Mighty Sleep 💤

Sleep is the most effective, free of charge immunity booster, weight management friend and recovery tool.

For women, our estrogen fluctuations are likely to influence our sleep patterns and in many cases perturb our sleep:

• before menopause: while crossing the luteal phase we require more sleep, yet, the increase in our body temperature often perturb it, and

• in the years after menopause: the estrogen lows can make our sleep scarce, not to mention the night sweats that can greatly impact our recovery.

Many ladies complain of waking up in the middle of the night and having difficult to fall asleep again, or simply sleeping too little to balance the stress of their busy days.

A blood test can help us figure out many ways to intervene and support our sleep, and adaptogens and/or hormonal therapy can come in handy for many ladies.

For today I'd like to approach a few small routines that, summed up, can become key practices that can naturally improve the quality of our sleep.

I hear so often "yeah, but at my age, and with my busy life, bad sleep is normal…"

It is true that while we age our sleep can suffer - yet, the few aspects below function at any age, and WILL improve our sleep, decrease stress and also support us with our weight management and healthy weight loss, for the ladies that have this as a goal.

Give a chance to implementing the aspects below - you'll be most impressed of the ways your body responds:

1. Eat early dinners (18h-19h30 is ideal) and stop eating at least 2h before going to bed 

2. Avoid excitants after 16h - for that matter, limit them all together (coffee, black and green teas, kombucha, too spicy foods)

3. Dinner: limit sugar and alcohol intake, and if you've had them, go out for a short walk and also ensure proper hydration!

Alcohol is proven to be a major sleep disruptor in menopause transition, you may want to limit it or even exclude it for a while.

4. Plan for your physical training no later than 3h before bed, so that your HR and cortisol levels have the time to lower correctly before bed time (especially late cardio or HIIT are very sleep-disruptive) 

5. Go to sleep before midnight, ideally no later than 11pm, so that you allow your body to produce melatonin naturally (the amount we produce decreases with age, and its important to support the body in the process)

6. Make sure that the room where you sleep is well oxygenated, with no source of light (it will disturb the quality and depth of your sleep) and a temperature between 18 and maximum 22C 

7. If you sleep with your partner: ideally have two bed mattresses instead of a big one, and use separate covers/ blankets (often different thickness, too)

8. Leave the electronics outside your bedroom and cut the wifi connection during the night if possible

9. Work on finding a consistent sleeping pattern (a similar routine and time to go to bed each day), and if possible respect the circadian rhythm (working late, working night shifts or irregular shifts is highly disruptive not for the sleep, but for the hormonal system, too)

10. No screen time 1h before bed, another way to stimulate the production of melatonin 

11. After 18h, use blue light glasses or devices protectors, and set your mobile applications to shift from blue to red light (they are available for all devices)

12. Have your last liquid intake 30-40min before sleeping and use the toilet before you turn out the light, so that your sleep doesn't get interrupted by needing "to go" later on 

13. How much sleep is enough? 

This is a tricky one! Look at the two shots below, from my Oura ring.

While the research says that we need 7-8h a sleep every night (and more when we're sick or dealing with a chronic condition), at the end, every night is different and everything is… relative.

A night with optimal 6h of sleep stages is better than a night with 8h of not optimal sleep. Quality over quantity, like in everything else!

14. Last but not least: track your sleep!

We are all different beings, and it's really important to find out what's optimal for YOU. To do that, you need trial and error, and tracking your sleep will be an enlightening, powerful health routine.

You can use a smart watch, an Oura ring or a Whoop bracelet.

Personally, I wear a Garmin and an Oura ring, and

I can only assure you: the data you receive is very practical and simple to read, and if you are consistent, over the time you'll simply learn what works for you, understand your body better and team-up with it, towards better health and performance!

What you'll track: heart rate recovery and heart rate variability (they reflect into stress levels), stages of your sleep, restfulness, and of course, physical training data, too.

If you're crossing your perimenopause: you may want to adjust your sleeping routine in function of the phase of your hormonal cycle, prioritising more rest, adjustments and supplements in the luteal phase.

FIT JOY Female-Smart Nutrition for Perimenopause has a full section on understanding insomnia and also facilitating your rest by prioritising supporting foods - all in function of your own story.

Any other natural best practices that you use and would like to add to the above list? :)

Please leave a comment below!