52 Healthy Habits: Create and Follow a Sleep Ritual

Welcome to the latest edition of 52 healthy habits when each week we tackle a new healthy habit together. 

Last week our healthy habit was mindful eating. This includes paying attention to hunger and fullness signals, eating slower and avoiding all distractions during meals. This was harder than I anticipated. I didn't even notice that it had become a habit for me to catch up on my Facebook feed in the morning while I shovel in my breakfast. After all, I don't have a lot of time in the morning. I was multi-tasking, but at what cost? While I was catching up on my "on this day" Facebook updates I was scarfing down my eggs, barely tasting them or even noticing that I was eating. I had developed this bad habit that I didn't even realize until I started to pay attention. 

It seems easy so I was surprised when I struggled last week. Sitting at the table in the morning without my phone felt weird and I felt oddly anxious. I tried counting my bites and setting the fork down between bites like we talked about last week. It sounds easy, it was harder than I thought. It is definitely something I need to continue to work on. But that's why we do this, right? Small improvements every week. 

I also want to mention that my caffeine reset from two weeks went well. I mean besides the misery that was the first five days, of course. I went two full weeks without coffee to reset my tolerance. I only intended to go for one week, but felt so great after those pesky headaches went away that I extended it for another week. After two weeks I am ready to reintroduce caffeine. I am looking forward to my Monday morning cup of coffee and i'm sure i'll feel its positive effects after just one cup. 

CREATE AND FOLLOW A SLEEP RITUAL

In our busy lifestyles we often glorify lack of sleep. Someone might even brag that they get by on five hours of sleep, but they are missing out on the fact that most of our body's recovery processes happens during sleep. If you are eating well, exercising, but not feeling great or seeing the results you desire, then lack of sleep may be to blame. Most adults should aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night. If you are getting a lot less than that, start by adding just 30 minutes a night. 

We always seem to be looking for the magic bullet to achieve our health and fitness goals, trying new supplements, intense workout routines, macro manipulation and meal timing. While these things can be helpful as we work to meet our goals, we shouldn't be attempting advanced strategies until the basics are covered. Sleep is an important basic. Are you getting 7-9 hours of quality sleep?

ESTABLISH A ROUTINE

Try to get up in the morning and go to bed at the same time each night (yes, even on weekends) in order to establish a sleep routine. 

TURN OFF ELECTRONICS

60 minutes before bed turn off electronics in order to prepare your brain for sleep. Shut down Facebook, put away the blogs (yes, even this one) and say goodnight to your Instagram friends. Try to read a book or magazine to unwind for an easier transition to sleep.

AVOID CAFFEINE & ALCOHOL

Alcohol may help you fall asleep but it will disrupt that much needed deep sleep. Caffeine may cause you to have trouble falling asleep in the first place. Try to avoid caffeine eight hours before bed. 

LIMIT WATER INTAKE BEFORE BED

To avoid getting up in the middle of night to use the potty, avoid excess fluid intake before bed. 

SET UP YOUR ENVIRONMENT FOR DEEP SLEEP

Sleep in a cool dark room. I wear a sleep mask. 

I am as guilty as any, scrolling my iPad while watching TV to unwind before bed. While I usually sleep 7-8 hours per night, I am going to work on improving the quality of my sleep by creating and following a healthy sleep ritual.

Are you with me this week? What can you do to increase the number of hours of sleep or to improve the quality of your sleep. Your body will thank you. 

 If you are interested in nutrition and lifestyle coaching starting in June get your name on the pre-sale list for a reduced introductory price. 

From my friends at Precision Nutrition: full article here

Playing catch up? Follow along with the 52 Healthy Habits series:

52 HEALTHY HABITS SERIES

week 1: Early to Rise
week 2: Track calories
week 3: Macro cycling
week 4: Morning pages (journaling)
week 5: Stop the scrolling (reading instead of social media)
week 6: Be a good student (take time for learning) 
week 7: Strength Training 15 minutes per day   
week 8: Eat more protein
week 9: Take a coffee break (break from caffeine)
week 10: Mindful eating
 

Oh hey, did I mention I was interviewed on Accuro as part of their Expert Interview Series? Check it out here! 

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52 Healthy Habits: 4 Tips for Mindful Eating

Last week was rough. You may recall I gave up coffee as my weekly healthy habit in order to reset my caffeine tolerance. It is something that I do occasionally when my caffeine intake increases a lot and I realize that my morning cup (errr...I mean pot) of coffee just makes me feel normal rather than giving me an energy boost. It's an simple fix, give up caffeine for about a week to reset, then slowly introduce caffeine back into your diet. I said simple, not easy. 

I felt like crap all week. I was fine Monday morning, but by Monday evening the headaches started. I was cranky, irritable, unfocused and wasn't managing stress well (and it turned out to be an unusually stressful week). It took five solid days to feel normal, but once I got over the withdrawal symptoms, I felt clearer and better than ever. I think I am going to stay off coffee for one more week before I reintroduce it.

I was surprised to find that I enjoyed drinking my mint, caffeine-free tea in the morning as much as my coffee. I'm sure I will introduce coffee back into my diet eventually, but for now I am going to stay off caffeine.

WHAT IS MINDFUL EATING?

I may have mentioned that I am studying sports and exercise nutrition with Precision Nutrition. It is an amazing course and I am learning so much about the science of nutrition and lifestyle coaching. I should be able pass my exam by the end of April and I am introducing my nutrition and healthy lifestyle coaching services starting in June. 

In lifestyle coaching one of the key principles is to start with basics. It sounds like common sense (or un-common sense as hubs likes to say), but so many people are worried about supplements, meal timing and macro splits but don't have basic nutrition and healthy lifestyle habits in check. It sounds more exciting to try intermittent fasting or the ketogenic diet, and there is nothing wrong with those things in theory (possibly under the supervision of a Registered Dietitian), but if you are sleeping five hours a night and binge eating or drinking on the weekends, there are more important things to tackle first. 

Mindful (or intuitive) eating is one of the easiest ways to regulate intake and calorie balance because our bodies tells us what it needs. But because of our busy, technology-driven lifestyles, most of us (including me) have lost touch with the signals our body sends to tell us when we're full or hungry. We eat based on the time of day or our emotions and we clean our plates regardless of fullness signals.

A lot of us were brought up to clean our plates at dinner. My dad used to joke that I had to finish dinner or send the leftovers to a starving kid in Africa. (That's probably politically-incorrect to say now, but it was the 80s) We were taught not to be wasteful, but perhaps we should have been taught to listen to our body's signaling cues of hunger and fullness. 

Enter modern day technology and our hectic lifestyles and it got worse for all of us. Not only were we not listening to our bodies natural cues, but we were scarfing down food in the car on the way to work, or in front of the computer or TV. We lost our ability to sense hunger cues and we stopped enjoying our food. Yes, food is fuel, but food is meant to be savored and enjoyed. It's hard to do that while you're scrolling your Facebook feed over breakfast (I am as guilty as anyone).

Our bodies have built in signally cues to tell us what it needs. If we eat when we are not hungry and don't stop eating when we are physically satisfied, we can end up with a less than ideal body composition and overall health. 

5 TIPS FOR MINDFUL EATING

1. EAT SLOWLY

If you eat too quickly, your body doesn't have time to send the fullness signals to your brain and you may end up overeating or feeling stuffed 10-20 minutes later. There are several ways to tackle slowing down. One way is to time how long it usually takes you eat your meal, then try to add five minutes next time. Another way is to chew your food 20-30 times before swallowing. Try setting down your fork or taking a sip of water between bites. Choose the strategy that works best for you.

2. APPETITE AWARENESS

Hunger is a normal and healthy biological response. Fullness and satiation tells us when we've had enough. If we eat because it's a certain time of day, we are bored, upset or because of a habit (like always eating popcorn when we watch a movie on Friday night) then we might not be paying enough attention to our body's signaling cues. 

When you sit down to eat a meal, before you take the first bite, ask yourself how hungry you feel. Just be aware of your appetite. When you are eating slowly try to notice when you start to feel full or satisfied. Stop eating once you've had enough. Notice how you feel after each meal. Just taking the time to think about it can help you get back in tune with your appetite.

3. AVOID DISTRACTIONS

Turn off the TV, put away the cell phone at the table and don't try to eat while working at your desk. If you are a distracted eater then it's harder to pay attention to your body's cues. Have you ever scarfed down a meal in front of the computer and didn't even notice or taste it? I have. 

In our busy lifestyles it can be hard to do, but it is worth it to take the time to walk away from the technology and enjoy a meal. It's not to say you can never enjoy a meal while watching TV but it should be a conscious choice that is an exception, not a normal behavior. 

4. SAVOR FOOD

Pay attention to the food you are eating. Smell it. Look it at. Examine the texture. Think about the ingredients in it. Take note of what you observe. Even if you are enjoying an indulgent meal, take it slow. Sometimes when we slow down and think about the food we are eating, we discover that we really don't even enjoy some of those unhealthy foods, we eat them because they are cheap and/or convenient. Enjoy your food, no matter what you are eating, healthy or not. Take the time to savor your food and relish every bite. 

I am going to apply all these strategies this week. It will be a change for me to put away my phone and eat slowly. Will you also give it a try and let me know how it goes? If you are interested in nutrition and lifestyle coaching starting in June get your name on the pre-sale list for a reduced introductory price. 

Playing catch up? Follow along with the 52 Healthy Habits series:

52 HEALTHY HABITS SERIES

week 1: Early to Rise
week 2: Track calories
week 3: Macro cycling
week 4: Morning pages (journaling)
week 5: Stop the scrolling (reading instead of social media)
week 6: Be a good student (take time for learning) 
week 7: Strength Training 15 minutes per day   
week 8: Eat more protein
week 9: Take a coffee break (break from caffeine)
 

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52 Healthy Habits: Take a Coffee Break

Welcome to the latest edition of 52 Healthy Habits when I tackle a new healthy habit each week because habits are the building blocks of a healthy lifestyle. No matter where you are in your fitness journey, there is always room for small incremental improvements. This column is part inspiration for you, to give you ideas of some things you can try, and part accountability for me as I try new things in my own journey. 

I have no expectations that I will be perfect or successful in all of these habits. I am sure I will find successes, failures and everything inbetween. It's about what we learn along the way about our priorities, our preferences and ourselves.

TAKE A BREAK FROM COFFEE

I'm sorry for the headline. I said 52 Healthy Habits: Take a Coffee Break, but what I meant to say is Take a Break from Coffee...but I didn't want to scare you away. 

Take a break from coffee...Say, what?

People hate this idea. When you tell people you want to quit sugar or fried foods or alcohol, they are mostly supportive and agree that they should probably do the same. But when you tell you people you want to take a break from coffee, they usually say, Why the hell would you want to do that? 

Before you start throwing things at me, hear me out. I love my coffee. I love it so much my husband and I share an entire pot every morning and on some days I buy another large coffee once I get to work. While there is nothing inherently wrong with coffee (I drink it black) or caffeine in itself, there can be negatives. 

One negative is that I noticed when I am heavy into caffeine, it can make it harder to get going in the morning before I have my coffee. When I am off caffeine, I don't have that terrible groggy feeling. It makes it easier to get out of bed in the morning. That groggy feeling is at least partly caffeine withdrawal. If you don't have the dependency on caffeine, you don't have the withdrawal symptoms, so you feel better when you wake up in the morning. 

Another is the issue of tolerance. Caffeine is a drug and just like any drug or alcohol, you build up a tolerance over time. So when you used to get a energy boost from one cup of coffee, now it takes three or four cups just to feel normal. I like to drink a whole pot now. Not good. 

I am not suggesting that anyone should give up caffeine forever, I wouldn't do that because I want you to still like me after reading this. 

A COFFEE RESET TO IMPROVE RUNNING PERFORMANCE?

The key to enjoying the benefits of caffeine while minimizing the negatives is a periodic coffee reset. Every few months take an entire week off of coffee. Admittedly, I feel like $hit the first couple of days, but when the fog clears I am better for it. 

I joke that caffeine is my performance enhancing drug. I like getting off caffeine the week before a race, then having a cup before I hit the start line. You really feel the energy and reap the benefits of a caffeine boost on race day.

It's just a reset. After a week off of caffeine, you'll go back to your coffee and feeling the benefits again after just one cup. 

SUCCESS STRATEGY

Replace your regular coffee with decaf or hot tea just for one week. Decaf still has a small amount of caffeine to help you get over the hump. If you're like me, having a cup (or pot) of coffee in the morning is a habit. I'll just temporarily replace my coffee with another hot drink so it doesn't feel like such a stretch from my normal behavior. But I know what you're thinking...

There's a time and place for decaf coffee: never and in the trash. Hah. 

By the time you read this, I will be on my first day of no caffeine. Wish my husband and co-workers luck these first couple of days. 

What do you think? Don't knock it until you try it. Am I crazy? Wait. Don't answer that until after your caffeine withdrawal symptoms have subsided. We're still friends, right? 

Playing catch up? Follow along with the 52 Healthy Habits series:

52 HEALTHY HABITS SERIES

week 1: Early to Rise
week 2: Track calories
week 3: Macro cycling
week 4: Morning pages (journaling)
week 5: Stop the scrolling (reading instead of social media)
week 6: Be a good student (take time for learning) 
week 7: Strength Training 15 minutes per day   
week 8: Eat more protein

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5K HOORAY: 3.1 REASONS TO LOVE THE 5K

Happy Fri-YAY! This week we are talking 5Ks because I ran the Dallas Rock 'n' Roll marathon series 5K race last Saturday. While I still claim the half marathon as my favorite race distance, this race reminded me why I love 5Ks and racing in the first place. 

Why 3.1 reasons? Because a 5K race is 3.1 miles. Seems appropriate. 

1. 5Ks ARE FUN FOR EVERYONE

There's no question, most of the people who are out running a 5K are having fun. There are families, friends, kids, tutus and superheroes. A 5K offers a low barrier to entry, most people can at least walk a 5K no matter their current fitness level. It's a fun reason to get outside, get fresh air and some exercise. Even if you are a competitive type, a 5K can be the perfect reason to leave that GPS watch at home and remember why you fell in love with racing in the first place. 

2. 5Ks ARE A CHALLENGE FOR EVERYONE

Yes, 5Ks are fun, but don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean they can't be challenging. The great thing about 5Ks is that everyone can challenge themselves at their own level. For some, simply crossing the finish line is physically demanding enough. For others it may be a time goal. Whether you run a 35 minute 5K or a 19 minute 5K can you always challenge yourself to beat your PR by racing the clock. I once heard a misinformed person scoff that 5Ks were "too easy" and I knew right away that this person never really raced. Sure 3.1 miles may feel easy if you jog 3.1 miles, but if you are racing for time, you can push yourself to your limits (if you want to). 

3. 5Ks ARE EVERYWHERE

There is no shortage of 5K races. Most medium to large cities have organized 5Ks of different sizes almost every weekend. Whether it's a charity race, a city-organized event or a major race company rolling through town, the options for 5K races are everywhere! Want to run a 5K? Try a quick internet search or your local running store for a calendar of local events. 

3.1. NOW YOU CAN FINALLY BUY THAT 3.1 STICKER FOR YOUR CAR WINDOW

Join the club. Buy a 5K bumper sticker to start your running sticker collection and people will repeatedly ask you what it means. Any excuse to talk about running, right? You can hang a medal on a rack in your home, but everyone sees a sticker on your car.

If you want more info on training to run a 5K, I suggest that you start here: How to transition from running and walking intervals to just running. It's a good place to start if you can currently run with with walking intervals. 

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