in 90 minute cycles. 5 cycles = 7.5 hours of sleep. Supposedly, this is the ideal amount of sleep, but if this isnt possible, you should try to end your sleep at the end of a cycle (i.e. 6 hours, 4.5 hours, 3 hours etc.) After these cycles, your body will be more awake and ready to perform. However, if you wake up dead in the middle of a cycle, it will leave you groggy and less able to function throughout the day.

I tried this for myself and found that, for example, if I go to sleep at midnight, and wake up at 7:30 that I am FAR more rested and awake then if I were to wake up @ either 7:00 or 8:00. It's to the point now that my body will just wake up at the end of each cycle...(usually for a potty break...lots and lots of water :nod: ) sort of like its checking to see if I want to wake up now, or give it another 90 minutes before waking up. If I happen to wake up in the middle of a cycle, I'm usually out of it for several hours, and cant ever seem to get as much done in a day as when I've had a full nights sleep. Again, this is all based on personal experience and some info I read a long time ago and decided to try. But it works for me....now if I could only just get to sleep before midnight :p

I need 8-9 hours each night to be at full strength all day. My wife needs 7. Everyone is different. Do you feel rested every day? Then you're good. Your body will tell you.

However, many people try to get enough sleep but have trouble sleeping during their allotted sleeping time. Is this your trouble?

Some time ago (and I wish I could remember where and how I heard this...I think I read it somewhere)

Just Google for it - there are a ton of site that support the 90 minute rule.

Your post made me realize (I think) why I am averaging three 3 hour sleep sessions per night - I wake up in the middle - hit the bathroom and drink some more water - and I feel great in the morning.

Polyphasic Sleep - http://www.here-be-dreams.com/sleep/polyphasic.html

I thought this one was pretty cool too -
http://www.pgh-net.com/oes/operating-for-48-hours-straight.html

Like someone else said though - to each his own - I know that 9 hours works for me - my wife averages 7.

:D

Some tips I've read in various places:

1) I'm told it helps if you reserve your bedroom as a sleeping area. I think the reasoning behind this is psychological.
2) Your body temperature lowers slightly when you go to sleep. Having a cold shower or bath before I go to bed has helped me in the past (kind of drastic I admit).
3) Don't do anything too stimulating for an hour or so before you go to bed. Video games and computer use are really bad for this.

Some time ago (and I wish I could remember where and how I heard this...I think I read it somewhere) I came across some info about human sleep habits and sleep cycles. Based on what I remember and what I have experimented with along these lines, this is how I base my sleeping patterns...

Interesting I never knew that, all my life i've woken up about every 80 minutes when sleeping. Usually I turn over, fix the blankets or whatever then go back to sleep. I set my clock for 7, usually i wake at 6 and sleep another hour till my alarm goes off. I find i'm less awake then i was at 6.

So I guess there's some merit to the theory.

I don't feel rested enough when I only get 6 hours of sleep. In fact, I feel very out of energy and sleepy through out the day. My workout also feels like wasted. So I think I need at least 6.5-7 hours daily. I'll try to find the best strategy for me to get the adequate rest that I needed.

And regarding to this reply, Sleep is not that inportant to lose fat for me. I lose easyier wth less sleep because i use more cals when i am awake. I have to disagree with that. There has been many research (or so I've read) that says that lack of sleep has the risk to obesity. And it also says that you actually burn more calories while sleeping. I have to agree with this research because from my personal experience, everytime I'm lacking of sleep, I turn to food for comfort and energy... Even John tries to sleep at least 8 hours, right?

I think it depends on genetics and that people can be very different. I only sleep 4-6 hours/night. And it makes no difference what I do because my body dont want to sleep more than that. I just wake up and cant go back to sleep and it feels like I dont need to sleep any more.

It has always been like that for me. And I can still lose fat fast or bulk if I do the training and diet right.

So I think that you should sleep as much as your body needs. And if you are a person that never can sleep 8-9 hours (and feel that you dont need that) there is no reason to worrie.

Regards!