So you’ve decided you’re going to make some changes. You are going to go to bed early, wake up early, make a healthy breakfast, pack a healthy lunch, cook supper and on top of all that, be pleasant all day. You have this grand picture in your head of who you will be…and it doesn’t include the emotional roller coaster you’re currently riding. The only problem is, you can’t fall asleep when you want to, you have a hard time going back to sleep when you wake up in the middle of the night so you sleep in, and you’re cranky and irritable because you AGAIN didn’t get the sleep you desperately needed. Good news for you, I’ve made a list of these four holistic diet tips for you to easily implement and finally get off the roller coaster you’ve been stuck riding.
Why Does Sleep Evade You?
A lot of women tell me they can be exhausted during the day, but once it’s time for bed, they are wide awake. Eventually they fall asleep but wake up all too soon, between two and four a.m., having a hard time getting back to sleep. Some women tell me they start thinking about the day ahead and can’t shut their mind off.
Several reasons explain these sleep problems, including stress and anxiety, and cortisol dysregulation. These reasons are not the root cause though. Finding the root cause can be difficult but starting with these holistic diet tips will help you know if your diet and your cortisol levels are to blame.
Can Sleep Be Improved with Holistic Diet Tips?
Everything can be improved with improving your diet! We are beings created from dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7). Our bodies are nourished best when we eat food that grows from the earth and is closest to natural as possible. Processed food provides very limited and poor quality nourishment. The holistic diet tips below will help improve your sleep by providing your body with the needed nutrients to relax and fall asleep.
I also have the Energy Elixir to download on my website for more holistic diet and sleep tips. Go grab yours now!
Holistic Diet Tips for Better Sleep
Holistic Diet Tip #1: Food to Include
Everything in your body, including sleep, uses vitamins and minerals to work properly. If you don’t have the nutrients needed for a specific process, that process won’t run smoothly. Like I said, eating foods as close to natural as possible provides your body with the most nutrients. The foods that are the most nutrient dense are those with bright colors…fruits and vegetables. Load your meals with colorful non-starchy vegetables and shoot for six to nine servings a day. Some ideas include adding veggies to smoothies or eggs in the morning, having salads, and making a meal bowl with leftover veggies at lunch.
If you need extra help, I’ve created an easy to follow ten day meal plan loaded with recipes, tips and tricks, and cheat sheets for creating meal bowls, smoothies, and bento box lunches. You can see that here. And if you use the code BOOTCAMP, you get $5 off!!
Holistic Diet Tip #2: Food to Avoid
Caffeine affects everyone differently. When advising women on caffeine intake, I ask if she is drinking it for the energy or for the ritual. If she tells me she loves the ritual and she doesn’t “have to have it”, then I usually say one 6-8oz mug in the morning is ok. But if she tells me she feels like she can’t wake up without it, I usually ask her to remove it from her diet. I want her to produce the energy she needs and get it from nourishing food, instead of a stimulant. And some women are super sensitive to caffeine, so even a little bit in the afternoon can keep them awake past the time they need to be falling asleep, so I never advise one to have caffeine in the afternoon.
Holistic Diet Tips #3: Is it Your Cortisol
Cortisol plays a big factor in the waking in the middle of the night problem. To identify if this is a problem for my clients, I use DUTCH testing. The DUTCH test is a hormone test that evaluates not only sex hormones but also daily free cortisol patterns to provide insight into adrenal insufficiency or symptoms of chronic stress.
Holistic Diet Tip #4: Don’t Make All the Changes at Once
Don’t feel like you have to do it all at once. Most people that make one change at a time stick to it and make it a lifestyle instead of a “diet”. When you feel like you have to do it all at once, when you fail, you typically give up. So change your mental approach to holistic diet tips. Look at it as a lifestyle and you are choosing to eat foods that help you feel better; rather than you are following a short term diet.
Let’s Connect!!
I’d love to hear if you struggle with these problems. Comment below to tell me your story. And as always, if you found this article helpful, please share it with someone you feel may benefit from the tips.
