Twenty47HealthNews by Holistic Health Coach Shay

Maximize Your Performance by Syncing with Your Circadian Rhythms

• Shay - Holistic Health Coach • Episode 8

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Episode 8 Part 3 of our 3 Part Series on Sleep 

Can aligning your daily routine with your body's natural rhythms truly boost your performance and well-being? This episode wraps up our fascinating three-part series on circadian rhythms, revealing how your biological clock orchestrates sleep, stress, and productivity. Explore the science behind how hormones, eating habits, and body temperature interact with your circadian rhythms, and understand the intricate roles of light and melatonin in regulating your sleep-wake cycles. We also provide valuable insights into the challenges posed by shift work and the importance of natural light exposure for maintaining a healthy rhythm.

Discover practical strategies to enhance your daily routine for peak cognitive function and energy levels. We'll share tips on scheduling your most important tasks for mid-morning when your brain is at its sharpest and how to manage the infamous post-lunch energy dip. Learn how a balanced lunch can keep you energized and why a relaxing evening routine is vital for prepping your body for restful sleep. By the end of this episode, you'll understand why prioritizing sleep is not just a luxury but a necessity for optimal performance and overall well-being. Plus, get a sneak peek into our next episode, where we explore the benefits and drawbacks of running after a certain age. Tune in and transform your daily habits to live in harmony with your body's natural rhythms!

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Episode 8 of 24-7 Health News sponsored by myself, health Coach Shea at Sage Life Therapeutics. These topics are from my blog at 247healthnewscom, so that's the word 20, the number 4, 7, the words healthandnewscom. So I pull all of these topics from there, or topics I might think are important to health and fitness, because these topics are important to your health. If they get too complicated, I'll try to break them down and help you apply them to your daily life. Again, I am your host, health Coach Shea. I'm a master trainer and a holistic health coach with Sage Life Therapeutics. So let's go over a few of my disclaimers. My information is not meant to prescribe or be taken in lieu of a discussion with your doctor or health care professional. You should always speak to your health care professional before you make any nutrition or fitness changes. I'm a health coach and I'm making recommendations only in that capacity in that capacity With regard to the latest on COVID. I don't talk much about COVID, even though its cases are a little bit on the rise. Be careful out there. But if something is relevant to what we may be discussing, if it crosses over, I may suggest that you read it. So let's get started for today.

Speaker 1:

Today we are going to conclude and complete our three-part series on circadian rhythms. We've been talking about how they work, we've been sharing practical tips, and today we're going to talk a little bit more deeply about how to align your daily activities with your natural body's rhythms for optimal performance. So let's do a quick recap. Your rhythms, your circadian rhythms, are natural internal processes that regulate sleep and wake cycle and repeat roughly every 24 hours. These rhythms are driven by a biological clock located in the brain, the primary clock known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus, a pair of neuron clusters in the hypothalamus situated directly above your chasmia, that receives photo input from the retina via the optic nerve and that regulates the body's circadian rhythms. So all of this stuff is located above your hypothalamus and this clock basically coordinates all your body's rhythms. So I want you to understand the importance of that, because this is the stuff that's making your body rhythm work. So you really have to think about this. Your sleep is like the air you breathe. So I say all that to say what are the influences? Right? Various body functions are influencing your circadian rhythms hormones, eating habits, digestion and body temperature. All of this is famously known for regulating sleep patterns. Let's unpack that for a minute.

Speaker 1:

Hormones. Well, we know, specifically in women, that hormones can fluctuate at various times your menstrual cycle, your pregnancy, your menopause. Halle Berry has been talking about menopause nonstop, because it is a period of time that gives women so much stress and it is a difficult period of time. Pregnancy is difficult. Some women's menstrual cycles are difficult. All of that fluctuates your hormone and usually the first thing impacted is your sleep, right. The next thing impacted is your eating habits, right. Your hormones fluctuate. You want to eat more or you want to eat less, causing your body to causing you to gain weight or causing you to store food, which still makes you gain weight. Um, so you all have to. Women really have to look at this and make sure that they are practicing self-care in this situation. Guys, same situation.

Speaker 1:

I think it's more about when you age, though I think more happens to you with your body rhythm when you age and things start to change. You know, various things happen with your sex drive and all of that sort of stuff, and all of those things can mess with your rhythm. We can get insomnia for the smallest little things that we are not even thinking about. The study said that body temperature can fluctuate, now you could be somewhere hot and you can't sleep right, messing with your rhythm. If you stay in that situation, your body's rhythm can be messed up. So those are the things that sort of define what's happening with the circadian rhythm. How does it work exactly? So the first thing that comes into play is the light and the dark cycle. Our circadian rhythms are primarily influenced by the light and dark cycle. Exposure to natural light helps us synchronize the SCN, all that retinal long word, mumble, jumble, I said earlier, within a 24 hour day. So shift work we have to think about all of that stuff, and if we are that sort of person who can do a shift work, then it works out. Some of us can't, though, and we have to think about all of that, or you have to recognize that there is going to be an extended adjustment period if you decide that. Otherwise, folks who work during the day remember to get outside and get some air and get some light on your body. It helps you.

Speaker 1:

Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland in the brain. Produced by the pineal gland in the brain, it also helps regulate sleep by increasing in the evening, when it gets dark, and decreasing in the morning when it gets light. I know folks who take a little extra melatonin at night to try to get their body to bolster their melatonin so that they can get some rest because they are having trouble sleeping. That is how important melatonin so that they can get some rest because they are having trouble sleeping. That is how important melatonin is. Mind you, I said it was a hormone that is produced. So if you're not doing, if you don't have habits around the production of that healthy hormone to get you to sleep, then you're going to have a problem going to sleep. Let's talk about the next one, which is one of the worst.

Speaker 1:

Cortisol is also a hormone associated with stress. It follows a daily rhythm as well. It peaks in the morning to help you, to help wake us up, and it decreases throughout the day. So I said stress, right, it's a hormone associated with stress. You heard what I said stress. We are under various levels of stress throughout the day, all kinds of stress worry about what's going on in the world, worry about your job, worry about your kids, worry about your family. You are stressed and worried about every little thing your bills, how much money you make. We have to manage that. We have to have healthy habits that help us manage what is going on with our stress level and we have to remember to help decrease our stress level, have habits that help decrease the stress level as we get closer to going to bed so that we can start to produce that other hormone, melatoninin, so that we can go to sleep. So there are other genes and proteins that also may play a role in maintaining your circadian rhythm. The clock genes produce proteins that the proper proteins that help interact with the feedback loop, and you have too much stress and then your body's not producing melatonin.

Speaker 1:

You see how you could just get all out of whack and not really be sleeping at all If you don't pay attention to all of these things that sort of affect how you get your sleep and how your body rhythm is. I mean, let's unpack that for a minute, let's think about it. We have so much input during the course of the day. We have so many things that distract us from our self-care and that's really what this is about, right, I mean this is really about self-care Thinking about, when you're stressed, doing the things that help you de-stress, eating right to make sure that your body is properly fortified to make sure that you, you know you have all the right levels in your body. And I know that is a massive undertaking, it is just a job in itself, and so we have to make sure that we are giving it some conscious thought about what we are doing to get our sleep.

Speaker 1:

Now I'm not saying that everybody sleeps for eight or 10 hours. You know you can sleep for six, and that might be good for your body. The next person might sleep for seven and eight, and so on and so forth. The next person might sleep for seven and eight, and so on and so forth. Just make sure that you are making a conscious effort to find out what your body rhythm is and how much time it needs, and you are doing that to take care of yourself. So you say, well, can you help me out here? What are some tips? So I'm going to give you some practical tips for aligning your body's daily activities with your natural body rhythms. So all of these are routines, routines and schedules that you need to think about, right? So let's talk about a morning routine.

Speaker 1:

Start your day with some exposure to natural light, open up those blackout curtains or step outside to signal to your body that it is time to wake up. Right, get some light. I love morning light. Personally, I love morning light waking me up. If I had it my way, I would have my curtains on a timer and they would open up at the time that it's time to get me up, as opposed to those obnoxious alarms that are on our phones and or alarm clocks. I would much prefer that. So think about a way to get some light exposure, even if you just walk down in your living room and open your curtains in the morning to get some light on your face. Try that. Then hydration and nutrition. This is first thing in the morning. We're still on the morning routine Drink a glass of water to kickstart your metabolism and eat a balanced breakfast to fuel your body for the day.

Speaker 1:

Again, let's unpack that Now. Us busy adults don't necessarily do all those things. One of the ways that I have gotten in the habit of drinking a glass of water in the morning is I put the water next to my bed, right, not too close. Just, I have a you know, a container of water. I'm crazy, so I don't drink out of plastic. I have a big glass, 64 ounce jug that I keep on the side of my bed to drink water, that I keep on the side of my bed to drink water. So try to drink a glass of water in the morning to let your metabolism know we're up, we're taking in something and we need you to wake up to get going.

Speaker 1:

The balanced breakfast part Whatever your balanced breakfast is, try to eat something. Some people don't like breakfast, right, and I can understand that. I've gotten picky over the years about what I eat for breakfast and it's sort of in just a couple of food groups. Oddly enough, I like something hot in the morning, like a cup of coffee, cup of tea or something, but unfortunately I like to eat a little something sweet. And that might not be necessarily the thing, because it did say balanced breakfast. You should be eating a balanced breakfast, right. So try to eat a good breakfast in the morning. And unfortunately, sometimes that means we're eating something in the car, we're dropping off the kids, we're doing whatever we need to be doing first thing in the morning, and it might be taking care of everybody else.

Speaker 1:

But I have to drag you back to that self-care situation. You have to make sure that you are doing the right things to get you kicked off. I mean, you aren't any good to your kids if you're not ready to go right and then engage in some light exercise, light stretching or short walk to boost your energy levels and improve your mood. Again, I have to unpack that because I don't have time all the time to do this. My, my short walk might be, you know, from my car to my office building where I work. My short walk might be from the van to the front door of the school to walk my kids into the school. My short walk might be any of those things. It might not be something where I can go get on the treadmill. I might not have that kind of time. So try to remember to get a little bit of something in. Um, I don't know, maybe you can roll out of your bed, have your glass of water and do 10 push-ups on the floor or stretch for 10 minutes before the kids come in screaming for you to go to do breakfast. Think of little ways to help improve your mood and accomplish those things for yourself. So let's move on to a possible mid-morning routine.

Speaker 1:

Most people experience a peak in cognitive function and alertness mid-morning. They schedule important tasks or meetings during this time for optimal performance. Now again, I'm glad that these studies have shown that we have peak cognitive function mid-morning, but I generally only have, you know, about 50 percent of the control over when meetings are scheduled. I can tell I tank towards the end of the day and I'm not really firing on all cylinders about whatever it is I'm supposed to be doing, and so that's a tough one. But do the best that you can and try to fire up your brain as long as you can.

Speaker 1:

Another way to do that is to take short breaks to avoid burnout. A five to 10 minute break every hour can help maintain productivity and focus. So a break can be look away from your computer screen at something else, get up, walk away from your desk, do a lap around the building, go have water cooler conversation for five minutes with someone else. Just do something to walk away from whatever it is that you're doing every hour. Now some jobs are really picky, picky, picky. You might only get a 15 minute break in the morning and one in the afternoon and your lunch. So you might have to do the look away from your computer screen for five minutes and raise up your sit-stand desk if that's what it is. But you have to do something to break up the monotony so that your brain can unfocus on whatever it is that you have to do for the day at work and refocus on something else. Give it a few minutes and then come back to that. You know, and I have tested this theory because I used to say I don't have time for this, right, I just can't do it, I don't have time. I've tested this theory where I couldn't figure out something that I was doing. In particular, let me tell you, if you close it, walk away from it and then come back, it's a brand new world. Sometimes I've waited like a whole half a day to deal with something that I couldn't figure out, or even the next day and had an epiphany all of a sudden. So I find that that one really, really, really works for me.

Speaker 1:

Let's move on to the afternoon. Eat a balanced lunch with protein, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates to sustain your energy levels. That doesn't mean eat a big old meat and potatoes meal in the middle of the day, which a lot of folks do, which causes them to fall asleep, because it's natural to feel a dip in energy after lunch. Combat this by taking a brisk walk, do some light stretching or practicing some deep breathing exercises right, or practicing some deep breathing exercises right. So have a healthy lunch, healthy lunch, eat a decent lunch, you know. Try to get all the food groups in there. Try not to eat too much.

Speaker 1:

I've also tested this quite a bit. Personally, I try not to eat until I feel full at lunch. I try to eat just enough, right. So what I would usually eat. For instance, if you get a burrito, eat half of it, eat three quarters of it and hold the rest for that afternoon break. If you do, if you're doing the hourly thing, or if you only get the 115, hold the rest for the afternoon break. I find that if I do that like I'm more energized when I get home, that if I do that like I'm more energized when I get home and you want that because you don't want to feel like you're on this hamster wheel of I got off work, I'm really tired, I got to get some dinner done and then I got to go to bed, right. Or I got to work out and then I got to go to bed, if you do that you will feel better. I promise you do not eat a big old heavy fat lunch in the middle of the day you are going to feel terrible and feel run down. When you get that slump, that post lunch slump, you're going to feel bad. So eat half of what you would eat eat three quarters of what you would eat if you have a heavy physical job and then eat the rest during that 15 minute break.

Speaker 1:

So as far as the afternoon tasks they're saying, schedule less demanding tasks for the early afternoon when energy levels might dip slightly. Save creative or collaborative work for later in the afternoon when your second wind kicks in. And I would say I've tested that as well. I believe that a lot of calculations and a lot of the I don't know how you call it, I don't know how you call it like task oriented things that must get done tend to get done before lunch. Anything that I need to think through or make decisions on generally happens, honestly, even later in the week. Those happen later in the afternoon and later in the week. So definitely think through how you can do that. If you have a task, heavy job or a heavy physical labor job, you're just going to be working through the week, through the day, and it's not going to even come to that. But if you have a job where there's a little bit more of a cognitive load, then you have to think about where you place things, because that post-lunch slump is real.

Speaker 1:

And now let's move on to your evening routine and your wind down time. Establish a relaxing evening routine to signal to your body that it's time to prepare for sleep. Activities like reading, meditating or taking a warm bath can help, and I have taken a warm bath and or a shower warm shower in the evening and on those evenings that I've done that, I've gotten some righteous sleep. So I definitely would recommend those things Meditation and reading. And again, be careful what you're reading, because not all of us have paperback books anymore. We have Kindles, laptops and phones that we do our reading on. And watch out for that. Back light. Once again, reduce your exposure to screens and blue light at least an hour before bed. Blue light can interfere with the melatonin production and disrupt your sleep. So that goes to what I just said Be careful with that. Figure out if there is some kind of sleep setting or some kind of dimming that you can do on your equipment to help you sleep, because I know reading does help people sleep, but not all of us have a good old fashioned book anymore, right, or the space to put a good old fashioned book. So think about that when you're looking at your screens or you're going to read that great book on your Kindle or your laptop.

Speaker 1:

Make a consistent sleep schedule. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on the weekends. This consistency helps regulate your internal clock. So you know we've talked a lot about that and make sure that you figure out your internal clock and you try to match it and you try to regulate it. I mean, don't let it run you, but you also have to pay attention to what your natural body is doing and schedule yourselves. And they say that you need to schedule your children. So just take it a little step further. If you have kids, schedule them and go right on into the schedule for yourself Once you get them in your sleeping environment.

Speaker 1:

Create sleep-friendly environment. Ensure your bedroom is cool, dark and quiet. Use blackout curtains, earplugs or a white noise machine if necessary. Listen, pick any of those things to implement to try and help you. I'm not sure about quiet. That doesn't necessarily work for me. I like noise. I do have personally have some blackout curtains and so that stuff works. I'm not ear plugging up, so you know, pick the things that work for you. I know a lot of people sleep in those masks covering their eyes. I'm not down with that, so you just pick what works for you. I know a lot of people sleep in those masks covering their eyes. I'm not down with that, so you just pick what works for you.

Speaker 1:

Avoid the heavy meals, the caffeine and the alcohol. Remember, I tried. I drink tea. I find that a warm tea is like a warm shower knocks me right out. And stay away from that. You know, let me go run five miles 45 minutes before I'm supposed to go to sleep thing.

Speaker 1:

Getting your heart rate up that high before you're trying to go to sleep doesn't really work out for you. You have to bring all those levels back down to lower than you function in order for you to rest. So think about imagine your regular daily stress. You want to bring your heart rate on down, you know, low 70s, 60s, depending on your age so that you can try and get your sleep melatonin production going. You want to practice stress reducing techniques like meditation, like yoga or anything that can help you calm and balance your mind. This is self-care.

Speaker 1:

I said it in one of the other episodes sleep is like the air you breathe. As far as I'm concerned, if you are not getting the proper sleep, all of your systems are out of whack. So please be mindful of all of that. So today, you know, we explored the science again, just did a little recap on the science and just did a little recap on the science, how they work, and practical tips to align your daily activities with your natural body rhythms for optimal performance. So try implementing a few of these things and get that sleep. Get that sleep. This can help your overall productivity and overall well-being. I mean, we even have there's a huge case being made for the fact that you can't lose weight if you don't sleep.

Speaker 1:

So in my next episode, I'm going to probably talk about running after a certain age. We know a lot of people like to run and they talk about how bad it is for you, how good it is for you, how bad it is for you. There's a good study. I found that I wanted to talk about it and you won't want to miss out. So I appreciate you, as always, for listening, and I hope this helps you think about your sleep and really recognize that it's not a chore. It is about self-care. Again, it is like the air you breathe. So thank you for listening and have a wonderful day.