Sleep hygiene is not the shower you take before bed – it’s the habits you put in place before bed, such as avoiding bright lights in the bedroom, using ear plugs or a sound conditioner, listening to soothing music before bed, and positioning the clock away from direct view so that it doesn’t distract you from getting to sleep. Practice good sleep hygiene, and your body will thank you for it.
Identifying the importance of a good night’s sleep
Your lifestyle greatly affects your sleep quality and patterns. What you eat, what you drink, and how physically active you are play a big role in how well you rest. Here are some lifestyle changes that you can make in your Total Body Diet that can help you sleep better, too:
✔ Avoid caffeinated foods and beverages at least four hours before bed. Caffeine is a stimulant, and it can make it harder to fall asleep. Go for decaffeinated coffee, or have herbal tea, which is naturally caffeine-free. Skip the chocolate cake or brownie (or have less) – the caffeine may affect your shuteye.
✔ Limit alcoholic beverages close to bedtime. Alcohol may make you drowsy at first, but it may cause you to wake up during the night, especially the second half of the night, when you’re in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep – the restorative, dream phase. The more you drink, the greater the disruptions, according to sleep experts. Limit your nightcap to one standard drink (12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1½ ounces of liquor), if you want one, and have it at least a few hours before bed.
✔ Work out earlier in the day. Taking an evening boxing class or lacing up your running shoes at dusk may be tempting, but it can leave you feeling wired and then you may find it hard to unwind and get to sleep. Swap this more intense exercise in the evening for more relaxing activities like yoga nidra, which is a conscious deep sleep. There are many yoga nidra workshops and free downloadable audios available online.
✔ Eat lighter at night. If you eat a large, high-calorie, fatty meal in the evening, you’re bound to have a harder time getting to sleep and staying there – you may wake up with heartburn or may toss and turn due to a full stomach.
Here are some smaller meal ideas for the evening:
• A 3-ounce piece of grilled fish, 1 cup of broccoli, and ½ cup of cooked brown rice
• 1 cup of tofu stir-fried with 1 cup of mixed veggies and ½ cup of cooked brown rice
• 2 cups of mixed greens salad with a 3-ounce sliced baked chicken breast and ½ cup of cooked whole wheat couscous
• 2 slices (or 2 ounces) of turkey breast, ½ medium avocado, and 1 cup mixed greens in a 6-inch whole-grain wrap
For nighttime snacks, try the following:
• 1 cup of plain lowfat Greek yogurt with 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed and a 1 teaspoon drizzle of honey
• A piece of whole-grain toast with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and a handful of grapes
• ½ cup of cottage cheese spread on a large rice cake and 1 small apple
• Two slices of turkey breast rolled up with two thin slices of cucumber and ½ slice of provolone cheese in each slice
Chapter 2
What Is the Total Body Diet?
In This Chapter
▶ Grasping the core principles of the Total Body Diet
▶ Qualifying your calories for better or for worse
▶ Uncovering simple ways to move
▶ Assembling your support team
▶ Identifying your areas for change
Everyone follows a diet, a way of eating that is part of everyday life. Some diets support a healthy life and allow us to be active, happy, and productive, while others are fads, or short-time fixes that typically restrict a certain food group (think low-carb diets) or are extreme (think very low-calorie diets) and are not sustainable over the long run. The Total Body Diet is not just a fleeting diet that makes short-term promises; it’s a lifestyle that will not only give you vitality and freedom to make food choices, but also help you build a healthy relationship with food for life.
The tenets of the Total Body Diet are steeped in a tradition of a sound mind and body: life balance, self-confidence, and social support from friends and family. The Total Body Diet homes in on the importance of all these factors equally. If one area of life is not in sync, the rest will be out of whack.
Keep in mind the following principles of the Total Body Diet:
✔ Balance your diet with foods from all food groups (vegetables, fruits, whole grains, plant and animal sources of protein, and fat-free or lowfat dairy products) to sustain growth, energy, and well-being.
✔ Get active every day with enjoyable movement. Try walking, jogging, running, biking, hiking, swimming, stair climbing, Pilates, yoga, or tai chi.
✔ Make your mental health a priority by fostering a positive attitude. Your mind plays a large role in your health and your relationship to what and how you eat and drink.
Aim to follow these principles by balancing calories in with calories out as much as possible. Allow for flexibility, such as a small sweet indulgence or a low-key, less-active day to recharge your body and mind – you’ll be more likely to stick with it and achieve total body wellness.
You don’t want to go overboard on calories, but the Total Body Diet is about the quality of the calories you’re consuming overall. You can easily reach your calorie quota for the day with foods and beverages that provide empty calories like candy, cookies, cheese puffs, and sugary drinks, but where’s the quality in those calories? In this section, I get you focused on quality control when it comes to your calories.
Qualifying your calories
Food should be enjoyable and fun, but thoughtful eating and drinking is important to good health. Qualifying your calories by assessing their nutritional value is a good idea. An occasional cupcakes or doughnut is fine, but it doesn’t qualify to be on your regular eating plan because it doesn’t fuel your body well over the long run. Quality calories provide your body with micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), as well as macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats). So, when you’re eating and drinking, think about what’s in your food.
A key way to qualify your calories is to inspect the Nutrition Facts label (shown in Figure 2-1). Important things to look at on the Nutrition Facts label include the following:
✔ Serving size: Look here to find out the suggested amount in one serving. It’s the basis for all the nutrition information on the label. If you eat two servings, you have to double all the other numbers, too.
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