Weights, heights and other sleepy thoughts
Still awake at 3AM, reading about how to get a night of better sleep. Did you know that alcohol, even in the afternoon, will reduce your sleep quality, with less REM and more light sleep, waking up more times? Eating before falling asleep, or snacking late at night, everyone knows, not only makes you gain weight but also disturbs your sleep, more than that, seems that fasting for longer than a day will improve your sleep quality. I wonder about intermittent fasting, I am sure that the longer you are not eating before falling asleep, the better you sleep.
From one issue to another, I was reading some funny research about walking in nature, as opposed to walking through the city or urban environment. Nature reduces stress by reducing amygdala activity, using a 60-minute walk to research this one. A natural environment works in the same way and to the same degree, anything from tropical rainforest to arctic tundra, even the Sahara desert will do, while the city surrounding will elicit no response. The amygdala mediates more than stress responses, it is also involved in emotional learning, responses to negative and positive stimuli, processing social information, and social decision-making. Taking out parts of the nature walk, like not seeing too many people, or a quiet room, or any other part, once again, will bring no stress reduction, it seems that our brain somehow knows that we are out in nature and starts the healing process. Keep that in mind when you feel anxious or super-stressed.
Talking about healing and inflammation reduction, I only know about extremes, cold showers or cold temperatures, and sauna, do you know any other way to improve this aspect? Lately, it seems that my joints are protesting, or maybe is me that tries to do too much, dealing with 12 hours shifts, and aiming for 3 gym sessions weekly. Weight lifting worked last year, but with my shoulder being a bit in pain, and a slight elbow injury, now I have quite limited choices, and any attempt to use heavier weight may potentially make my injury come back. I am a bit annoyed. I wonder what else I can do to replace this, in terms of muscle training and maintenance, as I want to prevent muscle loss for the next few decades. I should also focus on balance and hand grip strength, and the fact that I cannot even do one pull-up is saying all about my current level. Not even 50, and there is so much work to be done. This year I have big hopes, and I started well, aiming to reach a decent BMI of 25 or less, which would be under 80-81 kg, and I am already down from 91 to 83 kg, maybe. Once I reach the desired BMI, I will actively work to reduce body fat and increase muscle mass. Have some ideas, but the main objective should be to avoid any future injury. Maybe starting a combination of swimming, sauna and yoga can work if weight lifting is not an option. Running, is also, not big fun, even if I can do some if needed. Decisions, decisions!
Until then, I should start with the first good choice, and go to sleep now, as it is quite late.
Have a nice day, hear you all tomorrow,
George