After being
up way too late the night before, I was ready to hit the hay last night at
8:30pm. I didn’t actually go to bed until 9:45pm, but I was excited about a
long, restful night of sleep--unfortunately my body had other ideas. I woke up
at 11:30pm thinking it was about 4am, then again at 2:30am. When I woke up for
the second time I was frustrated, because typically I have no trouble sleeping.
So this frustration lead my half asleep brain to reference what I know about sleep
and my recent conversation with my dad.
Here is a quick lesson
on hormones and how they affect your sleep.
Cortisol is
most commonly known as the stress hormone in our bodies. It works in conjunction with melatonin to
regulate our sleep. Working like a teeter
totter, in the morning your adrenal glands release cortisol—essentially a burst
of energy, to wake you up. Throughout the day your cortisol levels drop and
your melatonin hormones increase, helping you relax and fall asleep at night. When
your cortisol levels get out of balance, it can keep you from being able to
fall asleep and/or sleep through the night. When cortisol levels rise to quickly,
this will wake you up in the middle of the night.
With all the
above information whirling in my sleepy brain, I deduced that I needed to drag
myself out of bead and eat something to balance out my cortisol levels and
hopefully sleep well the remainder of the night. My sleepy reasoning paid off
and after my midnight snack of celery and homemade cashew butter I slept like a
baby for the rest of the night.
A good way
to avoid waking up in the middle of the night is to eat a small, healthy snack
before bed that includes protein and fat.
This will help your body maintain cortisol levels throughout the night
while you sleep.
I know for myself,
if I want to have a happy, productive day I need at least 8 hours of sleep
EVERY night. Hopefully this post gives you some information that will help you
have a better understanding of how to control your sleep.
Hope
xoxo
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