Let’s talk about SLEEP, baby!

Mom’s I am sure you can relate… Sleep, becomes a hot commodity, and somehow you learn to function with very little to none.

Five and half years ago, I was expecting my first child, and between not being comfortable and having to pee, I quickly learned to function tired. It made transitioning to life with a newborn easier. And the pattern of no sleep continued during my second pregnancy and baby.

Once both kids were finally sleeping through the night, I had a second problem arise that stole my sleep. STRESS. When stress creeps into my world, I have insomnia. I will wake up at 2 am and be up tossing and turning. My mind will begin racing faster than a NASCAR in Daytona, and I will never get back to sleep. At least once or twice a week, I would find myself wide awake in the middle of the night, sometimes with enough stress that I would do 3 am workouts just to release it and see if that would help. It rarely did.

Now, with stress and lack of sleep other things happen. Your body doesn’t have the proper rest, but still needs energy to keep up with daily life. Insert sugar. To say that I would rely on high sugar foods and carbs to sustain my energy levels would be an understatement. I LIVED on it. I HAD TO HAVE IT. I CRAVED IT. I was ADDICTED to it.

Additionally, stress also increases cortisol levels, a hormone that stores belly fat. Between the stress eating and stress hormones, it felt like my all of my workouts were not working. I was staying the same. The same weight. The same pants size. The SAME tiredness.

Then, just a month ago… something changed. We did a 21 Instructor Challenge. The challenge asked us to workout 4-5 times a week (which I was already doing), clean up our diets and log our food into MyFitnessPal (okay get sugar in check), and take supplements.

For the first time I took a sleep aid supplement, called Sleep Multiplier by Prestige Labs. It is 100% natural and full of minerals and nutrients found in real food (in fact you can find many of the nutrients individually sold in the vitamin aisle of your local grocery store if you feel like buying 7 different products). Additionally most of the nutrients are ones that 85% of people lack in their daily diets, and combined together help to decrease anxiety and promote relaxation. To further the benefits of the Sleep Multiplier, it is full of antioxidants that fight Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. It promotes brain function, decreases inflammation, and boosts your immune system.

What I loved about it, is that after 6 hours of sleep I felt like I had gotten 8 hours. I am also dreaming again. When we dream we are in deep REM sleep, which the good sleep that allows your body to recover– ultimately meaning my workouts were not going to waste. The best part is after about 3 days, my sugar cravings were nearly GONE! Internally my body said, “I got high quality sleep last night, I don’t need sugar to keep me going today.”

My SOUL CARE during this challenge wasn’t pounds or inches lost (Yes they were an added bonus). My SOUL CARE was sleep rediscovered. It was waking up from a 5 1/2 years of grogginess. It was being able to make better choices because I was focusing on proper rest and putting the right nutrients into my body that allowed me to get rid of built up stress. It was being able to relax and reduce my cortisol levels. It was clear headed focus. It was waking up with energy. It was sleep.

I have talked to a lot of people who are weary of supplements. That is why I did my research on how the ingredients worked. I love that it was not full of junk or fillers, but real things that are found in food. I am amazed that with real nutrients (and not the added calories from eating those foods), I didn’t have to rely on hormones like Melatonin to get me to sleep. Because once you start taking Melatonin your brain forgets how to produce it naturally. Therefore, many people become dependent on it for a very very long time. This product does not have that effect. People say science is amazing, food science and nutrition is amazing, and by simply putting the right nutrients into your body, you can have a whole new take on SOUL CARE and rest. I literally feel like a whole new person- relaxed and rested 🙂

This is not a pitch to get you to try this supplement. I am not here to sell it on this blog. This is just what I have been blown away by the power of real rest and my SOUL CARE process.

I am here, however, to have you ask yourself is your sleep holding you back like it was me? It your sleep making your SOUL WEARY? Are you not your best because you are not rested? Then maybe to think about why… and how maybe improving on something like your sleep could make you feel better, stronger, more alive throughout the day, as well as give you the mental clarity and focus to be the mom, wife, neighbor, friend that you want to be.

As always, any additional tips and tricks to improve sleep quality are always welcomed 🙂