Why Sleep Is Crucial for Me to Maintain a Healthy, Happy Weight
It came at the perfect time because Joe and I are hoping to upgrade from our studio apartment to a one-bed soon and I have decorating and furnishing on the mind. I love our place—phenomenal location, spacious, pool access—it rocks. But the one downside is that we technically sublet from another person so none of the furniture and décor is ours (keep that in mind as you judge my apartment in these pictures haha). I’m pretty low-key about living situations, but it does kind of bother me because I work from home and want the space to be my own. You have no idea how good it feels to at least get my own bed in here finally!
So before we move onto the topic of this post—why I need sleep to maintain a weight I’m happy with—I have to gush about these Sleep Innovations memory foam products. I’ve never experienced memory foam before now, but consider me in love.
Let’s start with the SureTemp 12” Mattress. First impression: Wait, is this a mattress? It comes delivered in a box! This is me when it first came—so excited but wondering if they’d messed up my order and sent me a dishwasher by mistake.
Sleep Innovations vacuum-packs their memory foam mattresses so that they’re easy to get in and around your home to the desired bedroom. Living in an apartment building, I was especially thankful for this.
I typically alternate between sleeping on my side and my back, but find with the memory foam I prefer my back. Which is great! While I don’t think it makes a huge difference, I have heard from multiple sources that this is the best sleeping position for postural alignment, your back and to prevent wrinkles. Take that last one with a grain of salt (haha).
I’ve always been a very still sleeper, but Joe on the other hand…I’m surprised I don’t wake up with bruises from all the tossing and limb thrashing that goes on in his sleep. BY FAR the best part of this memory foam mattress is that it eliminates motion transfer. He tosses less, and when he does, I don’t feel it and wake up. It’s literally life changing—and not in the way a teenage girl uses the term. Literally. Life changing.
As if a mattress wasn’t a big enough gift, Sleep Innovations also sent me their 3” Gel Memory Foam Mattress Topper with Air Channels and Cover. So spoiled. The topper is made with the latest gel memory foam technology to help regulate temperature and the air channels essentially help by allowing airflow. The topper came conveniently packed as well in this wrapped little spiral:
And finally, the pillows! Sleep Innovations sent me their Cool Contour Memory Foam Pillow (Joe and I fight over who gets it every night—I obviously win) and their Anti-Allergy Pillow. The anti-allergy pillow is comparable to a “normal” (non-memory foam) pillow. Super comfortable regardless of your sleeping position. I thankfully don’t suffer from allergies so can’t attest to its efficacy, but the pillow’s TANA Biotic DC fabric technology reduces dust mites and other allergens.
The memory foam pillow is amazing. Like the mattress, it took me a little getting used to, and I definitely find it most comfortable when sleeping on my back. The curves of it cradle and support your neck and head in a way that is so phenomenally relaxing.
Why Sleep Is Crucial for Me to Maintain a Healthy, Happy Weight
I’m super busy with work and/or stressed out about something else going on in my life. To keep up with it all, I prioritize work over getting a full night’s sleep. This also usually coincides with more quick, on-the-go meals instead of making my own food at home. Those meal purchases start to contain more and more sugar as my body craves a quick energy boost to compensate for the lack of sleep. Stress no sleep sugar turns into a nasty cycle, and it’s important to catch and stop it as soon as possible (the longer it continues, the harder it is to reverse—for me anyway).
Because I recognize this pattern and catch it pretty quickly, I can snap myself out of it with one good night’s sleep. Deadlines, due dates, to-do lists—I seriously just say eff it all and go to bed early with no alarm set. I will say, that’s one perk of working for yourself, but I would encourage everyone to do it once in a while. Your health is more important than your job. Period. Because no matter what your job is, you can’t do your best at it if you’re sick and rundown.
After my good night’s sleep, I try to workout first thing in the morning. Exercising when I wake up makes me want to make healthy food choices throughout the day. Just like poor lifestyle choices tend to snowball into more and more poor choices, so do the good decisions. One healthy change leads to another.
What about you guys? Do unhealthy “funks” and weight gain usually involve lack of sleep? How do you get yourself back on the right track?
If I’ve L. Ron Hubbard’d you into the cult of memory foam (I can’t tell if that joke is funny or out of line, but let’s just go with it), I seriously can’t recommend Sleep Innovations highly enough. The quality is exceptional, but the products are still very much affordable (seriously—look at the prices of these mattresses! Especially if you have Amazon Prime, that is beyond reasonable for a mattress).
You can also follow Sleep Innovations on Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest. All products are available to purchase on Amazon.
