»dialogue« by kay rosen (+)

»dialogue« by kay rosen (+)

Check in Day 3: Keep Healthy Sleep Habits

With all the recap of tips and additional advice to improve your sleep quality, you should be very on track in sleeping good every night.

If you’ve been strictly following our advice, you should have experienced less (or even no longer experience) these sleep deprivation symptoms:

• Yawning
• Moodiness
• Memory problems
• Weight gain
• Cognitive dysfunction
• Cold and flu
• Depression
• Heart disease

You have successfully kept healthy sleep habits!

That’s a step forward to make you healthier, and I’m gladly recommending you to take the next step – let’s kickstart the relaxation from stress!

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Check in Day 2: Keep Healthy Sleep Habits

Let’s have a quick check:

• You pay special attention to your drinks in night time.
• You adjust your workout time, make sure it does not happen 2 hours before bed.

Well done! Next, I want to suggest you to create your own evening ritual that you do every day.

Create a bed time routine to hint your body it is time to sleep

It can be as short as 15 minutes. You simply need a signal to your body to relax because it is time to forget about the work and sleep.

It will be perfect if your routine can include the following items:

1. Put the cell phone away from bed
2. Dim the light
3. Meditate for at least 5 minutes
4. Listen to your favourite music
5. Anything else that make you feel relax

When you have tied up the ritual with sleeping, your sleeping mode will be triggered whenever you complete this set of actions.

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Check in Day 1: Keep Healthy Sleep Habits

Progress Check-in

Let’s have a quick check-in to make sure that you’re on track!

• Avoid drinking anything with caffeine, sugar or alcohol 2 hours before bed.
• Avoid doing exercise 2 hours before bed

If your answer is yes to both, awesome! You’re in great progress in improving your sleep quality. (Don’t miss out tomorrow’s extra tip!)

If your answer is no to one of them, do these today:

Watch out what you drink during dinner, or simply make it earlier.

If you love to have a glass or two during dinner, make sure you do it earlier.

If you work on your side project at night and need extra energy boost for that, try a cup of green tea in the early evening or right after dinner.

Move your exercise routine to morning.

If you work out in the morning, not only can you have a good night sleep, you can also reap more extra benefits from your exercise routine.

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Don’t Panic Next Time When You Shake/Can’t Move During Sleep, Remember This

Have you found your body shake when you are falling asleep? Have you ever had the unsettling experience of waking up in the middle of the night and finding that you are unable to move? Has this elicited feelings of fear and panic? Let’s take a closer look at what this is, why it happens and how to deal with it without panicking.

First, why your body shakes when you nearly fall asleep?

Neurologists explained when we start to enter the “Slow wave sleep” stage, we experience a separation between brains and muscles so that we won’t move when we dream. So it’s a normal situation that most of us would experience and it’s just like a disconnection performed in our bodies. It doesn’t imply that we have any hidden diseases.

Before we wake up, our minds and muscles will reconnect so it’s also common for us to shake before we wake up.

Some people would experience an exceptional case where the disconnection occurs earlier than the brain actually falling asleep completely. Then they would panic as they’re conscious but can’t move our bodies. This is called sleep paralysis.

What is sleep paralysis?

Sleep paralysis (SP) may be described as a period of time during which voluntary muscle movement is inhibited, yet you can see, breath and sense as in a waking state. SP can occur when you fall asleep or when you are about to wake up. A characteristic of SP is vivid hallucinations. These can be frightening experiences that have been interpreted and explained as, for example, the results of witchcraft, malevolent spirits and extra-terrestrial visitations.

How does sleep paralysis happen?

Deep sleep or REM sleep is at times suppressed; this can occur for a variety of reasons such as anxiety, trauma, jetlag, unusual sleep patterns or alcohol. When REM sleep is suppressed instead of occurring at the beginning of the night it takes place at the end of the night and this can elicit strange occurrences.

During REM we experience vivid dreams and, during this period of sleep the body is put into a state of complete paralysis. This is believed to prevent us from performing our dreams and is a completely normal occurrence. Sometimes, however, things don’t go according to plan and you can wake up during the REM period while your body is still paralyzed.

Who suffers from sleep paralysis?

Around 8% of the general population, 28% of students and 32% of psychiatric patients have experienced SP at least once, according to various studies. The reason that SP occurs at a higher rate in psychiatric patients and students is somewhat unclear but it is thought that it may be because both groups experience regular sleep disturbances; an occurrence that makes SP more likely.

SP has been linked with conditions such as narcolepsy, hypertension and seizure disorders, but it is also associated with sleep disturbances, a general lack of sleep, jet lag and shift work.

Why some people see strange things during sleep paralysis?

SP experiences can be very frightening. Cheyne et al. discovered that 90% of a student sample and 98% of a web-based sample said that they felt fear. Clinically significant levels of fear were found in 69% of a psychiatric sample taken by Sharpless et al. These high levels of fear sharply contrast the fear felt by people when they experience regular dreams. During normal dreaming fear occurs 30% of the time.

Brian Sharpless, a clinical psychologist at Washington State University and author of the book, Sleep Paralysis: Historical, Psychological, and Medical Perspectives says: “I had one patient who was lying in bed and woke up to see a little vampire girl with blood coming out of her mouth,” he continues by saying “This is an example of a really vivid, multi-sensory hallucination. She could feel this vampire figure grabbing onto her arms, pulling her, and saying she was going to drag her to hell and do all these terrible things to her.”

Anxiety levels are high when people experience SP. Sharpless explains: “You have this vague sense that there’s something in the room with you.” Often people have the unnerving feeling that someone is watching them.

The brain is confused and urgently tries to make sense of the different signals it is getting. It uses cultural beliefs and memories and applies them to the situation of SP. Baland Jalal, a neuroscientist at the University of California says  “Adding original features, scenarios or stories to try and make sense of what you’re experiencing is a very human thing to do”. He explains that “this is why people see ghosts, demons, aliens or even figments from their past appearing to attack them.”

The fear that comes with SP is not only derived from the fact that one feels paralyzed but also from the hallucinatory content that accompanies the paralysis. Unnatural involuntary movements, the presence of malevolent intruders and psychical or sexual assaults are frequently experienced during an SP episode.

How to avoid sleep paralysis

Psychologists offer some suggestions that may help deal with SP. These tips include trying to establish a more regular sleep cycle and not sleeping on your back or stomach. “People are statistically less likely to have it, if they sleep on their side,” Sharpless says. “We think there’s something about the extra weight when we’re in a supine position that makes it more likely.”

Summation

Next time you experience SP try to remember why it is happening. Thinking about the physical reasons for this phenomena may help you manage your SP experience better and stop you from becoming too frightened by it.

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5 Amazing Things That Would Happen When You Log Every Food You Eat

You may have a to-do list or to-buy list, like most of us do. But how many of us would record the food we eat? What we eat affects us every second, as they provide the necessary nutrients, or if you eat unhealthy food they can be harming your bodies…so how can we know if we’re eating right?

By keeping a food diary, you will be surprised and amazed by the difference simply recording what you eat can make to your overall health and well-being.

Sherrie Delinsky, PhD, a staff psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, says: “food diaries can unveil patterns of overeating. They can also reveal and identify triggers to avoid, such as not eating enough throughout the day and then overeating at night, or overeating when drinking alcohol.”

Benefits you will see when you log your food

1. You will cut down on calories

By paying attention to your calorie intake you can better control the amount of calories you are eating. Your awareness will lead to an ability to limit and restrict your daily calorie intake. Experts say that the simple act of keeping a food diary can encourage you to eat fewer calories and thus lose weight. 

2. You will snack less

By looking at how many snacks you have during the day you can cut down on unnecessary calories. Snacks can add up and can greatly contribute to your calorie intake. You may find that your meals are proportional but that you are snacking too much. By cutting down on snacks you can gain a trimmer waist line.

3. You will see the difference between weekends and weekdays

Another thing you will see is the difference between what you eat on the weekdays and what you consume on the weekend. As you generally have less time during the week you may find that you are eating more takeaway or quick meals with a high fat content. By noticing how you may cut corners on weekdays you can, for example, make an extra effort to cook during the weekend so you have pre-prepared healthy meals ready to eat during the week.

4. You will listen to your mood

By logging your food diary, you will discover your emotional connection with your food. See if your good eating days correspond with a positive mood. Also look to see if you feel good after you eat healthier meals. You may find that your mood is bad when you overeat and indulge. By being more aware of your mood you can prevent overeating and thus reduce your calorie intake.

5. You will feel more comfortable and healthier

By highlighting any food intolerances or allergies you may have you can get rid of unnecessary discomfort and things that are potentially bad for you. By paying attention to what foods make you feel bloated or give you indigestion you can eliminate these foods and feel much better. Some symptoms could be more serious like a rash or nausea. If you experience these kind of reactions to certain foods consult with your doctor.

How to keep a food diary

What to include?

In your diary you will need to keep a record of the date, time, place, item eaten and quantity consumed. You may like to write by hand; if this is the case you can purchase a blank notebook or a daily diary. If you prefer to use electronic media there are many online tracking devices and apps available.

Be specific

When you keep your diary remember to record everything you eat and drink. The more specific and accurate you are the more benefits you are likely to gain from keeping your diary. You should include all meals, drinks and snacks that you eat throughout the day. It is worthwhile being very specific and including what ingredients are in the meals you eat. For example, if you eat a pasta bolognaise include the pasta and the meat and the tomatoes. Also, do not forget to include you daily water intake, as keeping a record of this will let you know if you have drunken too much or too little water.

Keep track of quantities

It is important to pay attention to how much of a given food you are eating. You may be eating healthy foods but the serving sizes could be too large. It can be useful to purchase a food scale or measuring cup to make sure your quantities are appropriate.

Pay attention to your mood

You may be keeping a food diary in order to lose weight or you could be trying to isolate a food allergy. In both these cases your mood plays an important role. Before and after you eat you can make a note of how you feel.

It takes approximately 20 minutes for you to feel full and satisfied after a meal so it is best to wait 10-20 minutes before you write down how you feel.

If you make notes about your mood before you eat you may notice that, for example, you eat more when you are feeling stressed or low.

Seek out patterns and regularities in the food you eat

After a while you may see the emergence of some patterns in your eating habits. These patterns may be related to your feeling before and after a meal. It could be that you are eating similar foods at lunch time; for example, a sandwich. You may also notice that you overeat when you are feeling very hungry.

Additional tips

You may want to record the nutritional benefits of your food. This can help you gain insight into what nutrients you are getting and what you might be lacking. This way you can add certain foods to your diet to make up for the gap in your nutrient intake.

Your physical activity has an effect on how many calories you should be consuming. Making note of what physical activities you are taking part in will help you to know what sorts of food you should be eating.

Summation

By sticking to the routine of keeping a food diary and following some of these suggestions you can make a change to the way you are eating. You may find that by recording your food intake you feel motivated to embark on a better healthier eating path and this will lead to a slimmer waist line and a greater sense of energy and comfort.

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Day 3 Check-in: Drink More Water

With all the recap of tips and additional advice to fit drinking more water into your daily routine, you should be very on track in drinking more water every day.

If you’ve been strictly following our advice, you should have experienced less (or even no longer experience) these dehydration symptoms:

• dry mouth
• dry skin
• dry eyes
• fatigued feeling
• headache
• digestive problems or constipation
• reduced urination
• hunger pangs

Do you know what this means?

You have successfully made drinking more water your daily habit!

That’s a step forward to make you healthier, and I’m gladly recommending you to take the next step – let’s kickstart a healthier diet!

Featured photo credit: We heart it via weheartit.com

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Day 2 Check-in: Drink More Water

Let’s have a quick check:

• Your bottle is already in your bag or on your work desk.
• You have your alarm for drinking water set.

Well done! Next, I want to suggest you tie up drinking water with one thing that you do every day.

Drink Water Every Time You Finish Doing One Thing

When you have tied up the idea of doing that thing with drinking water, you’ll always remember to drink water. That one thing will always be your trigger point to drink more water.

For example, you can drink water every time after you have a meeting or discussion; or every time after you check your emails or text messages.

Featured photo credit: We heart it via weheartit.com

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