Heart to Heart with Hads
Welcome to Heart to Heart with Hads, the podcast where we dive deep into living a healthy, badass lifestyle that challenges the norm. Join me, Hads, as I share stories that have shaped my journey toward becoming the best version of myself, defying expectations and embracing big goals—including my pursuit of bodybuilding. As a young person navigating a world filled with stereotypes and expectations, I'm here to inspire others to break free from the typical 20-year-old narrative and forge their own path. Throughout this podcast journey, I'll bring on guests who have played pivotal roles in my life, sharing their wisdom, experiences, and perspectives. Get ready for candid conversations, valuable insights, and a whole lot of inspiration to live authentically and fearlessly. It's time to open our hearts, challenge the status quo, and embrace the journey of self-discovery together. Welcome to Heart to Heart with Hads, where we dare to be different, pursue our passions, and live life on our own terms.
Heart to Heart with Hads
Ep. 24 | 8 Ways to Get 8 Hours of Restful Sleep
Let’s talk about sleep, the unsung hero of health. Discover how aligning your sleep schedule with natural circadian rhythms can transform everything from energy levels to hormone balance. I share practical tips that have uplifted my own sleep quality.
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Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of Heart Tart with Hats. I feel like it's been a while since I've been on here for some reason, but I think it's just because my computer was down. I was using a different computer and everything was just so out of whack. But now that I'm back in my groove of everything, I feel so much better, just like so much more organized. But yeah, this episode we're going to be talking about eight tips for eight hours of good quality sleep. But before we get into that, I just want to do a little catch up on my weekend, because I know last week I talked about, you know, I was traveling. So so much fun, fun. It was definitely a good getaway, kind of just a good stress reliever for me as well too. I kind of just tried to disconnect, but I also didn't have service, so it's kind of like a win-win, of like I can't really be super hyper, focused like on my phone and work and stuff. So it was really good like mental clarity to be able to do that, and so I'll just give you a little rundown on the trip. So well, thursday, okay.
Speaker 1:So Thursday morning last Thursday morning I was like frantically panicking around because I was like, oh my gosh, I don't know what I'm gonna wear to the concert and to the game, because, well, I kind of already had an idea for the concert. So I was like going between, like, this white dress or this romper that I had and I couldn't really decide between the denim romper or this white denim dress, which, the denim dress, like it, just clashed with my white boots. It was just way too much white. I was like you know, I'll wear that to the game. I was like, no, I don't want to look like every other girl there that's going to be in their like boots and like country. I'm just like. I wanted a whole different vibe and I honestly did not see a single girl with my vibe going on. So I was like, oh, go me anyway.
Speaker 1:So I, my friend Lincoln and I, we went to the mall on Thursday morning in my two. I had to leave my house to meet with my boyfriend, like I needed to be there. He told me earlier time than when we were supposed to leave because he told me that he didn't want me to be late. But in the grand scheme of things, we ended up being late altogether. So let me just backtrack. So Lakin and I, we went shopping. We literally went to like every single female store there was, like Windsor, forever 21, h&m, like American Eagle, hollister, and I could not find anything. So, finally Forever 21, I like found some jeans with.
Speaker 1:My first plan was like, okay, I finally got my outfit here. I think I'll just do like the denim romper and the boots. And I was like, but I need to find something to spice it up. So, like I found this white little like sparkly, like scarf belt thing and I tied it around it and actually turned out really cute. But I was like, oh my gosh, I just paid $40 on this belt for like what anyways? So got that.
Speaker 1:And then I came back home, oh no, no, I bought some other stuff at Forever 21. I bought these like jeans with like whole, like two, just two slits and and they have like rhinestones on them. But I was like I feel like my leg is just like pushing out of them. And then I looked at the weather and it was supposed to be 93 degrees in Dallas, texas, and I was like there's no way I'm wearing jeans, jeans. I also had like cargo pants that I was gonna wear too, and I was like you know, I'm gonna go for this more of like I don't know what the style I'm trying to go for, like what I'm trying to say, but just like sneakers type of vibe, and I was trying to. Honestly, I wanted to find like a mini skirt, but I couldn't find one, so it was kind of just whatever on that. So I ended up buying the jeans and then I bought this like white tight crop shirt with like black sleeves, except they kind of like cut off and it was. I didn't try it on, but then I got home it was see-through and I was like, oh, so annoying. So I'm just gonna end up honestly taking those jeans in that top back because I was super annoyed. But I did find some cute silver jewelry and gold jewelry, but I was like you know, I'm still not happy with my outfit choices. I still brought them with me, but when we got to Dallas we ended up going shopping too. So anyways, that was the shopping of Thursday, got ready super quick. I just did my hair because I was like you know, I'll do my makeup in the car, and we left like later, because we're like, oh, we'll be, oh, we'll be fine, like we'll get there.
Speaker 1:The concert was at eight and I don't even know, I think we didn't even end up leaving until like four and the trip, the drive was like four, literally four hours, and we didn't eat, like we were starving. So we were like an hour out and we ended up stopping. There was a Jersey Mike's and a qdoba next to each other. I got the qdoba, he got the jersey mike's because I was like I'm not eating jersey mike's, I'm gonna try and keep it as close to my meal plan as possible, which was just like beef and um, potatoes, avocado. So I just got chicken, a little bit of rice, some veggies and I and I called it good and so and some lettuce and I was good. I was like all right, this is like pretty close to a meal.
Speaker 1:So then we just got on the road, like oh, someone's definitely going to be opening for her, like we're not going to have to, we're not going to miss the concert. We missed the first 25 minutes of the concert. I was like no, like we started going up the elevator and he was like is that her? And I'm like yeah, I'm pretty sure that's her singing. So we got to our seats and we were there for like like 45 minutes an hour. We got to hear that much of the concert, but not complaining because it was still good. But I really like to go to another. One of the concerts went to Megan Maroney, by the way, and this is funny story.
Speaker 1:He was supposed to surprise me with it. Well, his plan was like he was going to surprise me and I didn't go through his phone. I swear I didn't know digging, I only asked his brother's wife. I only asked her. Like Brock said he had this big surprise. Should I be concerned? She's like no, it's something that you've told him you wanted to do. And I'm like I don't freaking know, I tell him okay, concert. So he was mad that I already knew. But like I had to know, I had to know my outfit, I had to know what was going on. I didn't want it to be like I don't know.
Speaker 1:So anyways, that was Thursday, that was in Durant, Oklahoma, so that was like an hour hour and a half away from Dallas. So then we start driving, we stop at Bucky's and Brock is like super like annoyed because everything he got at Bucky's he hated, which he got, like these sweet pecans, which is something he would totally not like and something else I don't even remember. But I ended up getting like chocolate covered almonds, dark chocolate covered almonds and beef jerky and I thought it was good because, like this is the worst beef jerky I've ever had just like hating on it just because it's like Bucky's, but it's just a fun vibe. It was also like 11 30 at night, so it's like we already ate like whatever. We're just in here for fun. So anyways, we kept driving.
Speaker 1:We got to Dallas, we got to our Airbnb and it was kind of like a little bit sketchy. It was in like an apartment style type building which those kind of sketch me out like if I want to go to an Airbnb, I want to be in a singular house. For some reason, I don't know why. I mean like Airbnb, like in an apartment type complex, would probably be a little bit more safe because there's like other people. But I don't know something about just being in like a house feels more safe to me. Anyways, I, I don't know. Dallas is stressful in itself. We were stressed the entire time about just our whole situation. You know, just like driving, there's so much traffic, you're just not used to it. So but yeah, that was.
Speaker 1:We got there Thursday night, friday, we decided, or he went and got like breakfast, brunch or whatever at the spa and I kept it pretty healthy, pretty clean. I got uh like an egg white omelet and some fruit and it was like really good. And then we went golfing. He wanted to golf, so we did. He played like 14 holes and then it just got so slow and I was like I didn't want to spend my whole day here. So then we went shopping and this is when I found my outfit. So I went to Aeropostale. This was like literally the last store I went to. It was like it was my last resort. And I got the cargo skirt that I wore and it was only 10 bucks, it was on sale and it was the last skirt that was in the store. I was like, oh my gosh, bless. And then excuse me, I didn't know how my coffee this morning, how dumb of me.
Speaker 1:And then we, um, just like, went to this Mexican restaurant. It was so good. We both got these fajitas really good. Um, then we decided that we were gonna go to the gym at like 8 30 at night and I was like, oh my gosh, who are we? No, we, I think it was actually eight, but after we ate the Mexican, I was having the worst stomach pain. I don't know, it was from the beans that I ate, but my stomach was like in shambles and so I was like having cramping. It was really, really bad. I've never had that happen before. So I had to like just lay in a ball and die anyways. So I went to the gym which was good, got a good little quad pump and then we ended up going to Target that night because he was like, oh, I want some yogurt, I need something. I was like we just ate Mexican. I didn't know anything. My stomach hurt so bad from that food and it was a good Mexican spot, like it was definitely like authentic. So maybe that's why I don't really know, but I was going through it. And then, you know, went to Target. I got some like dry shampoo for the next day, or I don't even remember. I got an apple which I didn't even eat. Um, but yeah.
Speaker 1:So then we woke up Saturday morning. He was like, oh, we're gonna get there early, we're gonna get to the game super early, and so we stopped at Target again because, like, I need to find a black shirt for this cargo skirt Because I had a black shirt, but it was like just way too cropped. I was like I needed to cover my stomach a little bit more. I found it at Target five bucks. I found a clear little fanny pack and I just got some other little random things Energy drink, holy cow. It was like a little last minute thing, just at least. And then we got. We got breakfast at the same spot that we went to the day before. It's like, oh, we already know it's gonna be good. So we went there.
Speaker 1:Then we went straight to the game and it was. The game didn't start till 3, 2, 30 and we got there like 11. So we were just like walking around, had to get tickets in the state fair to like be able to buy like drinks and stuff, so we had to stay in line for that, which was silly. And then the game was so hot so we were just like waiting. It was so freaking hot. I got really good tan. Honestly, I was burned at first, but I think it's starting to turn into a tan now, so we're fine. That was that. That was the game. And then, after the game, it was crazy. The game sucked, oh, you lost.
Speaker 1:And then we just kind of like walked around and we did have dinner reservations at this nice place and I was like we don't have clothes for that, like we're not dressed up, so you know getting charged, charged, which I feel bad about. But we ended up just eating fair food. I got turkey leg corn on the cob and, mind you, I have not eaten all day until this moment. I ate breakfast and then not until again until 7, 6, 30 ish, turkey leg corn on the cob. We just walked around chocolate covered strawberries. Then we were like still hungry. So we were driving around Dallas. He wanted an ice cream sundae. Couldn't find anywhere. Then we tried to go to Andy's. We went into Andy's. They closed right when we got there and it wasn't even that late, it just turned 9 pm and it was just like, oh my gosh. So we were just like eff.
Speaker 1:It ended up going back to the Airbnb and he was like, oh, you want to get some Dairy Queen? And I was like, I mean, I guess, like I'm so hungry too, and so he's like, all right, I'm gonna get chicken strips. And I was like, okay, I want a blizzard too. And so DoorDash that didn't get chicken strips got freaking country fried steak little strips that were so nasty. So I ended up eating the blizzard and a couple of french fries and went to bed. He was like we're not stopping anywhere. In the morning I was like, I mean, that's fine with me, let's just go home. So I ended up just driving home, but overall it was a really fun trip. Had a good time.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, that's kind of just the weekend recap, but let's get into today's episode. We're going to be talking about sleep. So I have all my notes pulled up for this. I'm excited.
Speaker 1:But before we jump in, I just kind of want to discuss, like, why sleep is so crucial for overall health, recovery, hormone balance, all of it. First of all, if you're not being able to sleep well, you're going to have brain fog, you're going to be very low energy, have increased cravings for sugar, and then this all of this just turns into a big cycle of like not sleeping, cravings, eating like shit, eating like shit's causing me not to sleep and it's just a huge cycle. So that's why sleep is very pivotal. It's for your health, and sleep helps detoxify. Like if you're not sleeping well, you're not going to be able to detoxify properly. Brain detox, I mean, like gut, all of it. Everything stems from your sleep, so we have to get that in check. That's the number one thing that I feel like holds people back the most is they're not able to get adequate sleep, and then it affects everything else Energy, mood, cravings, hormones, literally all of it and your fitness goals Like if you're trying to grow muscle, trying to lose body fat, you're not going to be able to do so if your sleep is not in a good spot.
Speaker 1:So my biggest, biggest tip here is to create a consistent sleep schedule, and I will say this all the time, but you need to be going to bed and waking up around the same times every single day, like this is crucial. You're not going to bed at 1am and waking up at 6am, and then you're trying to compensate the next night because you're so tired. So you're like, oh, I'm going to go to bed at 8 pm tonight, and then you wake up the next day and it's like, oh, I'm waking up at 4 am because I went to bed at 8 pm, and then it's just like a vicious cycle that you're not able go to sleep or at least go lay down, and a specific time you're going to wake up, I mean you. This is like very much common sense. I think one thing that's helped me be pretty diligent with my sleep is when I was younger, like when everyone went to bed. We all went to bed Like lights out, parents are going to bed, I'm going to bed, no one's staying up, you're not getting on your phone, you're not watching TV like those are the rules and that's what we were doing. So this just helps your body like set the circadian rhythm, and it helps produce melatonin as well, because you're setting this cycle. You're getting up with the sun, you're going to sleep when the sun sets, essentially, so it's going to help a lot with your overall production of melatonin as well. So for me, my sleep schedule is I wake up around here. Recently I've been going to bed earlier, so I've just like my internal alarm clocks been going off at like 540, just completely fine. Fine, because it's giving me 20 extra minutes of my day, but it's because I've been going to sleep a little bit earlier. So instead of like going to sleep closer to 10, I'm going to sleep closer to like nine, nine, nine, 15, which is helping me tremendously. So love that, because I feel like I'm getting so much more accomplished.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is number two. Um, having a sleep schedule, but like also having a bedtime routine. So, for me, I eat my dinner, go on a walk, read, whatever it may be. Um, take a shower, get my book again, I go downstairs, I put my blue light walkers on. This is a big thing, putting your putting some blue light glasses on when the sun goes down. This is key to the bedtime schedule routine as well. Um, so, also like, like I said, warm bath, read. Um, go down to my room, read even more. Not warm bath, warm shower. I take baths sometimes, sometimes do an Epsom salt bath, but sometimes it's hard for me to cool off before going back to sleep, and if you're not able to cool off when going to sleep, that can affect your sleep as well, because you need to be cold when you're trying to go to sleep. That's a big thing. So, yeah, and then I lay down, I read and I'm just like get so tired and I put my book up, fall asleep and that's that.
Speaker 1:So number three, which kind of goes back to that, is limit your screen time for a bit. And that's exactly why I do wear the blue light glasses is because if you're consuming screen, your body thinks it's daytime. Your body thinks like, okay, like I'm stimulated, I'm ready to go. So consuming this at night is really affecting your melatonin levels, for one, and your circadian rhythm, so it's thinking that it's light, it's stimulated, it's ready to go. Putting on your blue light blockers while you're looking at your phone can just help eliminate that. So reduce your blue light, especially from TV, like, even if you're watching TV. Your phone can just help eliminate that. So reduce your blue light, especially from TV. Like, even if you're watching TV, you need to put them on, like. It's such a big helper and I guarantee you right now I can tell, so I wear my aura ring and the days that I watch TV and I'm on my phone, my deep sleep is a lot less as when I'm reading my book before bed.
Speaker 1:And I'm not perfect. I'm just going to sit in here and tell you right now that I don't do this every single night. Some nights I'm not perfect and I'm literally laying in bed on my phone with my blue light glasses on, but majority of the time I'm reading my book and I'm doing these things that I'm telling you because I want to feel my best when I wake up. So, at least one hour before bed, turn it off. That's why I opt for reading. You can do whatever you want, like, but I know it's so hard because our current society is so overstimulated and like when you're bored like you just pick up your phone and that's what you do at night, that's what you feel like you do to calm down. Well, okay, that's fine in a sense. Make sure that you're protecting your eyes, for one, for straining, for two, because it's going to help you sleep better. So that's number three.
Speaker 1:Number four optimize your sleep environment, which I had already kind of said this like make sure it's cool and it's dark. I do have a huge ass TV in my room and I absolutely hate it. When I was a kid, we had nothing in our rooms like no TV, nothing. When it was time for bed, you didn't get on your phone, you didn't do none of that, you just went straight to bed. And I really think that's why, um, I'm like so regimented even now is because I remember when I was younger, like I was so good with my sleep schedule, sleeping, all of that. Obviously my stress levels were lower. Hormones didn't play as big of an effect as they do now, but I think that's helped me a lot and, like the that environment has carried over, like I hate screens in bed. I hate watching TV in bed. I it has to be cold and it has to be extremely dark. I have to have a fan going, I have to have some sort of noise which comes from the fan and it's just like a white noise, but it's so good. I love to be freezing when I go to bed. It helps so much If you, if you can't get your room dark, you need to get blackout curtains and you need to get like some type of noise thing if you're not, like already utilizing your fan.
Speaker 1:So the next thing, number five, is limit your caffeine intake. So avoid caffeine. I like to say, don't do it past 12 pm, but 2 pm can be good too, just because, like 2 pm to 10 pm. If you're going to bed at 10 pm, that's eight hours, because caffeine does have a longer half-life and it can affect your ability to sleep negatively. So make sure that the caffeine stops and like not consuming too much. So like you have to be mindful of, like coffee, energy drinks, like there's so many things, little things, that could have caffeine and you not even know it. Even pop, like pop, has caffeine in it. I know it's 40 grams, I know it's a small amount, but like these things add up, okay.
Speaker 1:Number six, this one is huge because there's so much misinformation of like you shouldn't eat around bed because it's going to make you gain weight and you should stop eating around this time. And other people are like no, like, calories are calories. And while I do agree like calories are calories, when your body is trying to wind down and get into that rest and digest state, if you're eating a big meal, not only that if you're eating a meal that's super close to bedtime say, like you're eating at 8pm and you want to go to bed at 9pm that's really not enough time for your body to fully like digest that food. And so what I recommend to all of my athletes and this is something that I do as well is eat your meal three hours before bed. Like so for me, I don't.
Speaker 1:I try not to eat past 6 pm, and for one like your body is not going to be able to digest your food. Like, just think about it. You don't eat like your meals right now, like your meals during the day. You probably eat breakfast and you probably eat lunch, and like you're not eating these meals back to back, like you're allowing your body to rest, essentially and digest before eating that next meal, so you need to carry that over into sleep as well and it doesn't matter, like it doesn't even have to be a large meal. Like even something sugary or literally any type of food source, is automatically going to increase your blood sugar, just because anytime you eat, your blood sugar is going to go up. And so if you're doing that while you're also trying to wind down and go to sleep, your body is not going to be able to digest it, which is going to be so much harder for you to fall asleep.
Speaker 1:Your, your liver is going to have a hard time trying to break down that food. And so for the longest time I was like, oh, it doesn't matter, because, like, a calorie is a calorie and it's like, no, it goes beyond that. It's more of like human physiology, of like, stop eating so late. Also, after you eat, go on a walk, like a 10-15 minute brisk walk to help digest that food. For me, I actually go on really long walks. I feel like it helps so much, I sleep so much better when I go on the long walks and when I wake up in the morning, it will have a bowel movement so much quicker because my food's digested and you're not eating and then directly going into a prone position or like laying down on the couch so that's something that I would definitely recommend as well is just like stop eating so close to bed. Like this is actually huge and it does actually impact your ability to sleep well and rest and digest and detoxify your brain and your liver and everything else.
Speaker 1:So number seven manage your stress and anxiety. So, incorporating things like meditation, journaling, deep breathing exercises, whatever it may be, these things are all going to help you so much, tremendously, especially if you're someone that struggles before bed, if you're like, oh my gosh, like what all I need to do tomorrow what I didn't get done today, like literally get something out and just write down, like start writing, do a brain dump if that helps you. If you have racing thoughts at night I know it's helped me tremendously. So that's number seven. Last but not least, number eight get morning sunlight exposure. So aim for at least 20 minutes of sunlight exposure early on in the day, preferably right when you get up, like that's going to set your circadian rhythm, like I kind of talked about at the beginning, first thing in the morning, getting that sunlight exposure. It also will tremendously improve your sleep quality at night.
Speaker 1:So, last but not least which is not a part of this, but like supplements, before you're going to turn to melatonin and even like Ambien, like prescribed supplements, nail these things first. They're going to help you so much more than these other supplements would, because not only can you build up a tolerance to melatonin, it's actually shutting down your natural production of melatonin. And so that's why, whenever someone asks you about like sleep, start at the very lowest minimal dose. Like three milligrams a night is perfect, and you don't need to go past that, because if you're going to go past that, it's like you could cause drowsiness, like I said, and you're going to shut off your natural production.
Speaker 1:Another big thing to, or you can incorporate to, is phosphatidylserine. Ashwagandha, um glycine helps a lot and you can find like a sleep supplement that has all of these things in it. Um, what else I'm trying to make like a magnesium blend. This will help a lot, just helps with overall relaxation of your muscles and just has a calming effect, so GABA is another good one. So, finding a supplement if you need help with that, reach out to me. I can definitely help you with that. But that should be the last thing you do once you have all of these other things at play.
Speaker 1:Another big thing that I would say is just like exercise more, get moving more. You'll be tired from exercising. You'll need to like rest and recover to fuel your body for the next day and to build muscles. So that's my tips, my eight tips on sleeping eight good quality hours of sleep. So hope you guys enjoyed that. Um, I encourage you to start with one to two of these things. Like you don't have to go full force on all of these, but even a couple things can really really help. So I hope you guys enjoyed this. I hope these tips helped.
Speaker 1:If you incorporate them and you feel like they help you, please reach out and let me know, because I'm trying to make my episodes more about helping rather than just like ranting about certain things. Obviously, I'm going to do both still, but I just want to be able to help and provide as much knowledge and insight as possible so that people can actually like be healthier and live better and longer and not be like shit all the time. So if you like this episode, please share it with other people, share it with someone you know, leave a review, whatever it may be. I want to help you, I want to help somebody else out and, yeah, I'm really glad you tuned in so I will see you guys in the next episode and I hope you have a fantastic Friday and weekend If you're listening to this, when it drops. But, yeah, I'll see you guys in the next one. Bye.