Are you getting enough sleep?

Yes, this is a weight loss issue. Believe it or not, the lack of sleep can cause you to gain weight. According to WebMD:

If you’re feeling sleepy at work, you may be tempted to reach for a cup of coffee (or several cups) and a doughnut for a quick shot of energy. Later you may skip the gym and pick up takeout on your way home to your family -- no time to cook. When you finally find yourself back in your bed, you are too wound up to sleep.

It’s a vicious cycle, and eventually this sleep deprivation can sabotage your waistline and your health.

I've read so many articles about sleep because I have trouble falling asleep, so I figured I'd give my advice on how to fall asleep and get a good night's sleep. I don't follow all of these, but the ones I do follow work quite well:

• Relaxation techniques, like using aroma therapy, relaxing music, guided imagery, etc works well to help you relax to fall asleep and get a good night's sleep.

• Not ingesting any caffeine after 3pm is a good rule of thumb to help you fall asleep.

• If you have a routine before you go to bed your brain will know it's time to sleep. For example, having a cup of herbal tea, designed to make you sleepy, before you go to bed will signal your brain that it's time to go to sleep.

• Turning off electronic devices like TVs and computers at least an hour before you go to bed helps your brain to shut down so you can fall asleep.

• Temperature can be an issue. Your body temp needs to go down before you can fall asleep.

• While darkness really helps in falling asleep, getting enough light can be an issue also. Your body knows it's time to sleep after it gets so much light. I assume that's natural light.

• Also going to bed at the same time every night supposedly works.

• Camomile tea can work too, but be careful, just a few weeks ago it kept me up.

On a personal note: 

• I know my insomnia and low quality of sleep for a while was because of my husband's snoring, I now wear earplugs. I sleep much more soundly

• I also can't get a good night's sleep when there's too much light. I have to have a really dark room to sleep. Even the light from an alarm clock can keep you up. Either wear a sleep mask or just set your alarm clock and then block the display with something. All you need to do is hear it go off in the morning. Also, if you don't want get a sleep mask, a vertically folded t-shirt over your eyes works nicely. 

• Also, I know if a room is too quiet it can keep me up. Running a fan or getting a sound machine can help. I know that when the fan gets turned off in the fall I can have trouble sleeping.  

• I know that sometimes being too cold can be a problem too. My cold feet can keep my up, so I wear socks.    

• Also, for some reason I need something on me to fall asleep, even if it's just a sheet.    

And from the "It's not in anything I've read, but it works, so why not?" file:
  
I know sometimes having my husband come in until I relax and fall asleep really helps. He can just sit on the edge of the bed quietly and it works. Sometimes I also rest my cheek on him if he's sleeping in the bed with me, and for some reason that helps me relax too. I think it has something to do with his rhythmic breathing when he's sleeping. 
   
When I was really heavy I would snore and thank God I don't snore anymore. Even if I haven't lost all of my weight I feel like I've accomplished something great that I've lost enough weight to stop snoring. 

So that's all I've got, thank you for reading!