After a tough workout, your body enters a state of stress: muscle fibers are damaged, energy stores are depleted, and hydration levels drop. This is a critical moment. If your body gets the right nutrients, it starts rebuilding immediately. If not, recovery slows down, and so does progress.
Due to alcohol being a depressant substance, this means that it slows down your central nervous system by calming the neurotransmitters that keep you alert. Alcohol can behave the same way sedatives do, by fixating on the two neurotransmitters in your brain known as gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate.
Neurologically speaking, an orgasm is an orgasm no matter what time of day it occurs, but every person's experience is unique. Orgasms release 'pleasure hormones' that make you feel good and can aid in relaxation and closeness, and that this release can be both energizing and calming depending on the circumstances. The timing is only one part of the equation. The environment, stress level, and the people involved matter just as much.
Rather than simply extending the fasting window or cutting more calories, the intervention group was simply asked to finish eating at least three hours before their usual bedtime. That meant no snacking while watching TV after dinner and no "just one more bite" at 10 p.m. (my personal downfall). This relatively simple intervention ensured that the overnight fast overlapped with the body's natural sleep-wake rhythm.
I used to brag about how little sleep I got. It felt like a superpower: I could sleep just three or four hours a night, and still operate at a very high level. That helped me get ahead early on. As a teen, I bused tables and sold firewood. By the time I was 19, I bought a house (which was possible because it was the subprime mortgage days). Having a mortgage gave me real responsibility at a young age.
Sleep banking is essentially extending your normal sleep hours in the nights leading up to a known period of sleep deprivation. On the face of it, it appears unlikely banking sleep could counter the decreased alertness and other cognitive decrements that we experience when deprived of sleep, or stop that strong sensation we get when our body wants sleep.
Have you ever struggled to find the perfect drink just before bed? Something like coffee or another caffeinated drink is usually out of the question. Likewise, you don't want a sugary drink if you just brushed your teeth. Cold water, and even room-temperature water, might be the standard, but you should consider the benefits of hot water if you've never tried it before. It can benefit you in more ways than you'd think.
Why would you do that? It's a way to remove distraction, calm your nervous system and practise mindfulness. And get clean. Yes, you also get clean. But this is more about finding those small, intentional moments that release you from the cares of your day. It sounds like an accident waiting to happen. You don't have to shower in complete darkness just in dim light, even by candlelight.
Late-night snacking has had a bad rap for a long time. When pop culture takes a stab at this (very) human thing, it often portrays the scene as pernicious or, at best, distasteful. Combine that with regular condemnation by diet culture and accusatory media headlines that frame after-dinner eating as a moral failing, and it's easy to see why most of us want to steer clear.
It's normal to feel sluggish during the winter. Cold temperatures and fewer hours of sunlight can mean less time outdoors and more time staring at our screens. For some people, these cold-weather habits may contribute to a sleep disruption, known as winter insomnia. This isn't a clinical condition, but it might begin or worsen during the winter months.
Bright lights keep us buzzing late into the night because of our circadian rhythm, which is the body's internal clock. It's instrumental in the normal functioning of body and mind. It's also intrinsically tied to light. Before the widespread availability of electricity, human activity was tightly synced with these natural light cycles, as it was for every other living being on the planet.