Better Sleep Challenge

Better Sleep Challenge – Week 1 Tip

Welcome to Week 1 of the Better Sleep Challenge. By now, you should have received the A Good Night’s Sleep book. If you haven’t received your copy yet, please contact Employee Wellness. Also, please have your materials ready for this challenge.

Participant Packet – a guide through each week’s activities and the Relaxation Techniques. Try a new Relaxation Technique each week.

Challenge Log – this is where you’ll keep track of the weekly activities you complete. You’ll submit this to Employee Wellness at the end of the challenge.

Sleep Quality Questionnaire – complete this at the beginning of the challenge and again at the end. Remember to record your initial and final scores on the Challenge Log.

Sleep Log – keep this by your bed so you can track your sleep habits each night. You can earn 1 point per day that you track your sleep habits, up to 3 per week that you will record on your Challenge Log. This is yours to keep; do not submit this to Employee Wellness.

If you’re interested in more sleep information, there will be onsite sleep themed Wellness Workshops offered in January and February. Check out the Wellness Workshops webpage to see the schedule. You can earn 10 HLAPs for attending.

Now that you’re ready to begin the challenge, read these Benefits of Adequate Sleep to encourage you to get the most out of this challenge so you can sleep better!

1. Improves memory and learning
2. Reduces risk of having a car accident
3. Improves grades (for students), and/or performance at work
4. Sharpens attention
5. Improves mood
6. Lessens depression and anxiety
7. Helps control stress
8. Improves decision making
9. Helps control metabolism and weight
10. Helps improve glucose tolerance and reduces insulin resistance, which helps you avoid or control diabetes
11. Reduces inflammation
12. Lowers blood pressure
13. Improves immune function and lowers risk of disease and illness
14. May lower cancer risk, especially breast and colon cancer
15. Lowers heart disease and heart attack risk
16. Improves balance
17. Lower risk of injury while exercising, working and just getting around in your daily life
18. Improves creativity
19. Lessens pain (or perceptions of it)
20. Improves patience and lowers irritability

Better Sleep Challenge – Week 2 Tip

Welcome to Week 2 of the Better Sleep Challenge. Did you complete the Sleep Quality Questionnaire last week? If not, try to complete it as early as possible this week so you can track your initial score. At the end of the challenge you will re-take the questionnaire to get your final score for comparison.

This week’s tips are about Natural Remedies for Sleep. If falling asleep is your issue, try these natural remedies before heading to the drug store:

• Gentle yoga or meditation both work by relaxing the body and clearing the mind.
• Get plenty of physical exercise during the day; the more energy you expend during the day, the sleepier you are likely to feel at night.
• Spend time outdoors with exposure to bright, natural light, and exercise outdoors whenever possible.
• Use your bed and bedroom for sleeping only. Don’t do work or watch TV.
• Reduce caffeine intake particularly in the evening.
• Avoid large meals in the evening and don’t snack after dinner.
• Spend up to an hour in dim light before you go to sleep to start shutting the brain and body down.
• Keep the bedroom as dark as possible without any artificial light sources. Get black out curtains if necessary.
• Keep the room a comfortable temperature towards the cool side to improve sleep quality.
• Establish a consistent bedtime routine. This can include a warm bath, relaxing walk, or meditation. This routine will tell your mind and body that the day is over and it is time to wind down for the night.
• Set a schedule; going to sleep at the same time each night and waking up the same time each morning sets your circadian rhythm.
• Avoid late-night exposure to bright screens such as IPads, smartphones, TVs, and computers which can disrupt circadian rhythms and melatonin production. 
• Try aromatherapy; lavender has been proven to help aid in sleep. Try spraying it on your pillow or buy a lavender filled pillow. 

Better Sleep Challenge – Week 3 Tip

Welcome to Week 3 of the Better Sleep Challenge. We’re more than half way through the challenge. Have you been logging your sleep and trying the relaxation techniques? Don’t forget, for more information on sleep, a few locations are hosting onsite Wellness Workshops related to sleep this month. To view the schedule, visit the Wellness Workshops webpage.

Did you know that sleep may help control weight?
As crazy as it sounds, there is substantial medical evidence suggesting a strong link between sleep and weight. Studies show that how much you sleep, and possibly even the quality of your sleep, can influence hormonal activity that directly impacts your appetite.

Have you ever experienced a sleepless night and then found that no amount of food could satisfy you the following day? This is the workings of two hormones known to influence appetite – both of which are believed to be strongly impacted by how much we sleep.

How do these hormones regulate appetite and weight? Ghrelin (pronounced “gr-ellen”), produced in the gastrointestinal tract, acts to stimulate appetite. Leptin, produced in fat cells, sends signals to the brain to indicate that you are full. Studies show that inadequate sleep (less than 7-8 hours per night), causes an increase in ghrelin levels that stimulates appetite, and a corresponding decrease in leptin levels resulting in an inability to feel satisfied. It was also found to increase the subject’s desire for high carbohydrate, calorie-dense foods. These combinations can set the stage for overeating and weight gain.

What to do? Make getting enough sleep a priority by allocating ample time for sleep at night – it may mean going to bed earlier – and building healthy sleep habits that support good quality sleep.

Better Sleep Challenge – Week 4 Tip

Week 4 is the last week for the Better Sleep Challenge. The challenge ends Friday, February 16, 2018 and the deadline to submit your Challenge Log is Wednesday, February 28, 2018. Please remember to track your initial and final Sleep Quality Questionnaire scores on your Challenge Log along with your weekly points. You will submit the Challenge Log to Employee Wellness, but you keep your Sleep Quality Questionnaire and Sleep Log for yourself. Don’t miss out on the opportunity for great prizes*, which include a very nice sleep themed gift basket ($100 value) and 10 - $25 Corporate Rewards gift cards! Also, you can earn up to 20 Healthy Lifestyle Activity Points (HLAPs).

* All prizes are subject to taxation.

Tips for a Better Night’s Sleep with a Partner
As much as we love them, sleeping with a partner can be hard. Different schedules, temperature preferences, snoring, tossing & turning and so many other factors can make it difficult to get a good night’s sleep next to someone else. Try some of these tips before you find yourself sleeping in separate beds!

• Have you found yourself staring at the ceiling at 2AM because your partner is snoring? As over half of the population is guilty of snoring, chances are that you’ve been there before. As long as it’s not a “so loud you wake yourself up” snore, try to drown it out with a sound machine or white noise app on your smartphone – there are literally hundreds of them. Sleep soundly to ocean waves or the rainforest instead of the not-so-soothing sound of someone snoring.

• It takes nothing more than a turn to the side to wake up a sensitive sleeper. To combat tossing, turning and even kicking, try layering yourself in separate blankets to cut down on motion. If you partner is surrounded by their own blankets, less chance for that karate kick to reach you! Also, a quality mattress or mattress topper can help with motion transfer.

• Does your partner have a different bed time or wake up time than you? To avoid waking each other up, plan your morning/ bedtime routine in advance. Do everything you possibly can in a room that's not the bedroom — dressing, undressing, what-have-you. Try to pick out your clothes in advance, so that you won't be banging around in your closet while your better half fruitlessly tries to hide under their pillow. Invest in an eye mask if you're a light sleeper so your partner feels like they can turn on a light if they absolutely have to. Because having your partner stumble around in the dark until they hurt themselves is a guaranteed recipe for getting woken up.