7 Solutions to FIX Your Sleep After 40

You're eating clean, you're moving your body, you're turning off the TV before bed like you're told, but you're still just not getting enough sleep. And my gosh, you are listening and trying all the things you've heard about the teas and the dark room and it's just not working. You're not sleeping well and this is wreaking havoc on your health potentially. This is a big complaint I hear from midlife women. It's not just not being able to fall asleep, it's also being able to sleep, stay asleep. This is a thing that affects a lot of women and there's a lot of reasons for it. It could be because of your hormone shifts, it could be because of cortisol and blood sugar issues. There's a lot of different reasons that this could be affecting you. But today what I want to dive into is things that you could do to fix your sleep fast. Because we need a good night's sleep. Without a good night's sleep, our body is not going to repair itself. Well, we're going to start not aging as well. We get foggy headed. You know the drill. You know what it's like when you don't get a good night's sleep. So let's talk about actionable things that you can start doing right now to change this for you. Okay? Number one, let's talk about light management because this is something especially if you're Gen X like me. We grew up in the years of sunblock sunglasses and we have watched our indoor light change over the years. We went from used to have those amber lights in our house. Remember that having amber lights in your house to now everything is those bright white LED daytime lights. And that is sneaking up on us and wrecking our sleep in a lot of ways. So what happens is when we're not getting natural light in our eyes, like natural real sunlight, and we're only exposed to artificial light and then when we are outside, we are automatically blocking with sunglasses. We're not letting the sun anywhere near us. What happens is your body gets confused about cortisol and melatonin. It doesn't know what to produce when. So you wake up and you're indoors and you're not getting that natural sunlight and you're needing caffeine and things to wake you up to get going. And then as the day winds down and it's getting dark out, we're watching tv, we're scrolling our phones, we're on the Internet doing work. We are behind all of These artificial lights and our body doesn't get the correct signals to wind down. So what are some things you can do with light to change your sleep? Well, number one, you can be aware of those LED lights. Like as I'm recording this for you right now, I actually have the LED lights glaring on me there. I'm guilty of it right now. And what I'll do is when I'm done recording this episode, I'll turn those off. And if I'm going to work at my computer, I'll put my blue light blocker glasses on. And I'll also make sure I get outside today and get some real sun in my eyes. I want some real sun on that. So when you get sun, real sun first thing in the morning, you actually set your circadian rhythm for the day. This is a good thing. And when you're aware of minimizing those LED lights throughout the day, that will change things for you. Now if you're like Natalie, there's just no way. I don't want to hear it, I don't wanna talk about it. I'm not wearing those funky blue blocker glasses. That's more power too. You don't have to, but I do want you to play with at night. Can you start getting away from those lights? Where can you switch out and use amber lights? Where can you maybe use the apps on your phone to change that blue light off? So one thing I really did in this last year is I got super, super committed to blocking blue light at night after sunset. And I do that by not using those bright white lights in my house. I do that by wearing blue blocker glasses. And I'm really committed to it. I also got very committed to getting real sun in my eyes in the morning. So that right there, that first thing with light management that will help change your sleep. The second thing, and some of you might roll your eyes at me and that's okay, is being aware of EMFs and WiFi. Now some of you are not sensitive to that stuff at all. Some of you, listening, you might be sensitive to me. I didn't believe it until I experienced it by taking it out of my world, in my environment when I'm sleeping. So EMF is everywhere and we all live in houses with WI fi now. So ideal world, if we shut off our wifi at night, that will help. But if we're not going to do that, the minimal thing to do is put your cell phone, your cell phone in a different room, not near your bed when you sleep with it. Right by your bed, you are getting that, those EMFs all night long right from your phone. So one of the best things you could do is put it in a different room. And then more bonus points to you if you can stop watching any electronics in your room at night. I'm not that good at this yet. I'm just letting you know. But removing the cell phone from my room has made a big difference. Also, if you need an alarm to wake up, another great way to avoid hitting snooze, you put that alarm in a different room, you're going to definitely have to get up and go shut that off. So being really aware of EMF and WiFi, now, some of you will like this, some of you will not. But one of the things that I've talked about very frequently lately is wearing my Leela Quantum necklace. So wearing the heel capsule and this actually helps to block some emf. So during the day when I wear this, I feel better. They also have those blocks that you can put in your house. So I have one in my kitchen and I have one on my nightstand right by my bed. Both of those things definitely help with eliminating EMFs and help you sleep better. Okay, next thing, let's talk about air quality. This is definitely overlooked, but air quality affects our sleep too. We need to have good filtered air. If you're living in a place that has any kind of mold, you've got any allergens in there, you've got old carpeting, any of that, we can be disrupting sleep. So a good quality air filter is going to make a huge difference. The one I personally have in my room is the Jasper one and that one has made a big difference. And I keep it on auto so it automatically will trigger and go up higher. If there is anything it's sensing, it'll come up higher. And then at night you can actually put it on sleep mode, which blocks all the lights so there's no lights coming out. So that will not keep you awake. So air filters will make a big difference. The next thing I do is, and you've heard this, but let's talk through it. Is your sleep environment supportive? So I'm not going to just talk about getting electronics out of your room. Let's talk about the temperature. If your room is not cold, you may wake up throughout the night. So you might have to fight with your spouse on this one, but keep that temperature low. I keep mine on 68 degrees at night. That cold temperature will help you stay sleeping. You want a cool, dark, distraction, free room. Your bed and the comfort of it is critical. One of the things that I absolutely love is a weighted blanket. If you have not tried a weighted blanket yet, it is so good, it really like hugs you. That extra weight will help you get into a deeper sleep. It is phenomenal. So make sure you're using sheets and pillowcases that you feel good on. Whether that's silk or cotton or whatever feels good to you. And then try a weighted blanket. It makes a huge difference. And then keeping your room really, really dark, whether that's blackout curtains or not. I don't live in the city, I do live in the desert. So I don't personally use blackout curtains. And me and my husband do argue about this a little bit. I would prefer to have natural light in my room at all times, meaning I would like the blinds open. That way when it's dark, it's dark. But in the morning that sunshine coming through will get me up. He likes it a little darker. So we've kind of, we have a happy medium. We have one window we don't black out and the other ones have have blinds on them. But if you are sensitive to that, definitely look at using blackout curtains to make all light disappear. Hey, I really hope you're finding value in today's video. If you are, please hit that like button. It really helps to rank these videos so others like you can find this great information. Also, if you are enjoying the channel, make sure to hit the subscribe button. It's that little bell that pops up that lets you get notified anytime I have a new release. Thank you for being here and watching. If you've got suggestions for videos you'd like to see or interviews you would like to happen, please make sure you comment for me to see those as well. The next thing to look at is the idea of mouth breathing versus nose breathing. Now breathing. Now some of you mouth breathe and some of you nose breathe. I happen to nose breathe, so this wasn't the thing for me. But I want to bring this up because it's important. If you are a mouth breather, that will also disrupt your sleep. Nitric oxide production happens through nose breathing and this matters. So this is important. So one of the ways to force, to force you to nose breathe is to tape your mouth at night. And you don't need to buy any special mouth tape. You can take bandage tape and just put a little piece vertical. It's just a cue to remind you to breathe through your nose. And just doing that for about a month will train you to start breathing out of your nose. If you're a snorer, this also could help a lot because you can't. You're most of you snoring is a mouth breather. But just breathing through your nose, your nose is a really good filter. You're going to help produce that nitric oxide and you're going to get better sleep. Okay, let's talk about some supplements and hormones because this is key. So supplements, There's a lot of supplements you can do at night. I'm going to rattle down the ones that I do and I'm going to list them all in the the description here. If you're listening on the podcast, it'll be in the show notes. If it's on YouTube, you can find all that below. But there's a few supplements I swear by for night. Okay, you ready for the list? Okay. Number one, magnesium. Now, I don't just do any magnesium and I am not paid by this. This company is not sponsoring me. They did not pay for this. Need to say this, but I swear by this magnesium. It's upgraded formulas, Deep sleep formula magnesium. And they also have one called deep sleep, I believe now, but it's the same thing. But his Barton Scott, who developed this magnesium by upgraded formulas. That's the name of the company. It is clinically studied, clinically trialed to improve deep sleep. Now, I had personally met him. He was a friend of mine. I met him in Hawaii several years ago. And I was telling him about my challenge with my deep sleep. Because we can REM sleep and deep sleep, right? REM is your dream state. Deep is your deep restorative sleep. And we want to get about an hour and a half or more of deep sleep. It's really important for rest and repair and for aging well and recovery. My deep sleep at the time was like 15 minutes. I was getting like three plus hours of REM and dreamy sleep, but I wasn't getting that deep sleep. So if you've ever wondered why you wake up tired even though you slept a lot of hours, it might be your deep sleep score. So he had told me that his magnesium was clinically trialed to improve deep sleep. I didn't believe the study. I'm like, let me just try it myself. I popped two in that night and my deep sleep has been over an hour and a half ever since I started taking that. So you cannot get me off that magnesium. That is the one I take at night. So that magnesium I swear by. I highly recommend the deep sleep by upgraded formulas or their magnesium. I'LL put a link with a discount if you want to try it below, highly recommend that one. The other things I do sometimes on my supplement stack before bed is a little bit of CBD oil. Don't ask me the brand, there's many that I've tried. But a little bit of CBD oil does help me shut that brain off. Wind it down. But also I do keep some melatonin. Now melatonin, there's a lot up and downs around that some people will say you don't want to do melatonin because it will stop your own body's production of it. I don't know how I feel about that. Now what I do know from interviewing my cardiologist recently is that melatonin is highly helpful for heart health. I've also learned from Gut health it's highly detoxifying. So I'm going to lean in the I'm kind of a fan of melatonin and in small amounts, just a little amount. So I don't do it every night. But if I'm having a little trouble shutting my brain off, I might do a little bit of a melatonin spray. And so that combined with some cbd, possibly, but always the deep sleep. Magnesium makes a big difference. Okay. And just a little quick thing on that CBD versus thc. THC is the one that changes your brain. I mean it makes you, it's that high feeling, it's the actual drug change feeling. So cbd, although it's derived from marijuana, it is not that same drug effect. It doesn't change that, it just relaxes you. So that's why I do that. Thc, on the other hand, might help you fall asleep. It's hard to stay asleep with that. That might put you into more of a REM state and disrupt your deep sleep. So I'm not a fan of that for sleep. I'm more a fan of the CBD for deep sleep. Okay, let's talk about hormones now. Cuz hormones are key and your hormones are changing in midlife. Now if you are not well with estrogen or progesterone, if you don't have enough, it will disrupt your sleep. I'll tell you when your estrogen is very low, you will likely have night sweats, you'll have hot flashes and you will have disrupted sleep. That is very common. So make sure you're optimizing and checking your estrogen levels and whether you decide to do hormone replacement or other ways, that's up to you. But estradiol particular, that's A patch that I wear has completely helped me with my sleep. I do not wake up at three in the morning anymore ever. Really hardly ever because of that. So if I'm low on estrogen, I definitely. It disrupts my sleep in the middle of the night, so just be aware of that. The other one, progesterone. Progesterone is life changing for sleep. It will help you fall asleep a lot faster. I do personally take progesterone every night. Now, if you're in perimenopause or they recommend you cycle it if you're postmenopause, that's up to you. I personally do not cycle my progesterone. I take it every single night. I don't care if people think it's a drug. I am taking it for the rest of my life. It is amazing. I take it, I do 200 milligrams and I am going to sleep. Amazing. So that is stacked with my magnesium and my other things. I sleep like a baby. It's incredible. So love progesterone for that. Other things that can help shut your brain off if you're wired. Another hormone that we. Two hormones that we don't really talk a lot about, but I'm going to talk about them right now. One is cortisol and one is oxytocin. Oxytocin is the cuddle hormone. So oxytocin, let's talk about that first. You can create by having an orgasm. So yep, you have sex, you have an orgasm, you create oxytocin. Amazing. You're going to relax, you're going to sleep a lot better. So that's incredible. So that's one way now if that's not you and you're like, I don't care about that, I don't want it right now. Not happening every night. Fine. Did you know that you can get an oxytocin spray for your nose? What I just learned about this recently. Oxytocin is a prescription you can get from your doctor and you can get it through a compounding lab. You spray, spray it in your nostrils and it's like amazing. Oxytocin is the same hormone that your body secretes when you're breastfeeding or having sex. So it's incredible. But there's actually a nose spray that you can do that is wild for that. The other thing I want to talk about is cortisol. If you are not watching your blood sugar drops in blood sugar will wake you up. And that's a common 3am Wake up time for this. What happens is when you eat a higher starch meal right before bed. So ice cream before bed, crackers, cookies, higher carb, less protein, less fat. You're having a higher carb before bed, your body secretes insulin. You fall asleep. Boom, boom, boom. When you're that insulin starts to counter that. You then get low blood sugar around 3am Possibly your body senses the low blood sugar and it creates cortisol to help raise your blood sugar. When you spike cortisol, guess what happens? That's the stress hormone. You wake up. So if you're waking up at 3am, there's a lot of possible reasons. I've talked about many of them on this show before. But if you're waking up constantly, 3am you might want to check your blood sugar and recheck what you're having before bed. Anyways, there you go. Those are some of my favorite tips for sleeping better. I hope you found this helpful. If you want more like this, please let me know and I will see you on the next episode.