How I Get Great Sleep!
- Robert Hopkins
- Feb 12
- 5 min read
Tweak here, pinch there, nudge a little more. That is what getting a good night sleep takes. And, I bet every single person could stand to take advantage of at least one or two things off of the list that I am going to share with you. Below is my latest sleep numbers from this month. And, I will have to admit, I am really impressed! Let me explain:
The two red highlighted boxes say it all, my sleep is now averaging at a Garmin Watch level of 80 (good), and my overall sleep this month is 7:42 per day/night length. The three days in the middle were an anomaly of sorts. I fell in the middle of the night on Friday, Feb 6th, and for the next three days I suffered because of the fall. It was actually funny! I have exterior alarms on all of the entrances to my home, so I can catch the bad guys before they try and get into my house. When a delivery driver delivered a package at 11:30pm the alarm went off. I hopped out of bed, three-quarters asleep, and as I rounded the foot of the bed, the area rug slipped out from under me and down I went. I hurt my right hand, neck, and back. Finally, on Tuesday night I was able to work the knots, aches and pains out of me so I could start sleeping normally again. Here is a list that I will continue to update, of all the stupid things I have to do. But, some of these items everyone should do no matter what.
I wake up with an alarm on my watch everyday at 5:30am. Normally I don't sleep that long, but the alarm keeps me honest and keeps my circadian clock in-line, which is very important for everyone. Get out of bed everyday at the same time if you can! START DOING THIS NOW! Science backs this up.
For breakfast, I make sure to have oatmeal, chia seeds, almond slices, and a protein of some kind. I usually cut up turkey breast slices into my porridge.
I take 4,000 mcg of B12 during breakfast.
Methyl Folate - 3000 mcg can help with certain people keep asleep longer.
1/4 cup of almond flour added into my lunchtime meal (if I can). Almonds/Almond Flour helps to promote longer, deeper sleep. But, its best to eat it morning/early afternoon (high in carbs) to get the full benefit.
I avoid anything that is a high-carbohydrate food after 2:00pm. Pasta, Sweet Potatoes, sugar, etc.. Sweet Potatoes are great for you for lunch, but eating them later in the day leads the body to stimulation at 1:00am when it is being digested in the upper intestine. Plus, no caffeine after 2:00pm.
Protein for dinner with veggies. If possible fish, turkey, or chicken. Stay away from red meat almost all of the time. Maybe have some red-meat once every one or twice a month for missing-nutritional-needs (per my doctor).
I always eat dinner no later the six o'clock.
Sinus rinse with saline spray or rinse bottle. I have poor breathing through my sinuses so this is important. And, it needs to happen an hour before bed so that all the drainage afterwards has settled down before you lie down to sleep.
Do not watch TV or use the computer an hour before bed. If you have to/want to, turn the brightness way down low.
At 9:00pm, I will have my meds for the night, plus I have a 1/3 cup of chopped walnuts in greek yogurt. That does three things: Probiotics, which science is seeing positive things happening for better sleep, due to having good bugs in our intestines. Walnuts are high in natural Magnesium and other nutrients that help promote longer deep-sleep periods. And protein, which helps to keep you from waking up hungry.
SLEEP Melatonin gummies, 2 qty at bedtime. A small amount of Melatonin to help the body slow down so it can convert that Melatonin into Serotonin.
Mag SRT Magnesium + B12, 4 pills (500 mg total). Some people may have troubles digesting this amount, so be careful with it! I need that amount (per my doctor), because I have to take proton-pump inhibitors for acid reflux, because of the stomach surgery I had fifteen years ago. I do not digest nutrients into my system as well as most people do.
Integrative Therapeutics Cortisol Manager, 2 pills. My doctor turned me onto these pills six years ago and they do help my body properly process the amount of Cortisol that is created by my body. To much (me) causes a person to wake up earlier than they should.
Get the bedroom cooler than you think it should be. The other night it only got down to 32°F outside, so my bedroom never got lower than 65° that night. For me, the optimal bedroom sleep temperature is 62°F, while wearing socks, long pajama pants, regular t-shirt, and a hoodie-jacket in the middle of the morning if I get cold (winter). Plus, I make sure to change into fresh socks when I go to bed so they have not been perspired in during the day.
Go to bed every night at the same time. This is very important for everyone. Humans have been going to bed historically when the sun goes down, or they are tired of looking at the fire in the fire-pit! During the winter months, hundred of years ago, people would get up for an hour or two in the middle of the night because the sun goes down so early. It was quite common back then. Because we now have lightbulbs we can control the light, so always go to bed at the same time. START DOING THIS NOW!
One other thing... Last but not least. And, this is going to sound really strange. If you snore or you have sleep apnea, or your spouse says you snore start doing tongue exercises for sleep apnea. REALLY! This was the final change that put everything into place for me. Go to YouTube and watch a few videos on how to do "tongue exercises for sleep apnea". It's not important which video, there are many of them on there. Doctors, nurses, chiropractors, ENT, etc. have videos about this. After you've watched a few of them, start doing exercises twice a day (morning and night). I only need to do three exercises now since I have learned what I should be feeling during these exercises and how much strain my tongue should be feeling so that I get enough of a benefit from it. Sorry, I did not run this post through AI to clean it up. I just did a data-dump of everything I can think of. Sorry for any incorrect spellings or bad punctuation! If I think of anything else I will update this! This is how I get Great Sleep! Enjoy!!!
