Establish a clean path to sleep by creating a hygienic sleep environment and a daily routine with three distinct phases: 1. productive <10 hours  2. resting 30 min - 1 hour 3. sleeping - 8 - 9 hours. These phases emphasize the importance of transition time needed to obtain restorative sleep. A clean path to sleep is especially important for you because the body thrives on consistency and predictability.

Action Steps For Getting Better Sleep:

— Hang dark curtains that limit light from entering your bedroom.

— Only use your bedroom for sleep or sex. Do NOT work while in bed.

— Start de-escalating from productive work no later than 9P.

— Get into bed before 10p with the intent to turn lights out and sleep.

— Get up at the same time every day regardless of workday, weekend, or holiday.

— Do NOT drink alcohol.

— Do NOT allow pets to sleep in your room.

— Do NOT drink caffeinated beverages after 10a.

— Be aware of all sources of caffeine and avoid them. Chocolate, over-the-counter pain relievers, protein powders, athletic goos, electrolyte tablets and herbal supplements are a few common culprits.

— Avoid napping.

How to build your muscles:

If you’re looking for your beach bod, here are some actions you can take right now:

1. Do 10 pushups and 50 situps this afternoon.

2. Drink a smoothie with a protein source, one fruit, and one vegetable.

3. Stay hydrated.

4. Allow yourself an 8 hour sleep opportunity tonight.

5. Pass on the wine at dinner tonight.

To succeed in reaching health goals, executive women need help building momentum not once but many times. In other words, we have to get restarted toward their goals even more frequently than the typical woman. At HelloHealth, we consider this a skill called Mastering the Restart. 

At its crux, Mastering the Restart is the skill of expecting for life to happen and being practical about getting back on track.  This skill has five requirements.  You have to learn how to…

1. Recognize the need to restart
2. Hit Pause
3. Find the right starting line
4. Have a training program
5. Step back so you can gain perspective

In this episode, Dr. Mohan tells her personal story for how these steps helped. The journey was NOT seamless. Mistakes were made. She starts in her twenties -- a time during which she was a competitive runner and proceeds through a life-threatening pregnancy to a successful weight loss journey. She then tells of her return to the sport of long distance running and qualifying to run the Boston Marathon.

Instructions for measuring your waist circumference can be found within The Women’s Guide to Health page 20. Purchase your copy of the book: www.herprescriptions.com.

Download updated health journal pages for free: www.hellohealthtoday.com/resources.

Here's the Recap:

1. Keeping your body weight the same is called weight maintenance. The ability to maintain your body weight as you grow older is a skill.

2. Keeping your body mass composition the same is a separate skill that aids body weight maintenance.

3. The foundation of these skills is sleep. Sufficient sleep is required, not optional.

4. Because executive women tend to have high standards for ourselves, we often have health or fitness mindsets. Having the right mindset is not enough to engage in Zen and the Art of Weight Maintenance.

5. Recall bias affects us all. No one is immune. To battle recall bias, we need to use objective ways to measure ourselves across 5 leading health indicators. These objective measurements help keep our attention focused on the most important ways we can protect our health.

6. To keep our bodies healthy, We need:

*Seven hours of consecutive sleep each night

*A diet that consists mostly of plants and does not exceed your daily caloric needs

*Twenty minutes of strength training twice weekly

*8,000 steps per day

*150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise — like walking — every week.

Don’t make it more complicated than that. Adhering to these standards is hard enough. 

Dr. Jurine Owen is a physical therapist and owner of Hands on Physical Therapy, Incorporated. She has been practicing in metro Atlanta for over 20 years. An athlete and health expert, Dr. Owen was shocked to discover she had high blood pressure. In this interview, she describes her journey to health.

Action steps:
1)If you haven’t already this year, get your blood pressure checked.

2) Do you have an idea of what your health markers are? Know your health markers and why they’re important.
3) Step outside your comfort zone. That’s the next step. That’s where you start the process for change. Let someone else guide you. Seek out help.

recap:

1. When we focus on having discipline instead of having integrity we are strict with ourselves and hold constricting views. Meanwhile, integrity involves being able to trust yourself. If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust? 

2. When you apply the same process of commitment that you use at work to the process of committing to yourself and your health, you set yourself up for success.

3. Having a beginners mindset helps you practice integrity like you would any skill and keeps your internal dialogue kind -- the way you would speak to any beginner.

4. One of the best questions to ask yourself as you execute on your commitment is “How can I make this more enjoyable?”

Sources: HBR Special Issue Winter 2019

“No more regular days.” Position paper available for download at www.hellohealthtoday.com/resources

If you’d like to take action toward eating in a healthy way, here are some concrete things you can do:

1. The next time you’re out at a restaurant, turn your phone to silent and tuck it into your pocket or purse. 

2. Stop drinking beer and liquor in all forms including cocktails. 

3. Start bringing your lunch to work. 

Happy New Year! If you have a health goal in mind for 2020 and you'd like help, please consider our personal physician and coaching services at The HelloHealth Clinic. Get started now: www.hellohealthclinic.com.

The HelloHealth signature networking event, Dinner and a Download, was recorded live on November 14th 2019. These are the highlights for Sleep, Rest, and Recovery. Carmen answers common questions and reflects on  challenges related to work, family, and stress.

Here’s one physiologic truth we all should’ve been taught in Health 101 for the Preternaturally Busy. The ingredients for making a memory are 1. Paying attention 2. Sleeping for at least 7 hours a night. I couldn’t be more serious. The ingredients of memory making are your attention followed by a good night’s sleep. You have to be paying attention in order to be able to remember anything. If you really want to remember something important to you, well then pay really close attention to it and then make sure you sleep well that night. You’ll remember that important thing for many many years. Because that’s how memories get made. 

Here’s the bad news:

1. If you do not use techniques to strengthen your ability to pay attention, the urgencies of the day will take control of your life.

2. If you do not place time for yourself onto your schedule, you’ll have great work/life balance that doesn’t include you.

Decide now to strengthen your ability to pay attention with these action steps:

1. Start your day with meditation. This puts you in charge.

2. If you haven’t already, place 30 minutes onto your schedule and walk with a friend at work.

3. Rest for thirty minutes instead of emailing tonight. You will be doing your colleagues a favor. Set the standard that no one gets email after nine at night. After all, you want your team to be doing what you’re doing and that is getting good sleep so you all are fresh and recharged ready to make meaningful memories tomorrow.