Operation weight loss – Healthista’s Olivia Hartland-Robbins joins Lift Studios Fulham to help her get back in shape. With 5 non-negotiable healthy rules to stick by, here is rule number 2 – get 8 hours sleep every night
I gained 17kg’s in 3 years (that’s nearly 40 lbs)! Why? Lockdowns, family illness and job pressures, to name just a few reasons.
Feeling unhealthy, constantly exhausted and insecure meant it was time to make a healthy change. Most of us set goals in January, but the ‘new year, new me’ mentality can often pile on the pressure, so why not start now?
Thankfully Mark Stanton, co-founder of LIFT Studios in Fulham agreed to help me lose weight and gain my confidence back.
I gained 17kg’s in 3 years (that’s nearly 40 lbs)
Like a growing number of quality boutique gyms, LIFT Studios offers one-to-one personal training, providing a fully bespoke service to help you reach your goals, with no generic programmes in sight.
Mark has almost two decades of personal training and sports performance coaching under his belt, and has completed an undergraduate degree in Sports Science followed by a Masters in Strength and Conditioning.
READ MORE: Serious about weight loss? 5 non-negotiable rules to live by – part one
Mark and his team at Lift use a lifestyle medicine based framework to help structure the support and guidance they give you.
Lifestyle medicine is an evidence-based approach to achieving optimal health through replacing unhealthy behaviours with positive ones.
Mark believes the nearer you can get to ‘optimal health’ the greater your results from training will be. Most importantly these results will be longer lasting and maintainable having developed heathy habits and a healthy body along the way.
The key pillars Lift stand by in achieving optimal health are:
- Physical activity
- Diet and nutrition
- Sleep
- Stress and substances
- Social connection
With this in mind mark set 5 rules I have to try to stick to from here on out. Not only is this the starting point, but these rules should also serve as a daily lifestyle goal.
Check back in every day this week, where I will be revealing the five different rules daily…
Rule #3 Sleep for at least 7 to 8 hours every night
Sleep matters. Not only to overall health and motivation but also to body fat and weight loss.
Getting enough sleep every night (7 to 8 hours) is the next non-negotiable rule Mark ordered me to stick to.
sleep helps to regulate the two hunger hormones ghrelin and leptin
So why is sleep so important? Well for starters if you don’t get enough sleep you’ll struggle to get out of bed, will struggle to get out for a walk and will probably struggle to perform at the gym.
Not only that, but sleep helps to regulate the two hunger hormones ghrelin and leptin, which are responsible for letting us know when we are full and when we are hungry. So, if we’re not producing enough of these hormones we could end up feeling hungry even when we shouldn’t be.
If that’s not a good reason to get to bed earlier I don’t know what is.
READ MORE: Serious about weight loss? 5 non-negotiable rules to live by – part 2
Of course if you’re an insomniac you won’t see getting your requisite eight hours sleep a night as an easy lifestyle change, perhaps even an impossible one.
A few helpful sleep tips to get you started include:
- Not using any screens for two hours before bed,
- limiting your caffeine intake after 12pm,
- going to bed at the same time every evening,
- and creating a bed time routine.
If you want to read more on sleep, check out LIFT’s article on practical tips for better sleep.
Check back in tomorrow for part 4 of the healthy non-negotiable rules to stick by for weight loss.
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