Sleep Smarter: 21 Proven Tips to Sleep Your Way To a Better Body, Better Health and Bigger Success

188 Pages·2014·2.51 MB·English

by  Shawn Stevenson

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief
quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Copyright ©2014 Shawn Stevenson ISBN: 978-0-9845745-2-0 (print) This book is intended to supplement,
not replace, the advice of a trained health professional. If you know of respect that you have a health
problem, you should consult a health professional. The author and publisher specifically disclaim and
liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, that is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the
use and application of any contents of this book.
I still remember the feeling when my grandmother put me to sleep at night. I felt
happy, I felt loved, and I felt excited about what the next day would bring. This
book is dedicated to her. I will never stop representing her and sharing all of the
incredible gifts that she saw in me.
It’s my sincerest wish that you not only get the best sleep possible, but that your
life is happier, healthier, and full of success because of it.
S.S.
Introduction
Chapter 1. Know The Value Of Sleep
Chapter 2. Get More Sunlight During The Day
Chapter 3. Avoid The Screens Before Bedtime
Chapter 4. Have A Caffeine Curfew
Chapter 5. Be Cool
Chapter 6. Get To Bed At The Right Time
Chapter 7. Rub The "Anti-Stress" Mineral Into Your Skin Each Day
Chapter 8. Create A Sleep Sanctuary
Chapter 9. Have A Big "O"
Chapter 10. Get It Blacked Out
Chapter 11. Train Hard (But Smart)
Chapter 12. Get Your "Friends" Out Of Your Room
Chapter 13. Lose Weight And Don’t Find It Again
Chapter 14. Go Easy On The Bottle
Chapter 15. Play Your Position
Chapter 16. Calm Your Inner Chatter
Chapter 17. Use Smart Supplementation
Chapter 18. Be Early To Rise
Chapter 19. Dress For The Occasion
Chapter 20. Get Grounded
Chapter 21. Ritualize Your Night
References
About the Author
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Sleep is the secret sauce.
There isn’t one facet of your mental, emotional, or physical performance that’s
not affected by the quality of your sleep.
The big challenge is that in our fast-paced world today, millions of people are
chronically sleep deprived and suffering the deleterious effects of getting low
quality sleep.
The consequences of sleep deprivation aren’t pretty either. Try immune system
failure, diabetes, cancer, obesity, depression, and memory loss just to name a few.
Most people don’t realize that their continuous sleep problems are also a catalyst
for the diseases and appearance issues they’re struggling with.
Studies have shown that just one night of sleep deprivation can make you as
insulin resistant as a type-2 diabetic. This translates directly to aging faster,
decreased libido, and storing more body fat than you want to (say it ain’t so!).
Now stretch that out over weeks, months, even years, and you can start to see
why lack of sleep can be such a huge problem.
A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal showed that
sleep deprivation is directly related to an inability to lose weight. Test subjects
were put on the same exercise and diet program, but those who were in the sleep
deprivation group (less than six hours per night) consistently lost less weight and
body fat than the control group who slept for over 8 hours per night. Could high-
quality sleep be the missing component to nutrition and smart exercise to help
you shed fat for good?
In Chapters 11 and 13, we’ll be exploring the sleep-body fat connection and
specific strategies to help you get in the best shape of your life. Pour on that
secret sauce please!
Other studies show sleep deprivation encouraging cancer, Alzheimer’s,
depression, and even heart disease. In a society that’s overworked and under-
rested, it’s more important than ever to pay attention to issues associated with
not getting the sleep that we require. Although we’ll be covering the negative
impact of sleep problems in this book, we’re going to put our major focus on
what you can do to improve your sleep starting tonight, and avoid these chronic
issues in the first place.
What about performance in your work? And what about productivity and
getting things done?
At first glance we might think that working more and skimping on the sleep will
get us there faster. The research is in and it’s 100 percent conclusive: when you
don’t sleep well, you get slower, less creative, more stressed, and underperform.
Basically you’re only utilizing a fraction of what you’re capable of. We’re going to
talk about this more in Chapter 1, so sit tight and I’ll give you the low down on
what sleep (or lack there of) is doing to your brain.
There’s an old Irish proverb that says, “A good laugh and a long sleep are the two
best cures for anything.” My promise to you is that this book will give you real,
practical strategies to help you get the best sleep possible. You’ll laugh, you’ll
think, you’ll plan, you’ll put things into action, and you’ll see your life
transformed as a result of it.
You deserve to be healthy, happy, and fulfilled in your life. Getting great sleep is
a huge component of this, and this book is the key to helping you get there.
A pioneer, and leading authority on sleep research, Dr. William Dement said,
“You’re not healthy, unless your sleep is healthy.”
Nothing could be more true, and these 21 tips are going to help you get great
sleep for many years to come.
The topic of this chapter is a little unusual, but it’s probably the most important.
Many people are negligent about getting enough sleep because they don’t truly
understand the benefits they’re getting from it.
So what is sleep? And why is it important?
Well, defining sleep is a lot like trying to define life. No one completely
understands it, and if you try to explain it you’re more likely to sound like
Forrest Gump than a world-renown scholar (Life is like a box of chocolates…
sleep is like pretending to be dead).
Sleep is actually defined as a natural periodic state of rest for the mind and body,
in which the eyes usually close and consciousness is completely or partially lost, so
that there is a decrease in bodily movement and responsiveness to external stimuli.
That sounds a little weird, but the most important takeaway is that it’s
a natural periodic state of rest for the mind and body. If you’re not doing it, then
you’re being completely unnatural. And, nobody likes unnatural people.
What’s more important is knowing the big prizes that sleep gives you. Generally,
being awake is catabolic (breaks you down) and sleep is anabolic (builds you up).
Sleep is known to be an elevated anabolic state, heightening the growth and
rejuvenation of the immune, skeletal, and muscular systems. Basically, sleep
rebuilds you and keeps you youthful.
High quality sleep fortifies your immune system, balances your hormones,
boosts your metabolism, increases physical energy, and improves the function of
your brain. Without all of the essential benefits that sleep is providing, you will
never, I repeat never, have the body and life you want without giving your body
the right amount of sleep.
In our culture, sleep is not respected very much at all. As a matter of fact, we are
often programmed with the idea that to be successful we need to work harder,
sleep less, and we can catch up on all the sleep we want when we’re dead. To say
sleep is not respected is really an understatement.
Working hard is unarguably a big part of being successful, but so is working
smart. So many people in our world today go on plugging away with work,
burning the candle at both ends, not realizing that the quality of work they’re
doing is being radically compromised. Research shows that after just 24 hours of
sleep deprivation, there is an overall reduction of six percent in glucose reaching
the brain. Simple translation: You get dumber.
This is also why you crave candy, chips, donuts, and other starchy, sugary things
when you’re sleep deprived. You’re body is trying to compel you to get that
glucose back to your brain as soon as possible. It’s a built-in survival mechanism.
This is inherent in our genes because, in our days as hunter-gatherers, that lack
of brainpower could mean a swift death from a predator or a substantially
reduced ability to hunt and procure your own food for survival. Today a simple
trip to the refrigerator can bypass your body’s cry for more sleep, but those stress
mechanisms are still alive and well within your body right now.
I Can’t Believe I Did That Last Night