Early on in my fitness coaching career, when I worked for a commercial gym and we had our own gym, I woke up regularly between 4-4:30 am, and I was diligent about taking a daily 20-30 minute nap.

Since we closed our gym in 2016, I hardly ever take naps anymore, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t need one.

In fact we all need a daily restorative nap to support good health and hormone balance.

Sleep deprivation adversely affects your health, hormone balance, and accelerates aging because it influences your genes.

→ Your circadian rhythm regulates 15% of your genome which means that poor sleep habits and sleep deprivation can adversely affect your circadian rhythm gene and your longevity genes to the extreme of increasing your biological age.

→ 97% of the population requires 7-8.5 hours of sleep for optimal hormone balance, positive gene expression and to function properly from memory, focus+attention, to mood+eating habits.

(!!!) SO, if you think that you’re one of those people who doesn’t need a lot of sleep, you’re probably WRONG because only 3% of the population has the “short sleep” gene.

→ Sleep deprivation changes the expression of 1 in 3 genes AND sleeping 5 hours or fewer a night equates to aging an extra 4-5 years.

→ PLUS, when you get 5 hours or less of sleep per night, you end up with an imbalance of 2 important satiety hormones:

Gherlin (the hormone that tells you to eat) increases ⬆️.

Leptin (the hormone that tells you to stop eating) decreases ⬇️.

This is why when you are sleep deprived you tend to eat more and have cravings.

NOW that I’ve scared the sh*t out of you, you have permission to take a nap because the GOOD NEWS is that a 20 minute nap can be as healing to the body as 1 hour of nighttime sleep.

SLEEP is LIFE and SLEEP DEPRIVATION is💀 and makes you feel like poop💩.

I don’t want you to feel like poop💩, so here are 10 tips to help you get your ZZZ’s and regulate your circadian rhythm:

1️⃣ Boost melatonin production and get 15 minutes of sunglass-free sunlight daily before 10 am.

2️⃣ Keep coffee to 1 cup per day before 10 am or eliminate completely.

3️⃣ Wear blue light blocking glasses after sundown or by no later than 8pm.

4️⃣ No cell phones, tablets, computers after 8pm.

5️⃣ If you watch TV before bed wear blue light blocking glasses OR INSTEAD skip the TV and read A BOOK (not a tablet or kindle).

6️⃣ Take a sleep supplement. (Supplements are something I help my clients with and my nighttime sleep supplement combo is Melatonin, Magnesium Glycinate, GABA, 5-HTP, and Progesterone as prescribed by my functional medicine physician.)

7️⃣ Make your bedroom your sleep sanctuary – blackout curtains, no electronic devices like a TV, computer, or cell phone. Definitely no reading your tablet or kindle in bed, or working on your computer in bed, or scrolling through your phone in bed!

→ Also consider ear plugs, a sleep mask, and putting your phone on airplane mode as electromagnetic frequency has been shown to interfere with sleep.

8️⃣ Go to sleep and wake up within 30 minutes of the same time every day whether it’s a weekday or weekend (preferably by 10 pm and by no later than 10:30 pm) – this helps to regulate your circadian rhythm.

9️⃣ Get 7-8.5 hours of sleep per night – REMEMBER! Only 3% of the population have the gene to be a “short sleeper” and can operate off of less than that. So if you think that you’re 1 of those people who doesn’t need a lot of sleep, you’re probably WRONG.

🔟 If you’re unable to get 7-8.5 hours of sleep, then take a 20-30 minute nap. A 20 minute nap can be as healing to the body as an hour of nighttime sleep. YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO TAKE A NAP.

Sleep and elements of circadian biology are included in one of the habit and lifestyle pillars that I help my clients activate and prioritize to maximize their results, because if your sleep hygiene is non-existent, especially over 40, then you won’t be able to reap the benefits from all the hard work you put into following your exercise and nutrition plan.

If you need help with your sleep hygiene and getting started with a new fitness and nutrition plan to kick ass at midlife, I have two 1:1 fitness coaching spots available.

I’d love to help you feel like a SUPERHERO because you’re crushing sound, quality sleep every night!

Apply to work with me by click on the purple button below👇🏽

Helping you to get your 💤,

Artemis