2012 Brand New YOU Series – Part I

by Susan Cross | Posted: January 2nd, 2012 | No Comments »

“Use your first smile, your first form of generosity, of love, of kindness—use it at home; start at home. If there is something left over, if your plate is just full of abundance of patience and goodness and smiles and joy, then by all means, you should go … and offer that to others. But we must begin at home.”

I love the above quote because it really speaks to the fact that we must begin with ourselves. If we have more energy and better health, we will have more patience, happiness, joy and love.

Today, this very first Monday of 2012, I am offering tips on how to begin your New Year of health and wellness.

The two most important components for success, concerning health and wellness, are consciousness and discipline. As we become aware, we make better choices, these choices lead to a disciplined life and you begin to feel better almost immediately. You energy improves, many of your ailments vanish (fatigue, insomnia, mood-swings, brain fog, anxiety), and just about all of life improves. A disciplined life does not mean renouncing all material goods and it definitely does not mean deprivation. In fact, you will feel more filled up.

If plates of steamed veggies, dry brown rice and bloating soups come to mind, you need to know it is not going to be like that at all. I certainly wouldn’t want to eat that way. Sure you will have to forego white sugar, processed foods and the usual suspects, but your new choices will really taste so much better. Who wouldn’t want that? I promise there are sweets, we wouldn’t do that to you – really, we wouldn’t.

The most important tip of the year:

SLEEP. I know what you are thinking, it is January, I have resolutions to fulfill and she wants us to sleep? I chose sleep as the first step because without it, you will not have the energy to maintain your fitness plan and to make healthy food choices.

The sleep-metabolism connection: Women are getting by on 5-6 hours sleep a night, every night. This is detrimental to our hormones, weight, overall health, and ultimately, our longevity.

Sleep is the easiest way to boost your metabolism, gain authentic energy, have your hormones better balanced, make better food choices and slow down the aging process. And it’s FREE! The average person needs 7-9 hours of sleep. When we stay up too late our body produces adrenaline to keep it awake. Think of the hormonal system as our bodies’ “bank.” Each time we borrow from the bank we accrue debt that will surely be paid back later, and the interest is very, very high. This pay-back comes in the form of adrenal exhaustion, thyroid imbalances, immune deficiencies and a myriad of other ailments that will be covered in depth when we get to hormones.

When adrenaline is present so is its good friend cortisol, the stress hormone, and also the weight hormone. Cortisol is supposed to go down at night so that you can achieve a good night’s sleep. Well now it is revved up and ready to party. You then have trouble falling asleep, you won’t reach the deep REM level of sleep, needed to release two other important hormones for metabolism, growth hormone and melatonin. When that alarm sounds, you awake more exhausted, you reach for the coffee, you are now way too tired to go to the gym, you reach for a bagel, you make nutrient-empty food choices throughout the day, most likely in the form of carbohydrates, sugar and caffeine, and the cycle continues.

The bottom line is that we store more fat simply by not getting enough sleep. Turn off the reality television and the computer, put down the blackberry and repeat after me, you are feeling sleepy, very, very, sleepy…

The good news is that our internal clocks change very quickly. About one-two hours prior to bedtime turn off all gadgets. Electronics emit a frequency that actually make it harder to sleep. Especially television which disrupts our pineal gland function, this gland produces the melatonin needed for sleep. Take a hot bath instead. Pour in a cup of epsom salts (they remove toxins from your body), a few drops of lavender essential oils for relaxation, and stay in the tub for a minimum of twenty minutes. This gives your core body temperature time to warm up which will help you fall asleep. The tub is a perfect place to do your deep breathing exercises and a few visualizations. Have a cup of sleepytime tea. It really works you can buy it in the health food store. Sweet dreams…

So you’ve slept 8 hours last night, you woke up feeling great and you want to continue the metabolism-boosting momentum. What’s next? Well, once you get used to this extra sleep, you will see immediate results in your energy. You will finally have the extra energy to get to the gym and to make healthier food choices.

Please visit Venus In Balance each day to learn how to achieve overall wellness and get in on the secrets of metabolism boosting tips. You are well on your way to achieving your 2012 goals.