Tips For Getting A Good Night Sleep

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10-09-2006, 07:13 AM
chris_3503

Hello,

Sleep disorders disrupt the sleep of millions of people all over the world. Until the 1950s, most people thought of sleep as a passive, dormant part of our daily lives. We now know that our brains are very active during sleep. Moreover, sleep affects our daily functioning and our physical and mental health in many ways that we are just beginning to recognize. Going to bed and wake up the same time each day. As creatures of habit, people have a hard time adjusting to altered sleep patterns. Sleeping later on weekends won’t fully make up for the lack of sleep during the week and will make it harder to wake up early on Monday morning. I found very useful information on the web related to getting a Good Night’s Sleep.

Exercise is great but not too late in the day.
Try to exercise at least 30 minutes on most days but not later than 5 or 6 hours before your bedtime.

Avoid caffeine and nicotine.
Coffee, colas, certain teas, and chocolate contain the stimulant caffeine, and its effects can take as long as 8 hours to wear off fully. Therefore, a cup of coffee in the late afternoon can make it hard for you to fall asleep at night. Nicotine is also a stimulant, often causing smokers to sleep only very lightly. In addition, smokers often wake up too early in the morning because of nicotine withdrawal.

Avoid alcoholic drinks before bed.
You may think having an alcoholic “nightcap” will help you sleep, but alcohol robs you of deep sleep and REM sleep, keeping you in the lighter stages of sleep. You also tend to wake up in the middle of the night when the effects of the alcohol have worn off.

Avoid large meals and beverages late at night.
A light snack is okay, but a large meal can cause indigestion that interferes with sleep. Drinking too many fluids at night can cause frequent awakenings to urinate.

Regards
Chris
http://www.sleepdisordersguide.com/blog/
10-09-2006, 08:27 AM
Rav1

Avoid this, avoid that... So what remains? The peaceful pleasure of being undisturbed, doing nothing, being impassive? Maybe it'd better not to be born at all? No challenges, no hindrances to deal with, nothing at all.
10-09-2006, 11:19 PM
Burns

Good advice, Chris :) Thanks for posting this.
10-10-2006, 02:21 PM
student

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rav1

Avoid this, avoid that... So what remains? The peaceful pleasure of being undisturbed, doing nothing, being impassive? Maybe it'd better not to be born at all? No challenges, no hindrances to deal with, nothing at all.
[/b]

Hehe, we love what's bad for us.
10-10-2006, 10:19 PM
PenguinLord13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rav1

Avoid this, avoid that... So what remains? The peaceful pleasure of being undisturbed, doing nothing, being impassive? Maybe it'd better not to be born at all? No challenges, no hindrances to deal with, nothing at all.
[/b]

I know what you're saying, but it really isn't like that. Even if you do drink coffee, just don't drink it in the afternoon. If you like chocolate, eat it earlier (like at lunch). Keeping a sleep schedule doesn't hurt you or make life too hard. Instead of a huge dinner, have a good lunch, a light meal in the mid afternoon, and a light dinner. This is proven to be healthful anyways. Also, the excersize thing is exaggerated. Yeah, you shouldn't excersize right before bed, but if you do some physical activity from 6-7, and go to bed at 9 or 10, it won't have too much effect. It realy is good advice, and even if it seems inconvenient at first, once you get used to it, it's really not a huge deal.
10-11-2006, 02:24 AM
Rav1

Quote:

Originally Posted by PenguinLord13

I know what you're saying, but it really isn't like that. Even if you do drink coffee, just don't drink it in the afternoon. If you like chocolate, eat it earlier (like at lunch). Keeping a sleep schedule doesn't hurt you or make life too hard. Instead of a huge dinner, have a good lunch, a light meal in the mid afternoon, and a light dinner. This is proven to be healthful anyways. Also, the excersize thing is exaggerated. Yeah, you shouldn't excersize right before bed, but if you do some physical activity from 6-7, and go to bed at 9 or 10, it won't have too much effect. It realy is good advice, and even if it seems inconvenient at first, once you get used to it, it's really not a huge deal.
[/b]

Going to bed at 9 or 10 o'clock, that would be fine but now it's 3.30 a.m... Should I go to bed or maybe just take a shower, make some breakfast and drive to pick up the last remaing mushrooms? After all it's a good idea. It's getting colder in the North of Europe.
11-16-2006, 12:24 AM
Set Aflame

excellent advice brother.
11-17-2006, 02:46 AM
hop_ic

nice advice I will keep it in mind. :wink:
11-20-2006, 05:50 AM
pepsi_blue_fan

One word. Good advice keep up the good work. ;) But don't be attention boy now! (j/k)
11-20-2006, 07:46 AM
Richter

Quote:

Avoid large meals and beverages late at night.
A light snack is okay, but a large meal can cause indigestion that interferes with sleep. Drinking too many fluids at night can cause frequent awakenings to urinate.[/b]

Really? I like your other tips, but I've always found it easier to fall asleep after a heavy meal. I dunno about my sleep quality, though. :?

Maybe I should try not eating Chinese takeout 5 min before sleep on the weekends... :bigteeth:
11-20-2006, 11:29 PM
PenguinLord13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richter

Really? I like your other tips, but I've always found it easier to fall asleep after a heavy meal. I dunno about my sleep quality, though. :?

Maybe I should try not eating Chinese takeout 5 min before sleep on the weekends... :bigteeth:
[/b]

It is very unhealthy from what I understand to eat a heavy meal less than 2 hours before bed. It has to do with digestion or something, interfering with sleep quality, plus, eating right before bed too often contributes to being overweight.