I Swear My Sleep Tracker Is Judging Me (And Why Yours Should Too)
In the last post, we talked about the glory of a 20-minute power nap. But let’s be honest, that’s just the espresso shot. Tonight's sleep is the full, luxurious, all-night wellness retreat your body actually needs. When you skip a night of sleep, you’re not just tired—you’re actively fighting against your fitness goals, your metabolism, and your impulse control (hello, midnight snack attack). As your wellness coach, I’m telling you: you can’t out-train bad sleep. Here are my Core Thoughts on how to stop fighting your body and finally get the rest that makes your workouts pay off.
Just to note: I am well aware many of you know how utterly terrible my sleep habits have been for a couple of years now, with all of the transitions in my life. Believe me - my Apple Watch LOVES to tell me what kind of deficit I am constantly running in. This is coming at you from someone who is ACTIVELY working on changing her schedule to find stronger balance to work toward better health.
SLEEP AS FITNESS FUEL
Frankly, sleep is non-negotiable for physical results.
The Hormone Havoc: When we sleep too little, the body has a hormonal temper tantrum.
Ghrelin (the "Go, go, go! I'm hungry!" hormone) goes up. I.e. hello midnight snack attack. Yes, I’m referencing that again.
Leptin (the "Stop, I'm full" hormone) goes down. I.e. the kid didn’t finish theirs and I’m still hungry, so let’s make it happen! Wait… no…
Core Thought: Less sleep literally programs you to crave junk food and ignore your fullness cues.
The Fitness Impact: Muscle recovery and physical performance happen during deep sleep. Without it, your Pilates session or weight training or cardio is less effective, and you are more prone to injury.
Core Thought: You can't out-train bad sleep. If you want to see results from your workouts, treat your bed like a piece of essential training equipment.
THE GOLDEN RULE OF CONSISTENCY
Routine over perfection! I will rarely, if ever, tell you perfection is the goal. Practice makes progress, not perfection. (Susie Ramroop is a key figure who has said a version of this!)
An important sleep hygiene tip that many of us (side eye: me) overlooks? Fixed Wake-Up Time
Even on the weekends, a consistent wake-up time is what sets up your Circadian Rhythm (or your internal body clock) for the whole day. Your body thrives on rhythm and repetition. Try to keep the variance of wake-up times to under an hour.
Posted below are a couple of Science and evidence-based write-ups on how many hours to sleep and why, but here’s the short info: 7-9 hours of sleep is necessary (and this does NOT include that time spent tossing and turning, or doomscrolling while in bed)
THE BIG 3 PRE-BED RULES
(Somebody else could have other rules. And sometimes those rules need some insane work to actually be completed. So these are three pre-bed rules that you can implement TONIGHT if you wanted to)
Rule 1: Light is the Enemy. (The "Melatonin Saboteur")
The Fact: Blue light from phones/tablets/TV suppresses Melatonin (the sleep-signaling hormone).
The Action: Create a "Digital Sunset"—put devices away 30–60 minutes before bedtime. Alternative wind-down activities: gentle stretching, reading a physical book (you heard me), meditating, self-care activities while listening to calming music. Will I have a wind-down stretching routine available to subscribers soon? Excuse me while I giggle and play coy eyes at you. Especially as you side-eye me right back wondering what subscription I could possibly be referencing… (Have I whetted your appetite? Sign up for updates right here)
Rule 2: The Chamber of Chill. (The "Temperature Takedown")
The Fact: Your body temperature needs to drop slightly to initiate sleep. Most experts recommend a cooler room (around 60−68∘F).
The Action: Open a window, turn on a light fan, lower the thermostat, or take a warm bath/shower 90 minutes before bed (the cool-down after the bath is what helps).
Rule 3: Bed is for Two Things. (The "Business Boundary")
The Fact: Your brain needs to associate your bed only with sleep (and the hokey pokey… if you are of an adult age, of course).
The Action: No working, no spreadsheets, no doomscrolling, and especially no late-night email checking in bed! If you can't fall asleep after 20 minutes, get up and do a quiet activity in low light until you feel tired, then try again. Do you need a book recommendation? Hi, it’s your friendly ex-English teacher and librarian that’s writing this post! Reach out!
Reminder: It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the things it takes to be healthy. Make one small change tonight. It took me more than two months to work my schedule around to even halfway fit the suggestions of the experts! I.e. the consistent sleep schedule, much less the 7-9 hours. Not everything is going to happen overnight (dad joke inserted here), so give yourself grace and make the changes toward better health as you are able.
Why? Because you’re worth it.
SOURCES:
Science Direct - Talk about evidence based! Actual sleep study with some solid info within