08/11/2025
Light is important 💡 🧠
Following on from this week’s mindfulness session, here’s some more really beneficial tips to help you get a good night’s sleep
In humans, changes in sleep, eating habits, body functions, brain chemicals, and hormone levels are influenced by the length of daylight, especially in areas farther from the equator. Light plays a crucial role in regulating circadian rhythms, which seriously impacts your sleep.
Although we know that there’s not always a quick fix for sleep issues, these tried-and-tested tactics could help:
🍎 Avoid eating large meals close to bedtime. If you fancy an evening snack, reach for something that’s fibre-rich and low in fat and sugar, as studies suggest that eating foods lower in fibre and higher in fat and sugar can negatively affect sleep quality. Examples could include:
• fat-free natural Greek yogurt and sliced banana
• carrot sticks and Slimming World hummus
• plain popcorn
• rice cakes
• sliced apple and 1 level tbsp reduced-fat peanut butter
🍷 Cut down on alcohol. While it can initially cause drowsiness, which might help you to drop off, it can also lead to a restless night, early waking and a worse sleep overall.
1. 🚶Enjoy a brisk walk or light stretches in the evening. Research shows gentle and moderate exercise can help you sleep better. Try to plan more strenuous activity for earlier in the day.
2. Use low level lighting in the evening to stimulate melatonin release 🌅 🕯️
Get light into your eyes, within 1 hour of waking. Get outside, or I love to use a lumie.light - especially in the winter 💡 🔆
1. No screens before bed ❌ 💻 📲
Ban screens from the bedroom. The glare from our mobile phones, tablets and TVs delays the release of melatonin that normally helps you drop off to sleep.
1. 🛁 Build a relaxing routine. Stress and worry can keep us up at night. So try to do something soothing before bed, like having a warm bath, doing some stretching, reading a good book or having a hot, milky drink.
Try a Deep Sleep range for a relaxing evening routine, proven to help you fall asleep faster 🌙 💤
More for members: You’ll find more tips for a better night’s sleep, plus strategies to help protect your weight loss on tired days, in the Snooze more, lose more feature on our exclusive member website
