Monday, March 19, 2012

Reasons To Sleep More by Anubhav Kapoor

We all know how a good night’s sleep makes us feel energetic, inducing a typically refreshed feeling. However, there is a lot more to a good sleep beyond these very palpable advantages. Unless you are someone who sleeps throughout the day, it is recommended that you try to catch a few hours of extra sleep whenever possible. The following will help you understand why sleeping more is so beneficial for you:

1. Helps to Regulate Weight

Sleep deprivation is major reason of weight gain across people of all ages. Lack of sleep impairs our metabolic functions. It reduces the rate at which we burn calories. It also makes us feel hungrier. This creates a mechanism where our body is more likely to store carbohydrates and fats. Lack of sleep is known to induce hunger pangs. People who feel un-rested are more likely to feel irritated. They often seek solace in beverages with high-sugar content. The sugar spike makes them feel better for a short while and they often become addicted to this pattern.

Insufficient sleep also affects the hormonal functions. It triggers the release of cortisol—this is our basic stress hormone. When stress hormone levels are raised, we tend to suffer from hunger pangs and levels of Leptin hormone tend to decline. This is a natural appetite suppressant. Without sufficient Leptin, the level of Ghrelin hormone rises. This hormone has an appetite-stimulating effect. People suffering from a combination of these factors are prone to snacking throughout the day, drinking more caffeine or tea and binging upon sugary foods. Thus, their propensity to gain weight is a lot more.

2. Raises Your Mental Performance

Our mind needs to process information it has received in the form of visual, auditory and other stimuli. This is done during sleep. This is when the brain recuperates. This ensures that we are able to remember, recall and understand things. Even dreaming patterns are related to the thoughts buried in our sub-conscious. Thus, getting sufficient sleep is vital for our mind to function properly. It is widely acknowledged that people are at their creative best when they have a good sleep. Proper sleep ensures that we are more insightful and can understand things a lot faster.

3. Ensures Better Cardiovascular Health

Apart from the bulging waistline caused by lack of sleep, people suffering from sleep deprivation are known to suffer from hypertension—an established cause of cardiovascular diseases. Greater concentration of stress hormones are the underlying cause of many cardio problems. This includes arrhythmias or irregular heartbeat patterns. Sleep apnea or lack of sufficient oxygen during sleep has been linked with Type 2 Diabetes which is a major cause for heart diseases.

4. Raises Immunity

Quality of sleep and our overall immunity are directly related. This includes our ability to fight-off common infections like flu or common cold. Poor sleeping patterns tend to lower the synthesis of antibodies. Medical research has linked this with the increased risk of developing colon and breast cancer.

5. Improves Our Overall Quality of Life

Healthy sleeping patterns ensure that we are less prone to getting anxious or stressed. It helps us take upon day-to-day activities with more vigor. These are direct contributors towards feeling good throughout the day. With a calmer mind, more physical energy, mental clarity and less chances of falling ill, we feel much better. This helps to raise the libido levels too and impairs the progression of aging-related health issues. (Health, MensXP.com)

Friday, March 9, 2012

5 Easy Motivational Tips To Wake Up Early

For some people, waking up early is as natural as breathing. Lucky them. But for many others, waking up early is virtually an impossible thing to do. Luckily for them, using the motivational tips below can give them a better way to start the day.

1. Wake up to the right environment.

Believe it or not but the way your room looks can help or hinder your ability to wake up early. A messy room will generally make you disinclined to wake up early because cleaning your room will just be one of the many worries you have to tackle for the day.

But when you wake up to a clean room, just the sight of it can be energizing and make you jump out of bed. At least you've got one less worry to think about!

2. Give yourself a good reason to wake up early.

Waking up early come with instant benefits like better health, more time to spend on the things you want to do, and greater productivity. Give yourself ten minutes to think about all the good reasons for waking up early and you might never stop writing. Now, focus on these reasons the first moment your eyes open and you'll be up and about in no time!

3. Get the best sleep you can.

One common reason why people find it difficult to wake up early is simply because they didn't have enough sleep and if they ha*d then it wasn't good enough.

To get the best possible sleep, the first thing you should consider changing about your night routine is your sleeping hours. How about sleeping early for a change? Can't the things you normally like to do at midnight be postponed for the next day?

Sleep as much as you need. This is different from being a professionally idle and sleeping the whole day away just because you want to and not because your body is demanding for rest and relaxation. Motivating yourself to wake up early is easier to do when your body is not clamoring for the opposite.

Sleep effectively. A night's slumber is more restful and peaceful when you haven't procrastinated at work and there weren't any problems at home you chose to sweep under the rug instead of solving them as they come. Definitely, where you sleep also matters. Try to be comfortable as you can. Change your bed, rearrange your room, or have air-conditioning if that's what will make you sleep better.

4. Reward and punish.

Let's focus on the rewards first. Remember how you used to get candies from parents or stars from teachers when you did something good? How about upgrading the reward system to motivate you to wake up early?

A reward system, however, should cut both ways. To make the system more effective, you need to set repercussions for yourself when you wake up late. You also need to be stringent in implementing the penalties. Don't rationalize. Don't justify. The more aware you are about the consequences of waking up late, the more motivated you'll be not to do it again.

5. Get an accountability partner.

Find someone who's also having trouble waking up early and work together to motivate yourselves to change. Don't think of this along the lines of misery loving company, but rather this is more of a case of two hands getting more things done. The two of you will get the results you want more quickly if you help and motivate each other. Be his personal alarm clock and vice versa!