Sleep and stress may not make or break a healthy lifestyle but they are definitely two

factors that support a healthy lifestyle. When these two factors are not seen to properly,

trying to lose weight and staying healthy is like walking up a steep hill. 

     It is true that even if you get a minimum of 6 hours of sleep you will get 80% of

possible results. However, jus as you wouldn`t settle for 80% of you paycheck, don`t settle

for only 80% of the results. That extra 20% could be the difference between merely

looking like you know where the gym is, and looking damn good. We are going to look at

some ways we can get better sleep and reduce stress.  

      Let`s look at sleep first, for it is the one thing where everyone knows what to do but few

people actually do it. The first question is, just how much sleep is enough. We don`t want to

get into the mindset where we believe that we need to get 9 hours of sleep or else we are

harming our health. There is no switch where anything under a certain level is not helpful.

This kind of thinking will simply lead to the “screw it” mentality where if you can`t get 9

hours of sleep you are more likely even later and get even less sleep since you are already

not going to hit your nightly quota. 

     A good minimum to start with is 6 hours a night. If you are not getting this then you

need to make sleep a priority. Now 6 hours is pretty decent, and 7 is better than six, and 8

is a little better than 7, while 9 is only slightly better than 8. Shoot for just over 8 hours

and if you can only get a little under 8 hours then you are still doing really well. There is no

magic line where if you get only 7 hours and 59 minutes instead of 8 that you will wake up

feeling groggy and unwell. 

      Also remember that the people who seem to get by on 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night

generally are only literally getting by. If they consistently got 7-8 hours of sleep a night

then they would realize how far away from baseline their energy levels truly are. They have 

 simply become acclimated to zombie mode and failed to notice.

      The most important part to getting enough sleep is to have a routine and sticking to it.

The routine itself is individual to the person. It is whatever relaxes you and prepares you for

sleep. What is more important is when you start it. You want to start it about 9-10 hours

before you need to get up. It should only take 30-60 minutes thus giving you plenty of time

for proper sleep. This time should be free of work, video games, TV, or any streaming video. 

     You don`t want to rush your routine. A simple routine works best. Meditation, a relaxing

bath, and reading a novel are all good ideas. Having an overly complex bedtime routine may

lead you to believe that if you don`t do everything on your list you`ll have a bad nights

sleep.

       Stress can also have a significant affect on health  and weight loss. It can be a big

hurdle to achieving your health and fitness goals. Your body has only so many resources to

handle life’s stressors. Some of us have more resources than others.

     Training itself is a stressor. We stress our bodies in the gym so we can create positive

adaptations in order to handle future stressors with greater ease. However, there may be

many other stressors in our lives that add to our load. Stressors such as relationship issues, 

toxic work places, personal tragedy, can all add up. If our life stressors are too much for us

to handle then our body`s resources will get used up and those positive adaptations won`t

appear. 

     Trying to do more exercise in order to push for results may even lead to negative health

outcomes and injury. The best thing to do is to try and reduce other stressors. The saying

regarding changing what we can and accepting what can`t be changed is is very much

applicable here. 

     We need to divide our stressors into what can be changed and what can`t be. For the

things that can be changed, the straightforward thing to do is take action. You may be able

to change your job, or avoid that one person who is bringing you down (you know who thy

are). For the things that we can`t change borrowing techniques from the areas of

psychology and philosophy can be helpful.

     Positive psychology has a lot to say about stress. The concept of positive psychology is

based on not focusing merely on trying to fix the negative but to emphasize the positive

which hopefully crowds out the negative.

     Focusing on the good things in your life and even journaling about all the good things in

your life can make the stressful things seem less important. By focusing on all parts of

your lifestyle you can ensure that your efforts to lose weight won`t put you into burnout

mode and the overall weight loss journey will go more smoothly.

For those who need more help with making sense of the conflicting nutritional information out there, personal coaching options are available.Check out the coaching page or send an email to mitch@bodyoptimizedcoaching.com for any questions.