Pt. 5. Sleep, Rest and Recovery

Well here we are. Pt 5. already. In the previous posts we've dealt with breathing more consciously; getting enough water; moving; and eating good, clean, whole foods. And with all that extra brain power being applied, it can be a bit tiring to begin with, so it's fitting that today we're talking about Sleep. It's the fifth element on the "Five Essentials List" and as essential as the others on the list it occupies.

No matter what your daily activities are, your body and brain need down-time to repair and renew each day. And the harder and longer you work each day, the more you begin to realise how much your sleep means to you.

Without proper rest and recovery, your body is unable to carry out the vital daily repair and replenishment works required. At first it begins to run on its reserves, and when it can no longer cope with the stresses put on it, it starts to break down. You become unable to think clearly and quickly, and your memory begins to fail, basic physical skills such as speakign clealry become challenged and your immunity drops,...and that's just the start of it. Add in things like weight gain due to changes in how your body processes your food, and also increases the hormones that up your appetite (weight gain bringing with it a whole other set of problems) and you can see that good quality sleep really is important. If you're a new mum, now you'll know why you have Nappy Brain - in case you had any doubt. :)

The Fifth Element: Get Great Sleep. around 6-8 hours is enough for most adults. If you know you're low on sleep, put in some extra effort yourself and consult a medical practitioner for help if you need it.

Pt 4. Food. Five Essentials to kick-start your way to a healthier you.

Ooops - I've left this hanging until now. Today we're talking about my favourite topic:-Food.

Food is the body's fuel and you need to consume it. It provides vital energy, vitamins and minerals, and should be as fresh and unprocessed as possible. By food, I mean the stuff that either grows from the ground or in the water, or it eats what grows from the ground and water. I know we all live busy lives, but on the basis that we're all too busy to get sick or be sicker for longer than we need to be, here's my rule for food:

1. If it needs a packet, eat it only rarely or not at all. (Generally, if it needs a packet it is highly processed and low in nutrients)
   
2. If it's in a packet, check the Ingredients list to confirm that it is what it says it is.
   
3. If its packaging free, it's probably fresh, unprocessed and full of vital, good-for-you nutrients. (not to mention the benefits for the environment and your hip pocket)

Eat moderate portions 3 times a day, and top up every 2-3 hours in between to help moderate your blood sugar over the day and therby prevent crazy cravings.

Include Carbohydrates, Proteins and Fats in each nutrient dense meal. More on the nutrient dense concept in later posts, but for now, take a look at your general eating habits in terms of the packaging concept above, and see where you can make some really simple changes. keep breathing, drinking and moving.

The old adage that you get out what you put in is no more true than with food and how good you feel and how well your body functions.

Tomorrow: The fifth essential: Sleep and Rest.

Pt 3. Movement. Five Essentials to kick-start your way to a healthier you

It's part three, and day three of this series, and today we're going to take a look at the third of the 5 Essentials - Movement. But first:- How are you finding those 5 deep breaths in the mornings? What about your water intake - is it right yet? Have you noticed any changes? The most common changes I hear are that people recognise that they have more energy when they wake up and throughout the day. One of my clients put it very succinctly when she said to me "You know what? - "The Fog" has cleared, and I haven't done anything else other than drink enough water for the last week and my head is so clear!" These changes are so simple to make and so essential for everyone from the self-confessed couch-potatoes to elite athletes, and everywhere in -between. Without these 5 Essentials in-check, the rest of your life is so much harder than it needs to be, and any attempts to be fitter, or lose weight or be more creative are compromised.

Now to the third on the List: Movement.
Like it or not the human body was created to move, so if you have one, and you want to live well in it, you need to move.
You might not need to move to hunt and gather any more (Coles doesn't count), or escape predators as you would have had to do tens of thousands of years ago, but your heart, lungs, digestive system and other organs still need the benefits that movement brings. Here's the deal:

MOVE. Every Day. Build up to 30 minutes minimum. Check with your Doctor first if you haven't recently had a check up, and get the "All Clear".

Start with walking and make it brisk. If you're already in the habit of moving, break a good solid sweat, and breathe hard for those 30 minutes. Notice how good it feels to be activated. On top of the extra oxygen you take in, the movement helps your digestion, heart and lungs, liver, kidneys etcetera. AND it releases endorphins, which make you feel great: they're the best drugs in the world, and your body makes them, if you just move.

Tomorrow we'll talk about my favourite topic - Food.

Pt 2. Water. Five Essentials to kick-start your way to a healthier you

Ok, yesterday I might have burst the bubble when I told you that no one else but you can provide your miracle cure. But to be fair, at least I gave up the starting points and reminded you what your body just can't live without - those simple 5 Essentials:

1. Oxygen. 2. Water. 3. Movement. 4. Fuel. 5. Sleep.

We dealt with the obvious Oxygen yesterday. Today, let's take a look at Water.
While you'll live longer without water than oxygen, it's still incredibly important to your body's metabolic processes. Water plays a key role in the activities of every cell and organ in in your body and that includes how your body converts the fuel you provide it (food) into energy so that you can think clearly and cleverly, and have enough energy to get through your day without feeling exhausted.

All it takes for your thinking and energy levels to be impared is a fluid weight-loss of 1-2% of your body weight. So if you're 70kg, that's only 700g before you start to show signs of mental confusion and can't get aobut your normal daily activites as well (have you ever felt that frustration and crankiness at very simple, minor things?).

How much water should you drink?
There's aways the 6-8 glasses recommendation, but everyone is different on this, so you have to go the other basic recommendation and drink enough so that your urine is pale yellow in colour.

Tomorrow: Movement. For the rest of today, remember to breathe consciously, and start drinking enough water so that you can feel physcially better and think more clearly.

Pt. 1.Five Essentials to kick start your way to a better you.

If you're finding it easier to make new excuses than exercise and eat well, or you've given up trying to look after yourself altogether because you just don't know where to start or what to do, you're like the vast majority of the human population in the western world.

The fact that you, (along with nearly everyone else), don’t know where to start isn't surprising with all the circulating information and mis-information... And of course, if the answer to all your problems (be they wrinkles, or that spare tyre you're now carrying around your mid riff) is suddenly going to take less effort to fix or be more successful in less time, you're going to listen.

But here's the bottom line: so far, there is no miracle cure for your expanding waistline and declining health. Except you and time.

As complex as you may be, you still need to attend to what I call your "Essential 5".

They’re for beginners and the elite alike. You can’t live for long without them, and if you pay just a little attention to them you can live well and long. For today, here are 'The Essential Five' listed:-

1. Oxygen. 2. Water. 3. Movement. 4. Fuel. 5. Sleep.

Your body needs Oxygen, first and foremost - to state the obvious, it's one of the reasons that breathing is an automatic function. Automatic or not, try this every morning for the next week after you wake up:

Breathe 5 deliberate breaths into your abdomen and out again through your nose. Those five deep breaths will oxyenate you and remind your body to automatically breathe more deeply for the rest of the day. It will help improve your mood and brain function (those of you who have ever sucked on an oxygen tank after a big night out will be able to attest to this), and it’s also the reason that you come out of a Yoga class feeling tired and energised at the same time...... I’ll elaborate more tomorrow...

Run for Your Life.

A 21 year study has found that vigorous running activity in older people not only helps them live longer, but shows that they suffer fewer disabilities than healthy non-runners. The study was started in a time (1980s) when it was believed that vigorous activity would harm older people and that it would bring about "an epidemic of joint and bone injuries", and has proved distinctly otherwise. You can read about it by clicking here

Participants in this study were all aged 50 or more when the the study started ran an average of about 4 hours per week at the beginning of the study to around 76 minutes per week by the end of the study The runners have seen half the death rate and less disabilities than the healthy non runners.

With the benefit of my own experience, I believe it shows once again that regular, vigourous activity throughout our lives does have a dramatic and positive impact on our health, the keys here being regular and vigorous: not "extensive". Too much of a good thing can, of course, have a reverse effect and we need to remember that just because something is good for us, doesn't necessarily mean that more is better. And of course you don't have to run - any form of regular moderate to vigorous activity over your lifetime (not just up to your 30s and 40s) will help you live longer with less disability.

Here's the thing:
We are designed to move and if we stop moving, we begin to 'rust': our general health decreases; we have less general energy and mental alertness because we take in less oxygen; our muscles get weaker quicker; we start to suffer earlier from reduced stability and so, because it's harder, we move less, and less and less, until we stop. For good. Apparently, death is still one of the few things we can't avoid, but if it's up to me, I want to live well, rather than ill. Move it or Lose it, I say. :)

"Exercise is like the most potent drug. Exercise is by far the best thing you can do."
Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, director of women and heart disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City