Now I sleep with a CPAP machine for my sleep apnea, and find that the soft sound of pressurized air flowing through the tube into the face mask, helping to keep my airway open as I sleep, calms me and helps signal to my mind and body that it’s time for sleep.

According to the National Sleep Foundation (http://www.sleepfoundation.org/), noises at levels as low as 40 decibels or as high as 70 decibels generally disrupt our sleep, which means that a dripping faucet is just as likely to keep you awake as is your next door neighbor’s blaring stereo.

Familiar noises, however, can make or break your chance of slumber. If you’re a longtime city girl, the sound of traffic rushing by may soothe you into slumber. For others, it may be the chirp of crickets or the ticking of your bedside clock. It’s the familiarity that counts.

To fall asleep no whatever what your environment, try blocking out unwanted sounds with earplugs or the ”white noise” of a fan or air conditioner. And if the absence of that oh-so-familiar ticking keeps you wide awake when you travel, bring it along.

The more familiar the sounds, the better sleep you’ll have.

Pleasant dreams!

Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=851

Researchers found that the more subjects kept to a routine in regards to basic daily activities like bathing, dressing, and eating, the more likely the were to fall asleep quickly, sleep more efficently, and experience better sleep quality and less insomnia.

Definitely something worth sharing with the older loved-ones in your own life.

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=982

Here’s a paraphrased version of how TV can affect your sleep and what you can do about it.

TV is entertaining and even instructive, and most of us can’t even imagine what life would be like without it. But can turning it off bring better sleep?

Here’s what Mark Sisson, author of The Primal Blueprint has to say about our much-loved televisions:

“TV disrupts good brain patterns, is subtly stressful to your body, and can keep you up too late. Especially avoid the evening news, which is usually focused on anxiety-inducing topics that are anything but peaceful. TV left on all night as a comfort actually disrupts good sleep and the production of growth hormone, so skip that, too.”

Bottom line? Don’t be a slave to your television! Take advantage of technology that allows you to record your favorite shows to watch when you want to watch them. Sisson even suggests unplugging the “idiot box” except on weekends or other scheduled days.

Knowing what we know about sleep and weight, sleep and mood and so many other factors, isn’t re-evaluating your TV-watching habits worth a lifetime of better sleep? Perhaps you’ll find you can live without many of your favorite shows after all.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Don’t bring on the guilt just yet. You’re not the only one.

Work, kids, relationships, home and social responsibilities are enough to deal with. But 24/7 technology-induced availability throws enough stress in the mix to make any 21st century citizen more inclined to sleep than make love if a break in their overwhelming lives ever comes.

The latest poll from the National Sleep Foundation reveals that among married people or couples living together, around 1/4 are frequently too tired for sex. And in their 2007 poll, which focused specifically on women, one-half of women polled said that when pressed for time, sleep (52%) and exercise (48%) were the first things they sacrificed. One-third said they that they skipped sex when they ran out of time or felt too sleepy.

High numbers, when sex is so vital for intimacy. And especially when it’s such a good way to slide into slumber.

How about it? This week, schedule a love-making, bedtime rendeuvous and reap the benefits of better sleep and a better relationship.  

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gre/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

http://www.azfamily.com/good-morning-arizona/Getting-a-good-nights-sleep-80468032.html

In it, Dr. Breus, one of the experts who helped create the Sleep Diet for my Glamour article, shares some of his tips for better sleep. A sneak peak for those of you eager to hear more about sleeping better to lose weight!

Yes, dreams really do come true!

I’ve always been interested in sleep, probably because from childhood, I couldn’t seem to achieve it very often. I remember standing beside my parent’s bed in the early hours of the morning, loathe to wake them, yet desperate for someone to share in my awakeness. I’d watch them sleeping, wishing I could have what they had, but never breathing a word. When my mom woke me for school, I’d whine in exhaustion, “But Mom, I just fell asleep!”

At 25, I discovered the cause of my lifelong sleeplessness when I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, a disorder in which you literally stop breathing in your sleep, then wake gasping for air into a stage of sleep so light that all you feel is as if you’ve never slept at all. Your body fights hard to reach the crucial stages of deep sleep and REM (dream) sleep, but spends far too little time there.

Now I sleep with a CPAP mask over my nose each night, forcing pressurized air into my nose to keep my airway from collapsing as I fall asleep. The mask attaches to a long hose which attaches to a shoebox-size machine–the source of my air.

I no longer stop breathing in my sleep, but I tire easily and spend long hours dozing, as if my body is trying to make up for the sleep it’s lost. 

I knew about the link between sleep and weight–I’d even written about it–for several years before one of my editors at Glamour asked me to write an article about it–one in which 7 women actually tried out a sleep diet experiment.

http://www.glamour.com/magazine/2009/02/lose-weight-while-you-sleep and

http://www.glamour.com/magazine/2009/02/the-sleep-diet-is-here

I had the honor of working with 7 “real” women in the New York area. For 10 weeks, they would follow a “better sleep diet.” And for 10 weeks, I would interact with them: creating an online sleep diary they could fill out each day; encouraging them; getting to know them, and finding out if improving their sleep habits could really affect their weight. This was a real-life experiment and the best writing experience I’ve ever had.

I was so incredibly proud of my “sleep makeover girls” as I called them throughout the project; bragging to Pete, my husband, about each small success: every pound lost; each day they experienced more energy, fewer chocolate cravings and more passion for life.

(Check out 5 of the women in the gorgeous photo above: Ehmonie, Brelyn, Real, Paige and Kate.)

I loved the experience; loved the women’s results and couldn’t get the idea of expanding The Sleep Diet phenomenom, sharing the Sleep Diet’s Secrets with any woman who wanted to hear them.

This is only the beginning. Join me–if only to see what the fuss is all about–for the best sleep of your life.