In last module, we talked about sleep hygiene. In this module, we're going to talk about some habits that actually can impact your sleep. So first and foremost, we want to think about how food can impact the way that we get to sleep or stay asleep. There are actually three different types of things I want to talk about related to food versus how late you eat. When you eat right before you go to sleep, and you're sleeping on a full stomach, sometimes you're actually not going to sleep that well. In fact, it's better for you to, to finish eating about three hours before you get to sleep.

And to make sure that it doesn't impact your blood sugar's as well. Eating late at night before you go to sleep can absolutely impact your blood sugar's in a negative way. The second thing is things that are caffeinated so In our body, caffeine will stay in our body from six to nine hours. So you should stop having anything that's caffeinated by 2pm. So by the time you're ready to go to sleep, you can actually get to sleep and that caffeine won't be playing a role in your ability to get to sleep and to stay asleep. The next alcohol is to dating and it's relaxing.

But the truth of the matter is, when you drink alcohol more than one glass, then it can actually cause you to not sleep very well impacting the quality of your sleep, and it can cause you to wake up. And for women in particular, it actually can be a problem where they'll wake up multiple times through the night that impacts the quality of your sleep. Not to mention the fact that there's a sugar in alcohol and sugar and mixers for alcohol. And so again, that's something your body has to deal with. And if you're dealing with blood sugar issues already, it can actually Cause your blood sugar to go down or up. And these very odd ways that you wouldn't expect.

So you want to be careful about drinking alcohol as its relationship to sleep, but also as its relationship to your blood sugar's other habits. You don't want to do things like do a super intense workout an hour before you go to sleep. Those intense workouts while I want you to exercise and move your body, they actually stir up your body and wake your body up so then it's not ready to go to sleep. So you want to try to do your most intense workouts earlier in the day in the middle of the day, if you're going to do an intense workout after work, but not right before you get to bed, because that will impact your ability to sleep in a negative way as well. Just anything that's intense for the brain that makes the brain have to be really alert. You don't want to do anything like that.

That two to three hours before you're going to go to bed. So you really want to prep yourself to actually start calming down and being ready for sleep. Then when you do your sleep ritual, your body is fully ready and prepared to go to sleep. So you see, it all works in conjunction with one another. The other thing is, you want to make sure that your behaviors are that you go to bed at the same time every night as much as possible and that you wake up at the same time as much as possible. Those types of behaviors and rhythms, like I said before, actually help you so that your sleep is anticipated and your rest and is deeper and you are doing a better job of getting all the things that you need from sleep that you really need.

Another thing that you may not be aware of is that our body actually likes to sleep at lower temperatures. So you don't want your bedroom to be really hot. So even though for example, I love warm weather, I love hot weather, I love being in the sun. Even at night, you want to make sure that you are sleeping in a cool room about 68 degrees or between 65 and 68 is great for you to actually feel that you're going to get a good deep night's sleep and rest. When it's 7080 degrees in your bedroom, you will not sleep as well. And for women who are dealing with hot flashes, menopause, that can just cause the hot flashing and hot flushing to get even worse.

So these are the kinds of things you want to think about in terms of behaviors that will improve the quality of your sleep. And again, the better sleep you have, the more refreshed and energized you'll feel in the morning. But more importantly, you'll make sure that insulin resistance is not happening as problem from sleep. If you're having difficulty sleeping, sleeping issues and problems, you should see someone who can help you a qualified practitioner, because there may be underlying issues, hormonal issues, other things I see in my practice all the time, that's preventing you from getting sleep, going out and taking melatonin or over the counter sleeping aids, they may or may not work, and they may not actually solve whatever your particular problem is. So you need to make sure that you get the help that you need when you need it. The final thing I'm gonna mention is that if you find that your mind is racing about work, or you wake up, if your mind is racing about work, consider having a journal next to your bed and write down all the things that you're afraid that you're going to forget.

So that you'll know that it'll be there when you wake up in the morning. It's one of the ways to relax your mind. In addition to all the ways I talked to you about relaxing your body that will allow you to get to sleep and to stay that way.