Healthy Sleep Challenge - Who is with me?

Bluetail6

@serser28: For me it is all a matter of how exhausted I am before I go to sleep. I think I didn't fall asleep till after 2 am last night. Several nights ago, before I joined the challenge, I only slept for 3 hrs. Ugh. I've been trying to drink a huge mug of chamomile tea about an hour before bed. I do have a bad habit of watching something on the computer till I get sleepy.

I've had insomnia for a long time. I find the best thing for me is not to stress about falling asleep. My husband and the dog can fall asleep in less than 5 mins. No kidding. The cat and I are night owls.... In fact, she is next to me looking at the laptop!

I have a Fitbit Surge. I'm considering getting the Ionic, but it isn't out yet.

I do wake up in between, but try to relax as much as possible, otherwise I will wake up fully.

My friends who have no trouble sleeping just don't get it. My husband, thankfully, is completely sympathetic. I do have some time-released melatonin. I think I'll take one of those tonight, as I have a ton going on tomorrow.

Do you have any tried and true methods for sleeping longer? Which Fitbit do you have?

DresdenSinn

Pretty solid sleep last night, good balance of light and deep with no wake events. My goal is 6hrs so anything over that is a bonus. I also had an hour nap yesterday and I would like to mention I get up without an alarm

Priyarose

I'm in! My goal is to go to bed at and get up at the same time every day

serser28

@Priyarose - welcome. Have you decided what time that will be?

serser28

DresdenSinn wrote: »

Pretty solid sleep last night, good balance of light and deep with no wake events. My goal is 6hrs so anything over that is a bonus. I also had an hour nap yesterday and I would like to mention I get up without an alarm

Your doing rather well with your sleep schedule at the moment. Great that your deep and light sleep is balanced and you are not waking up. I am aiming for that so will take inspiration from you.

Mildredose

I am definitely in!!!!

DresdenSinn

So since I didn't get a nap yesterday I decided to turn in a little early last night and this is what happened which surprised me:



I think it's worth mentioning I exercise just about everyday (weight lifting and cardio) from 3:30pm to 4:30pm and that I have dinner at 6pm and do not eat again until 6am.

girlinahat

this is definitely an area of my life I need to work on. According to my fitbit I average 6hrs 14 minutes of sleep, but during the week I'm lucky if I achieve 5 hours.

I recently bought a new mattress topper, and since then I have not noticed waking up in the night (although my tracker tells me differently). I certainly haven't got up to go to the toilet. So that's a result.

I struggle with sleep on various levels - struggling to get to sleep, restless sleep and waking in the night. I also have mild sleep apnea which causes me to wake gasping.

I DO find that if I exercise daily, this really helps. It gives me some physical exhaustion to help get me to sleep. I also try and keep a regular waking schedule - around 6am to get up and run and 8am at weekends (a girl needs a lie-in).

I'm keen to up my sleep to 7 hours nightly so need to be disciplined in actually getting into bed and winding down - no point getting into bed at 10pm if I then spend the next hour looking at my phone

serser28

@Mildredose - welcome!

serser28

@DresdenSinn - 8 hrs 27 mins is fantastic. What I am most impressed with is that you were able to have more deep sleep than light sleep. I think the way forward is for you not to nap as you will be getting better quality sleep. I have taken note about the exercising every day for an hour and the not eating after 6pm. I will endeavour to incorporate something similar around my night work. Did notice that the day I got a good sleep was after I had exercised hard. May have to do that everyday.

serser28

My sleep has not been great the past two days. Tuesday (5hrs 13 mins) and Wednesday (4hrs 20mins). Going to aim for a minimum of 6 hours today. Already had 3hrs 20min. I really must try to get my sleep in one go rather than in several naps.

serser28

Bluetail6 wrote: »

@serser28: For me it is all a matter of how exhausted I am before I go to sleep. I think I didn't fall asleep till after 2 am last night. Several nights ago, before I joined the challenge, I only slept for 3 hrs. Ugh. I've been trying to drink a huge mug of chamomile tea about an hour before bed. I do have a bad habit of watching something on the computer till I get sleepy.

I've had insomnia for a long time. I find the best thing for me is not to stress about falling asleep. My husband and the dog can fall asleep in less than 5 mins. No kidding. The cat and I are night owls.... In fact, she is next to me looking at the laptop!

I have a Fitbit Surge. I'm considering getting the Ionic, but it isn't out yet.

I do wake up in between, but try to relax as much as possible, otherwise I will wake up fully.

My friends who have no trouble sleeping just don't get it. My husband, thankfully, is completely sympathetic. I do have some time-released melatonin. I think I'll take one of those tonight, as I have a ton going on tomorrow.

Do you have any tried and true methods for sleeping longer? Which Fitbit do you have?

I totally relate to only getting around 3 hours sleep. Before this challenge I routinely only slept between 2-4 hours per day. Just being more conscious of my sleep pattern has increased it.

You may want to try not watching something on the computer or on your phone before falling asleep as I have read somewhere that it doesn't aid quality sleep. Anything is worth a try.

I agree that it's important to not stress about falling asleep - that only makes it worse. Good idea with camomile tea.

I just changed my Fitbit Charge HR to a Fitbit Alta HR which I like.

I don't have any tried and tested methods that make me sleep longer but I am now going to dedicate some time in finding what works. What I have done, which helps on occasion, is wind down at least 30 minutes before I want to go to bed so I can relax and do some light meditation/listen to sleep podcasts. I also use a lavender sleep mist which I spray over my pillow and duvet. I think it helps me relax and because I love the smell so much it makes me snuggle under then duvet which aids my sleep.

How did you get on with your sleep last night?

corinasue1143

Just checking in. Slept about 4 hours Tuesday night. Last night, did everything right. Yoga 7-7:30, computer,etc off 10 pm,warm shower, clean sheets, lights out 12. Slept 12-3, napped 7:30-9:30. So tired of this. Really want to sleep.

serser28

I feel your pain @corinasue1143. Sometimes no matter what we try it just doesn't work but don't give up. Keep at it. Hopefully one day your body will realise and get into the habit of sleeping for longer periods. I have only slept for 5hrs and 17mins today in total and that's by taking 3 separate naps. First sleep was for 3 hours, second nap for 1hr 57 and the last one 20 mins. I still believe we will get there in the end. Have you tried doing something more strenuous during the day (seems to work for @DresdenSinn) and on the occasions I workout real hard I seem to sleep for a bit longer in one go. Hope tonight is a better night for you.

DresdenSinn

Well I didn't nap again so I retired somewhat early and I did pretty well although I had 1 brief wake event:



A couple of other things worth mentioning is that I never have to get up during the night to use the bathroom, I don't intake any more water after dinner at 6pm other than enough to swallow my nighttime supplements at 7:30/8pm which consist of a ZMA product (Zinc/Magnesium Aspartate and a natural/herbal sleep supplement.

girlinahat

well after a few days of making it through the night without waking, last night wasn't so good. I blame my movements the few hours before bed though -

I went for a long run after work, an hour and 45 minutes, then by the time I drove home, showered and cooked it was 9pm before I ate. I took some paracetamol to stop my calf muscles hurting (as that has made me struggle to sleep before now) and a herbal sleeping tablet. I got to sleep okay but then had an apnoea moment after about half an hour of sleeping. I've noticed I tend to sleep at my deepest within the first few hours, and the apnoea happens in those deep sleep times. It shook me up a bit (it's unpleasant, makes me feel like I've come back from the dead, and my heart was racing) and I then was restless the remainder of the night.

Oh well, at least it's Friday and my legs don't ache as much as I expected.

corinasue1143

Last night slept 12-2, 7:30-9:15.

Priyarose

I'm averaging 5-6hrs a night but as the week goes on, going to bed later and later. I've set an alarm so I'll be more mindful

Bluetail6

@serser28: Sorry I haven't checked in with you!! I will update you later today (it's after midnight here.) I have allergies and have been having a sneezing fit. Hope all is well with everyone .

DresdenSinn

So with the weekend upon us I stayed up a little later (even though I did not nap yesterday) and I also had a snack of cottage cheese and almonds right before bed but neither seemed to impact my sleep:

corinasue1143

Good going Dresden. I slept 12-5:30, napped 6:30-9:00. Yahoo! It's gonna be a good day!

nads_ayoub

I put on my headset and listen to this 30 day weight loss meditation every night and I sleep incredibly well after that.
https://youtu.be/UY-xuw0bEAM

brittanydashnay

nads_ayoub wrote: »

I put on my headset and listen to this 30 day weight loss meditation every night and I sleep incredibly well after that.
https://youtu.be/UY-xuw0bEAM

I will try this tonight!

DresdenSinn

Last night was nearly identical to the night before:

imlightning

Count me in! I usually try and sleep by 10:30 pm and I'm up at 6:00 am. I always wake up in the middle of the night (say around 3:00 am).

I'm limiting my drinking, which I know can affect your sleep pattern.

corinasue1143

1:30-7:15. Another good night. I'm a happy camper!

brittdee88

Sorry for going MIA. I'm from South Florida and evacuated last week. Needless to say, stress is super high, and sleep hasn't been great (especially since we are on an air mattress in a friend's apartment). I am recommitting to this challenge tomorrow as best as I can. I really need to focus on self-care and good (or at least decent) sleep is the foundation for me.

serser28

Hi all,

Lost a bit of focus over the past few days and not posted - sorry!

Friday I managed to get 5hrs 58 mins over several naps. Just missed the 6hr goal.

Saturday I only managed 2hrs 32mins of restless sleep - not good at all.

Sunday I made up for it by getting 7hrs 2mins over several naps but have now been awake for over 30 hours without sleeping. Going to try to get at least 5 hours sleep now before I have to go work tonight.

Will respond to everyone's post later - going to do some meditation and aim to get some sleep now.

Hope everyone's doing okay.

corinasue1143

Brittdee, hugs! Wish I could help. You can't change the situation, you can only change your reaction to the situation. Sleep, take a deep breath, and make the best of it. Take good care of your friend who took you in. I wish you the very best!

corinasue1143

Slept about 12:30-1:00, then 6:00-8:30. That's what happens after 2 good nights in a row.