How many hours should I sleep?

Have you experimented insomnia? I have. That nights without end, where the pillow becomes your worst enemy and your only friend. That scary monster that appears at night affects severely our normal activities, our work, our performance, our social life, our health.

If you cannot sleep well in the night, try to recover the lost sleep is not as simple as sleep more hours the next night. Sometimes try to force our body to sleep might provoke more insomnia.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep deprivation is linked to the following problems:

• Obesity
• High blood pressure
• Negative mood and behavior 
• Safety issues
• Decreased productivity

The National Sleep Foundation also recommends the following sleep ranges by age:

No doubt, I'm not sleeping enough. Maybe this the reason I'm cranky in the morning. But, what should I do in order to sleep better? I compiled a list of all the recommendations I could find. I think that maybe some remedies work better for different persons.

• Relaxation exercises
• Implement a bedtime routine 30 minutes before sleep.
• Avoid caffeine
• Avoid heavy food
• Meditation
• Guided imagery
•  Avoid technology devices 30 minutes before sleep.
• Herbal teas
• Hot baths
• Warm milk and honey
• Manage stress during the day
• Do mental math
• Use earplugs and sleep mask.
• Use nose bands 
• Aromatherapy
• Change your old pillow
• Lower the thermostat two grades
• Use a soft pajama
• Massage 

Beginning today I will try some of these remedies...so... Sweet dreams!!!

 References

 National Sleep Foundation. 2014. Insomnia treatment.  Retrieved from https://sleepfoundation.org/media-center/press-release/national-sleep-foundation-position-statement-insomnia-treatment.

National Sleep Foundation. 2015. National Sleep Foundation recommends new sleep times. Retrieved from https://sleepfoundation.org/press-release/national-sleep-foundation-recommends-new-sleep-times

How many calories should I intake?

OK. I was looking information about how many calories a person like me should intake. I found a lot of information, but many of them contradictory.

Finally, I found information at the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion that looked more reasonable. According to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, this is the calories that a person should intake according to age and lifestyle.

A very important note! This table does not apply to pregnant women or breastfeeding!!

Now after this note, we need to determine how active is our lifestyle. The lifestyle can be determined depending on the miles you normally walk in a day.

If you on a normal day walk less than 1.5 miles in addition to the physical activity required to perform your normal activities, then you are sedentary.

If you walk between 1.5 and 3 miles per day in addition to the physical activity required to perform your normal activities, then you are moderately active.

 If you walk more than 3 miles per day in addition to the physical activity required to perform your normal activities, then you are active.

Now, we do not have excuses!!!


References

ODPHP. 2015-20 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/

How much should I weight?

OK. I know. It is January, and you are trying to avoid the scale... The fourth day of the year and I found great reasons to bath in the guest room.

But, I need to found the courage and step on the scale... Now I got a number... so?

Let's discover where I am. According to  National Institute of Health's, you can check if your weight is healthy using the following chart.

The x-axis indicates the height, while the y-axis the weight.

We need to remember that there is no accurate formula for an ideal weight because it also depends on the density of your bones, your structure, and other factors. However, if your height is 5'4'' and your weight is over 160 pounds... it sounds like you have to do changes in your habits.

Let's just think about it.

Drinking water. How much water should I drink?

OK. I know I should drink more water...Everybody tells you that you should drink more water, but why? 

According to the Mayo clinic, drink water helps to keep the body temperature, protect sensitive tissues, lubricate joints and get rid of wastes.

How do you know if you are dehydrated? 

• Your eyes are dry
• Your urine is not clear or light yellow. If you are not sure what is light yellow, the picture shows the color.
•  You have a sticky mouth
• Your skin lack elasticity.
• Constipation.
•  Other symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, muscle cramps or lack of sweat

But, even you are not dehydrated, you need to consider drink enough water to be healthy. Then, how much water should I drink?

 The WebMD recommends to drink between 48 to 64 ounces every day, but you should consider drinking more water if

• You are pregnant
• You are exercising 
• You want to lose weight
• The weather is hot
• You are sick, such as with the flu.

 Drink water it is not easy, (at least for me), I divided the water I should drink in eight-ounces glasses, and create a schedule:

If you find difficult to remember, create reminders at your phone! 

If you prefer to measure the water you drink in a different way. Look this conversion table.


One note!!! Drinking too much water its dangerous!!! It can dilute the sodium and provoke health issues.

References:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256 

https://www.today.com/series/30-seconds-to-know/are-you-dehydrated-9-symptoms-lookout-t93151

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/tc/drinking-enough-water-topic-overview#1