How do sleep and nutrition effect recovery?

So here we are, part 5 and the final segment of the Recovery Series. Having already covered Ice Baths, Massage, Compression Clothing, and Active recovery, we are now left with two of the most important aspects of performance and recovery – Sleep and Nutrition.

Let’s get down to it.

To begin I’m going to talk about hydration. It’s often spoken about how important it is to stay well hydrated, yet people will often let this be the first thing to slip when they start to focus on other things. It often seems to drift into the back of their mind as soon as they have something else to think about.

 

Well hydration is damn important. So drink some water people! It can help aid you in fat loss, keeps performance high both mentally and physically¹, and when recovering it is essential to replace the fluids you lose when sweating – so try to make sure you get a good amount of water in as soon as you can. I know that after a good game of club rugby on a Saturday all you want to do is sink a pint of Irish black gold, and believe me that would be my first thought too, but before you get yours hands on that beautiful well deserved pint get some water in.

(Alcohol in general is obviously not good for performance, or for recovery, but I’m just being realistic here – especially now that “Dry January” is over.)

 

Nutritionally speaking the best way to explain it is through a very cliché quote;

“You wouldn’t put diesel in a petrol car”.

And it’s true, when practicing a sport or exercising, your body is the car. And for that engine of yours to work at its best it needs to be adequately fuelled.

 

Now there is a huge amount of information about nutrition out there on the Internet, and within that there is contrasting advice and endless different diets. Honestly, it’s a bit of a pain in the arse. Wouldn’t it just be amazing if there were one way that fits everyone? In my opinion it would. But that isn’t the case, and there is a reason. Different people react differently. For instance some people have food intolerances, some react better to carbohydrates, some better to fats, some can work well eating the majority of their carbs late at night, others would get fatter by doing the same thing.

 

So it can take a bit of time to find out what works for you. Trial and error, and not just trialing for something for one day and saying it doesn’t work. You have to try it, allow time for adaptation to occur, and then make a decision based upon results. This goes for weight gain, maintenance, and loss.

 

That being said – there is some basic information that can be very transferrable, and that should be put into place when trying to improve recovery.

First off – you need to eat! Even if you were lay in bed doing absolutely nothing but breathing and thinking all day your body would still burn calories. This is called your basal metabolic rate. The amount of calories you would burn doing the absolute minimum. So if you’re not eating, you will gradually lose weight and your everyday bodily functions will start to suffer if not properly fuelled.

What foods do we need? Well the obvious answer first up is to look at your macronutrients – Carbohydrates, Protein and Fats.

When you consume carbohydrates, the body can break it down into glycogen, which then is utilised for energy production (I’m putting it simply – its much more complicated than that in real life, but for that stuff go read a text book).

Protein is made up of amino acids, these are the building blocks for muscle repair. So to make sure you maintain muscle or build muscle, you need to get protein in from somewhere such as meats, eggs or supplements.

Fats – oh here we go! So fats get a lot of stick in the press. Low fat this, low fat that. That’s great, well done, but the body needs fat. Simple. Fat can also be used as fuel for the body, as well as insulation. Different fats that we get through food can also be used to help keep our joints healthy, and keep our brain functioning.

 

So how much of each should you be eating? Unfortunately it all depends on you. Protein should be a mainstay. If you are a sports person, or if you train regularly, you will need more than the average person as your muscles are being used on a regular basis. Carbohydrates can fluctuate, for me personally I feel like crap if I eat loads of carbohydrates, but equally if I eat a low amount I feel rubbish too. So I rotate them so I eat more on hard training days to fuel my workouts and replenish afterwards, but less on off days as I don’t need that fuel. I then rotate fat consumption to balance my carb intake.

 

If you feel like you are always tired, or you’re losing weight or strength, you probably need to eat more. If you’re gaining weight, but are having no performance improvements and just getting fat, you probably need to eat less. But finding something that works for you takes time. My advice would be find a balance, try it for 6-8 weeks, then change if necessary.  Eat more carbohydrates when you’re training hard, plenty of protein every single day no matter whether you’re training hard or resting, and get fats in through good sources such as nuts and fish.

 

One last thing on nutrition – eat your vegetables! ^{(Nutrition references 2-5)}

 

The final section of this article is my personal favourite, and the most important. Sleep. Everyone needs to sleep. It is absolutely fundamental to performance, and to general health. Lack of sleep not only leads to tiredness (obviously), but it can screw up your hormone balance, which will lead to performance changes.

There are plenty of people who aren’t getting where they want to be in sport or business, and they will give an extra 2 hours a day training or working in the office at the expense of sleep, and this will then just pile on top itself to manifest into something bad. If they had an extra hour or two each day, their concentration throughout the day would actually increase, and likely their productivity.

For those of you wanting sporting gains, our muscles repair when they are resting. And we get a boost of naturally occurring growth hormone when we sleep. Combine those two statements and you should realise that you need sleep.

 

So there we go. A little bit longer than my usual articles, but we have covered a lot in this one. I’ve put a few references together at the bottom, including a couple of podcast episodes which are fantastic for understanding the importance of sleep, so have a flick through them if you want.

 

As I mentioned at the start, this was the final part of the Recovery Series. I hope you have enjoyed reading them, and please share them around as much as you can. It would be great if these could reach more people, as a lot of athletes don’t understand the importance of recovery to their performance.

 

Next week we will be looking into something new, so I’ll leave you hanging on to find out.

 

Thanks again for reading, and feel free to get in contact.

 

Rob Nitman. BSc. ASCC.

 

References:

 

1.      Gibson-Moore, H. (2014) Hydration and Health. Nutrition Bulletin, 39 (1).

2.      Dr. Israetel, M. (2014). The Renaissance Diet. E-Book.

3.      Bean, A. (2013). The Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London UK. 7^th Edition.

4.      American College of Sports Medicine. (2009). Nutrition and Athletic Performance. Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise, 49 (3).

5.      McLaren, D. (2008). Protein, Carbohydrates and Muscle Recovery. The Journal of the UK Strength & Conditioning Association, 10.

6.      Barbell Shrugged. 158 - The 1 Thing That Will Make You Better at Everything. 07 January 2015.

7.      Barbell Shrugged. 113 - 1 Quick Way To Naturally Increase Testosterone: Sleep. 16 April 2014.

5 Tips for Better Sleep and a Healthier Mind and Body

Here's my not-so-dirty secret: I sleep about ten hours a night. You may say, "Well, I don't need that much sleep." You may say, "I can't get that much sleep." But do you know how much sleep you really need?

What are you doing to make sleep a priority in your life? While scientists may not fully understand the role sleep plays in our life cycle, or even understand why we need to sleep at all, they agree on one thing: healthy sleep patterns are essential to physical and mental health. Interrupted, irregular, or insufficient sleep is a critical factor in illnesses of both the body and mind.

  

How Much Sleep Do You Need

The Mayo Clinic and the National Sleep Foundation agree adults need at least seven to eight hours of sleep a night.^1,2 Sleep needs are individual, though, and your body chemistry, hormones, age, and activity level will affect how much sleep you need. You also need more sleep when you are sick or under personal, emotional, or other physical stressors. As a result, your sleep need may be the minimum seven hours or it may be as high as twelve when you are very ill.

I personally find I need close to ten hours in the winter and about 8.5 come summer. People often poke fun at me for my bedtime habits. I climb under the covers around eight o'clock most nights. But, I'm never sorry come the next morning when I wake regularly without an alarm clock around six o’clock, feeling ready for the day.

5 Tips for Better Sleep

1. Exercise daily but not too close to bedtime.

As a reader of this site, you are likely aware of the profound benefits of exercise, including regulation of metabolic hormones, stimulation of digestion, and promotion of circulation. All of these things can lead to better sleep.

But during a workout, stress hormones including cortisol, prolactin, growth hormone, and testosterone rise in the body. Cortisol in particular is disruptive to restful sleep. Give your body ample time to reduce these chemicals prior to lying down for the night. If you choose to exercise after six o'clock, choose options like yoga or walking that will give you the benefits of exercise while not increasing stress hormones.

2. Choose a light dinner.

In yoga and Ayurveda, it is common practice to eat the largest meal at midday when digestion is the most active. Evening meals often consist of a light serving of easily digestible, cooked vegetables. When I am away at a yoga retreat and eating this way, I sleep like a baby.

3. Stay away from alcohol.

I know this is not popular advice, but drinking alcohol affects sleep cycles. It may cause you to fall asleep quickly, but the sleep will not likely be truly restful and may include many bouts of insomnia later in the night. High sugar levels in most alcoholic beverages also negatively affect sleep patterns.

  

4. Create a bedtime routine.

Go to bed at the same time every night, even on the weekends, and do the same things each night before bed. Turn off all light-emitting electronics about an hour before your bedtime. Start your routine then, perhaps taking a bath, reading, or enjoying another quiet activity like sipping bedtime tea. When it is time for sleep, stop doing everything else.

Use your bed for sleeping only, creating an environment of peace and quiet. If you think you do not have time to get eight hours of sleep, this is the time of day you should focus on. Many of us spend several hours a night watching TV, when we could be sleeping. Sleep is the most important habit you will ever form, so make the effort to create the habit well.

5. Wake up around the same time each morning.

It drives my husband nuts, but I do not sleep in more than thirty minutes on the weekend. Truth told, it's not possible for me to do so. My sleep pattern is so regular that I wake up on time whether or not I have anywhere to be. Thankfully for me, I enjoy my morning time. I willfully surrender nighttime TV and Internet surfing so I can get up early, walk the dog, and enjoy meditation. My morning routine is just as firm as my nighttime routine, meaning I rarely ever have conflict in my sleep patterns.

Depending on your personal routine and sleep habits, some of these suggestions may seem like radical changes. If you try making sleep a priority for just one month, though, you will feel healthier, stronger and - icing on the cake - younger. Good sleep is a secret to vibrant skin, healthy hair, and a sharp mind. Good sleep is also a first step in dealing with any mental illness or healing any physical ailment.

References:
1. "How many hours of sleep are enough for good health?" MayoClinic.org.
2. "How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?" National Sleep Foundation.
3. M.J. Gawel, et al., "Exercise and hormonal secretion," Postgraduate Medical Journal Jun 1979;55(644):373-6

The 5 Training Mistakes You Need to Avoid After 35

Aging, if done correctly, is full of beauty, comedy, wisdom and enlightenment. It’s a great ride with plenty of ups and downs. You can save yourself years of trouble, pain, and calamity by accepting that successful people adapt to aging, that the rules of biology apply to you, and that education is your best friend.

 

By all means, do not go gently into that good night, just make sure you rage against the dying of the light with the one thing we all forget to use in the beginning: our heads. Here’s are the top five training mistakes made after turning 35 and how you can avoid them.

 

1. You Still Believe You Can Do It Like You’re 25

We all know that the personal record days coming off a pizza-and-beer all-nighter are over. But even when we clean up our diet and lifestyle, we still want to train like we did when we were in our twenties. With all the same volumes, rep schemes, intervals, and non-recovery days, and all the sexy programs we see in the magazines and on the Internet.

 

This makes no sense. And you know it because you feel like shit and can’t “keep up” with “those damn kids” anymore.

 

 

Science tells us our metabolism is slowing down, it takes longer to recover (recovery is the unsexy place where growth happens in training) and changes in sleep patterns and circadian rhythms occur, which means you will probably sleep less at night and not sleep as deeply. All bad news for training.

 

So what do you do during this transitional period? Easy. Grow up.

 

2. You Still Think More Is Better

More training is not better. Smarter training and more recovery is better. Understanding this is vital to your continuous improvement.

 

Your training program must be a progression toward your goal, whatever that goal may be. Yes, training can absolutely have the appearance of randomness, but it absolutely cannot be randomly programmed. 

 

"More training is not better. Smarter training and more recovery is better."

Periodization in an intelligent must-have. Your program must allow for the proper rebuilding of broken-down tissue between sessions. This takes longer as you age, and you’re best off seeking the help of a professional when it comes to programming. Programming is as much art as it is science.

 

Mechanics and body alignment (i.e. mobility), as well as technique, play a huge role in your training sessions as joints age. Joint pain is not okay and is, in fact, a biomarker for injury. Don’t be afraid to seek out new strategies and new techniques. Play. Experiment. Adapt. Overcome.

 

Remember, abundance and complications are the way of youth. Quality and simplification are the challenge of adulthood. Think on this. Apply it to your training.

 

3. You Have No Respect for the Most Insidious Device Invented

This piece of equipment drives sedentary behavior, is practically unavoidable for most of us; is a major cause of those tight sensations in our hips and hamstrings; weakens our stabilizing muscles; ruins posture; increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity; and has been linked to cancer, depression and a shorter life expectancy.

 

It is most likely right under your ass right now. It’s called a chair. How’s your posture right now?

 

Want to blow your own mind? Take a random day in your workweek and time yourself. How many hours did you spend sitting? Include your relaxation time at home. Now, before you decide to run out and be that treadmill-desk person, try a little management of the problem instead.

 

 

Start by getting up and moving around a little more throughout your day. Walk down to your coworker’s office instead of shooting an email. Cut your TV time down by a third. Have a team meeting with everyone standing or go for a walk and talk.

 

"Start by getting up and moving around a little more throughout your day." 

Your legs are the big movers. The contractions of these muscles increase fuel consumption and will mediate the collection of high levels of blood sugar in the bloodstream due to inactivity. This is a good thing. Move your big movers.

 

4. You Have Yet to Grasp Situational Awareness

Remember in college when you were so busy? What’s your reaction now when a twenty-something tells you how busy he or she is? Exactly.

 

There are many factors in your life that did not exist before now: children, bills, unexpected bills due to children, a job with increased responsibility and leadership roles, more stress, more relationships to manage, more creative and innovative opportunities, more responsibilities at home, more decisions to make each day and less time to make them, more stress, less sleep, and fewer hours in the day to be selfish.

 

This all must be accounted for in your training. Your training log should include a record of your stress level, how much sleep you got, and if you stayed on track with your diet. It doesn’t have to be a complicated log. Record them all on a scale of 0 to 3. Zero is horrible. Three is excellent.

 

The truth is there are no bad days training if you just accept that sometimes life is going to get in your way. Do what you can with what you have where you are.

 

Only have time for a quick warm up and 3 x 5 on the back squat today? Own it. Only have thirty minutes for your run? Do a light five-minute warm up and four sets of hard running for three minutes, rest for three minutes.

 

5. What and Who You Compare Yourself to Is All Wrong

It is dangerous when you compare your numbers and your look to the professionals who do it for a living or the person next to you in the gym who is ten to twenty years younger. These people do not have the same life as you. They don’t have the same responsibilities, complications, or genetic traits as you. You are not comparing apples to apples. You are being a juvenile idiot.

 

 

By all means, have goals, but respect that you’re not “who you were back then.” You’re not even who you were yesterday. You are you, right now, and the only person you should compare yourself to is you. Period.

 

Have Fun With Your Fitness

You must acknowledge that immediate gratification plays no role in your evolution, so enjoy the pursuit of a disciplined practice in the art of fitness. Have fun! Eliminate pressure. If you do this, you will learn that fitness can offer a lot more than just aesthetics and statistics.

 

And it will be these lessons that ensure your life will be full of grace, beauty, comedy, wisdom, and enlightenment. Avoid all five of these mistakes and you can get to the good stuff much more quickly.

3 Reasons Sleep Benefits Your Heart

Winston Churchill, Napoleon, Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison were all known to enjoy naps throughout the day. They likely knew what many of us so easily overlook: sleep improves alertness, mood and performance.

Yet only two-thirds of Americans get enough sleep to feel their best, according to a poll by the National Sleep Foundation. (Global data on sleep is not as easy to find, but I am confident people in other countries have similar issues to the U.S.) This sleep deficit is partially because sleep can seem like the easiest thing to sacrifice in our busy lives. Yet sleep can have a big impact on not only how you feel but also how your body functions. Getting plenty of shuteye has a profound impact on overall health—especially the heart. Here are three reasons why:

 1. Sleep activates the body’s repair mechanisms

Sleep is a time of restoration and repair. While you sleep, your body works to heal and repair your heart and blood vessels. Getting the recommended eight hours of sleep nightly gives your body the precious repair time it needs.

 2. Sleep allows your heart to “rest”

While your heart beats 24 hours a day, seven days a week, sleep is the time it slows down and “rests.” Heart rate declines during sleep, producing a natural drop in blood pressure. Lower blood pressure means your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to pump blood throughout the 100,000 miles of blood vessels in your body.

 3. Sleep improves oxygenation

Sleep promotes oxygenation—a process that increases oxygen in all of the body’s systems—at a deep level. Your heart is responsible for circulating blood to all of the organs, tissues and cells. Since oxygen is necessary to keeping the heart—and entire body—well, this improved oxygenation is key in supporting heart health.

Sleep is just as important as eating a balanced diet and exercising. While every person is unique in how much sleep they need, a good general guideline is to get eight hours of quality sleep each and every night.

Do you get enough sleep each night? What helps you sleep better?

3 Tips For Optimal Health

Public health is a huge concern of almost everyone in one way or another.  Everyone should try to optimise their own health. Nothing frustrates me more than seeing people struggle with their appearance, mood, mental clarity and energy to name but a few. At the same time their body fat levels show that they are borderline morbidly obese. Doesn’t it strike you as coincidental that more often than not it is fat, overweight people who rarely exercise and eat an inordinate amount of crappy unhealthy food are the one’s with appearance, mood, cognitive, energy and libido issues? More often than not it is these people who are chronically fatigued.  We are supposed to live until 100 years old not suffer from inordinate amounts of disease after just 20 years of life; we all need to work on creating an environment for optimal health.

I experienced parenthood for the last two days and I enjoyed it.  Of course I’m not trying to undermine how difficult it must be to rear kids but I will say that being highly active and eating a good, healthy diet played a big role in why my energy wasn’t zapped. Sleeping in is a luxury for parents with kids of school going age and I am under no illusion that the effects of being a real parent may accumulate over time but eating well and fitting in some exercise when you can will have a profound effect on your ability to stay healthy, energetic and keep in good shape.  Most parents health status is far below optimal I would imagine.

Do you wake up and feel groggy every morning?  Do you claim to need a coffee to get you going?  Do you dread the thought of getting out of bed?  If you answered yes to any of these then you need to make a change (Chek, 2009).

More often than not the reasons for these issues are so obvious it will make you sick. You could be eating foods that don’t work well with your body, not sleeping enough, not exercising, not exercising properly or under a lot of stress.  We are not all designed to eat the same types of food.  As an example; different cars take different types of fuel, right?  What makes you any different to a car?  Fill your body with the wrong type of fuel and it will tell you.  Just because you don’t break out in hives doesn’t mean all food is good for your body. Fatigue is the #1 example of how we react badly to different foods. Do you feel a little sluggish after a particular meal?  If so you will be best served to avoid it.  In my case pasta makes me extremely tired almost immediately after eating it.  Large amounts of low fibre carbohydrates in one sitting generally make me feel bloated and sluggish.  These are my body’s way of telling me it doesn’t want these foods (Chek, 2009).

Do You Get Enough Sleep?

Most people underestimate the value of adequate sleep and most people tend not to get enough sleep as it is. For optimal body function you need between 7-9 hours of sleep each night.  You may be saying to yourself you get enough sleep but just because you spend 7-9 hours in bed doesn’t necessarily mean you are getting quality sleep.  Sleep quality is far more important than sleep quantity.  You should not feel groggy after 7-9 hours in bed (Wilson, 2006; Chek, 2009; Holford, 2012).  You should wake up without an alarm and want to get at the day.  Fatigue can induce impaired gluconeogenesis (your body’s ability to use fat and protein for energy), rapid hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), sodium loss and potassium retention (Wilson, 2006). What’s interesting about this situation is due to the stress your body is under, despite having low blood sugar, there tends to be rather high levels of blood insulin meaning you are going to become progressively more overweight and at risk of type 2 diabetes. The net result of these is a miserable, tired feeling.  Small things can make an inordinate amount of difference in the quality of your sleep;

1. Turn off all electronics.  Yes this includes your phone.  With the advancements in phones of late almost everybody has some sort of notification waiting for them every morning be it from email, twitter, instagram or your ‘hardcore’ friends posting annoying late night Facebook updates and photos.  If you leave your phone on at night your are more likely to be woken.  Turn it off, whatever it is can wait until the morning.  For those of you that use your phones as alarm clocks Invest in an alarm clock (preferably a battery-powered one) (Gooley et al. 2011;Chek, 2009).
2. Have no lights shining.  That even means covering the red LED from your alarm clock. Get curtains that leave the room in complete darkness.  You may not think it but light from the night sky also affects your sleep quality.  I can never understand how people can sleep without drawing their curtains (I have a few people in mind) (Gooley et al. 2011; Chek, 2009).
3. Stop playing video games or doing anything that gives your brain a lot of stimulation. You should be winding down an hour before bed.  Ever find that your brain won’t stop going when all you want to do is sleep?  Try and read before bed and dump all your work or college thoughts until the next day. Many people worry about what they have to do tomorrow.  A good technique I have starting doing lately is making a list of everything I have to do in order of priority in the evening.  It is often referred to as a ‘brain dump’, it helps you to forget about what has to be done until the morning (Chek, 2009).
4. Have a cool room temperature.  This one might sound a bit ridiculous to some of you.  A cold room is far more conducive to high quality sleep than a warm room.  Your body temperature naturally drops through the night. The cooler your body is the better your sleep will be. Try taking a cold shower before bed. This is ideal for anybody that works out late at night.  And no you shouldn’t be wearing socks and a hoody to bed that’s just downright ridiculous.  Unless you live in a house with below freezing temperatures, then you should wear a hat to bed, I’m speaking from experience here from my poor student days.
5. Eliminate caffeine after 3pm.  I am a culprit for this one myself.  You may think having a coffee after your dinner is not problem as you fall asleep just fine. Again, I come back to the sleep quality issue. You may fall asleep easily but caffeine is a stimulant and will in fact continue to stimulate your central nervous system throughout the night this upsetting your sleep quality (Chek, 2009).
6. Eliminate high carbohydrate meals 3 hours before bedtime. Remember that carbohydrates cause a large spike in blood sugar which in turn gives you a boost in energy.  Try a moderate protein and fat meal is you want to eat close to bedtime (Richards, 2005).
7. Go to bed earlier.  Midnight is not a good time to go to bed.  You should be sound asleep by 10.30 at night (Richards, 2005). 

Exercise

Find me someone who exercises PROPERLY and eats relatively well that doesn’t feel good.  Unless they have some other underlying health issue then you won’t find one. Even if you do think you find someone you will never know unless they change their diet and exercise regime to see if it makes them feel better.With regard to exercise let me clarify from the beginning; walking is not exercise, it’s locomotion, meaning it’s something you have to do for life.  If you feel like crap, are tired don’t think walking will fix your problem. Granted it has it’s place for overall longevity but for health & fitness purposes you may as well just stay in bed if walking if your medicine. For those that are short on time, all you need is 10-15 minutes a few days each week. Everyone has this time; it;s just a matter of allocating it to exercise.  You may feel like you don’t want to exercise but you have to force yourself at the beginning.  Examples of the initial benefits for those with chronic fatigue and health complications include (Wilson, 2003; Harrower HR. 1922);


1. Increased blood flow which helps prevent plaque accumulation in your arteries and stimulates your liver which enables it to perform its 3000+ daily functions more effectively
2. Exercise will also help to normalise cortisol, insulin, blood glucose, growth hormone, thyroid hormones among others
3. Drives oxygen to your brain.
Do some HIIT at home e.g. pick an exercise like burpees, mountain climbers, squat jumps etc, do it as fast as possible for 15-30 seconds, rest for the same time and repeat for 10-12 minutes. Try it out and tell me it was easy.




Diet

Your diet is the overall key.  Reduce or eliminate sugary foods e.g. biscuits, cakes, sweets, ice cream, pastries.  Also eliminate poor carbohydrate sources like pasta, white rice, almost all breakfast cereals and most breads (except spelt or rye for example) (Pollan, 2008). Base your meals around proteins such as; chicken, turkey, salmon, tuna, herring, mackerel to name but a few, include a large base of vegetables and highly fibrous, slow releasing carbohydrates such as; quinoa, oatmeal, beans, brown rice, basmati rice and cous cous (Taubes, 2009).  If your main meals are in check then you will see and feel amazing improvements. Make small changes at first and build on them over time rather than instantly changing your entire diet.  Remember that you must aim to eat REAL FOOD.  Things with wrappers and more than three ingredients aren’t food rather they are diseases disguised as food (Gussow, 2003).  Check out this recipe site, that shows you how to cook healthy versions of your favourite desserts.



Closing Thoughts

Make some of these changes to your life, you will reap the rewards.  Remember, nobody is asking you to be perfect.  Just make small changes and you will see the benefits.
1. Sleep Better
2. Exercise Smarter
3. Eat Better
4. Eliminate Needless Stressors in Your Life (This basically encompasses every one of the above four points)