BLUblox New Year’s Resolution

Tis the season for making New Year’s Resolutions! I was interviewed on Ketogenic Girl’s podcast and one of her questions was, “How do you stay on track and keep getting healthier?” I responded that I make new health goals all the time. Once I accomplish a health goal, I make a new one. Some goals I make are harder than others to accomplish, such as, running a marathon, cutting coffee (after working at a coffee shop since I was 14… that one was hard), drinking more water, getting better sleep… my health goals aren’t always about food. I believe true health is encompassing all aspects of your life, including sleep!

I’m always on the pursuit of maximizing my health as well as helping my children stay healthy. Making small goals for myself as well as my children, has increased my family’s health more than I ever thought possible! Children are often not getting the proper amount of sleep that they need for their brains to grow and thrive! One of my health goals for myself as well as my children was to start blocking out blue and green light at night. That is where BLUblox comes into my new health goal! I LOVE my BLUblox glasses and I wear them EVERY night!

Micah is 10 years old and Kai is 9. For proper growth and health, they need 10-11 hours of sleep at night. Most kids I know are not getting nearly enough sleep! The school bus goes by my house at 6:30am! That means that kids should be going to bed at 7pm but most sporting events go past that hour! What is a family to do?

Most parents will agree that lack of sleep directly affects their child’s mood, and most would agree it has a huge impact on behavior and learning. But the latest studies demonstrate that sleep is also essential to good health. When kids get the quality sleep they need, they may have a lower risk of becoming overweight and developing diabetes as well as fewer attention issues as well as learning difficulties. 

Sleep is as important as what we feed our children. It’s when the body repackages neurotransmitters, chemicals that helps the brain cells to communicate, creates proper serotonin and dopamine. Studies have shown that sleep allows brain cells to “take out the trash” each night, flushing out disease-causing toxins.

The most scary news from these studies are how quickly kids fall into the danger zone. The repercussions of sleep deprivation happen after only 4 nights of one fewer hour of sleep per night!  One thing that parents can do to help is to get their kids blue and green light blocking glasses from BLUblox so when they are doing school work on screens later in the evening, it will not hinder proper melatonin production. Especially now that it is getting darker longer due to winter then we are exposed to more artificial light which makes it super important to support a natural sleep cycle and circadian rhythm!

WHY I PRIORITIZE SLEEP

Sleep is important to many aspects of our life. Here are my top 3 reasons that sleep is important to me and my whole family:

1. SLEEP HELPS FIGHT GERMS!

Being from Ethiopia, I am shocked that my boys are rarely sick! It could be that they do not eat sugar, but I know it also has a lot to do with getting proper sleep! During sleep, we produce proteins known as cytokines, which the body relies on to fight illness, infection, and STRESS. Often times when you have the flu or a cold you get exhausted and it forces you to rest, which aids the body’s ability to heal. Lack of sleep impacts the number of cytokines we produce. And it’s been found that adults who sleep fewer than seven hours per night are almost 3 times more likely to develop a cold when exposed to that virus than those who sleep eight or more hours.

2. SLEEP AFFECTS WEIGHT and BLOOD SUGAR

Do not think that what you eat is the only thing that impacts your blood sugar. There are some fascinating studies showing how when you sleep for 6 or less hours a night for only 3 nights in a row, your blood sugars will be elevated and weight gain starts to happen.

Sleep also impacts leptin. When we’ve eaten enough to be satisfied, our fat cells create the hormone leptin, which signals us to stop eating. Sleep deprivation impacts this hormone, so kids (as well as adults) don’t get that “I’m full” signal as much.

3. SLEEP HELPS NEUROTRANSMITTERS

For 90% of people, a deficiency in one of four key brain chemicals can trigger depression, anxiety, weight gain, fatigue, and stress. The key to happiness as well as losing weight doesn’t lie in deprivation diets; it lies in balancing our neurochemicals. I like to focus on how the brain affects our health.

1. Dopamine plays a major role in motivation, motor control as well as controls metabolism

2. Acetylcholine helps with memory, cognition and regulates fat storage

3. GABA plays a major role in calming anxiety and curbs emotional eating

4. Serotonin increases mood as well as influences appetite.

When these primary brain chemicals are balanced, we are happier, focused and our bodies are more able to lose those unwanted pounds.

As we have talked about many times, blocking the blue light (and certain green light wavelength) is so important for allowing your body to naturally generate melatonin, our bodies natural sleep hormone. It is important to get a quality pair of blue blocking glasses to ensure you block all the wavelength of blue and green light that can interfere with melatonin production. Many cheaper glasses will only block blue light making them less effective. BLUblox block all wavelength of blue and green light that have been shown in studies to interfere with the bodies natural melatonin production. And many cheaper glasses you don’t want to been seen wearing around your friends. BLUblox not only block out all the right wavelengths, but they are stylish too! They come in many styles and shapes.

I usually put my BluBlox glasses on around 5pm. Yep, 5pm! It is best to stop blocking all the blue light about 2-3 hours before bedtime to allow the body to naturally produce melatonin. With stylish blue blocking glasses you can start wearing them in the evening while still hanging out with friends. They even make a good conversation starter! You are biohacking your sleep. 🙂

So get yourself a gift and tag me when you wear your BLUblox glasses!

Click HERE to order yourself or your kids a stylin’ pair of BLUblox glasses!

 

TESTIMONY OF THE DAY

“Never give up on those New Years resolutions!

The left is January 14, 2018
205 pounds

The right is October 26, 2019
113 pounds

I never thought I could do it! Keto on people.” – Jenny

Most people I consult are doing keto totally wrong. Get fast results with the my NEW Keto Packages!

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