Latest / Midlife Glow Up: Simplifying Fitness, Nutrition and Healthy Habits for Women over 40 / 39. Joan's Sleep Non-Negotiables: The Tools That Changed the Game in Midlife

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39. Joan's Sleep Non-Negotiables: The Tools That Changed the Game in Midlife · Midlife Glow Up: Simplifying Fitness, Nutrition and Healthy Habits for Women over 40

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: There was a period of time in my early 40s when I would wake up in the middle of the night completely drenched, like soaked through.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: I would have to get up and change my clothes and change my sheets.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: And this was not like a one-time thing.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: This became my normal.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: I would wake up, I would peel off my clothes, change into something dry, and then settle back down.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: And by that time, I was wide awake, my heart was pounding, and the rest that I was supposed to be getting was just gone.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: And then my thoughts would spiral and I was just awake for the rest of the night.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have lived through this or something similar, you know it's much more than just an inconvenience.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: It is exhausting, and the side effects from it follow you into the next day and the day after that.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I don't get hot flashes just in the middle of the day, but at night, holy cow.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: That season made me get really serious and intentional about my sleep.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so today I want to walk you through what I learned, why sleep matters so much more than most of us realize, and the specific things that genuinely have changed the game for me.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the Midlife Glow Up Podcast, where we simplify fitness, nutrition, and healthy habits for women over 40.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Joan Dandano, your midlife health and wellness coach.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are ready to feel strong, consistent, and confident in this season of life, then you are in the right place, my friend.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the thing that I really want you to hear first and foremost at the beginning of this episode.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Sleep is not the thing that you get to after everything else is handled in your life.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Sleep is not a luxury, it is foundational.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: It is one of the biggest components that impacts how you feel, how you think, and how you show up in your entire life.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: When I'm sleeping well, everything feels easier.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: My mood is steadier, I have more patience, I make better decisions, my energy is up.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: But when I'm not sleeping well, all of that gets harder.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: And that's when the cravings show up and my fuse get shorter and my motivation dips.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: So a bad night of sleep does not stay only in the night.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: It shows up the next day and maybe for subsequent days in your mood, your energy, your focus, and your patience.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: And for most of us in midlife, there's an extra layer here because this is often exactly when our sleep starts to fall apart due to what we talked about last week, which was our hormones being just all over the place.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: So the hormones are making us lose sleep.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then because we're losing sleep, then we're also feeling a dip in our energy and our mood and our patients, et cetera.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so for me, those night sweats were the first real symptom that I experienced from perimenopause.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I know I'm not alone in that.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Research shows that something between 40 and 60% of women experience sleep disturbances during the perimenopause into that menopause transition.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: And up to 80% of women will deal with hot flashes or night sweats at some point in their journey.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: So if you are in perimenopause or you're postmenopausal and you feel like your sleep is just not what it used to be, I want you to know that you're not imagining it.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: There is nothing wrong with you, but your body is shifting.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And the good news is the part that I find really empowering is that there's a lot that we can actually do about it.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot that's in our power.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to share what is actually happening behind the scenes when you sleep, because I think this will help you understand that your sleep is crucial.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: And there are four big systems that are impacted in our body when we are not getting sufficient sleep.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: So the first one's your brain, the next one's your body and the recovery, the next one is your immune system, and finally it's your mood or your emotions.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: So number one, your brain.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: So when you sleep, your brain is basically running an overnight cleaning system.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: This process or this system is called the gymphatic system.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: And during deep sleep, it flushes out waste products that build up while you're awake.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: And these include the proteins that are linked to Alzheimer's disease.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: So when your sleep gets shortchanged, then that clean out gets impaired.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: And research has actually shown that sleep deprivation reduces how well your brain is able to clear out those proteins.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Number two is your body and your recovery.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: So deep sleep is when your body releases the biggest pulse of growth hormone, usually in that first chunk of the night.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: So your growth hormone is what drives tissue repair, muscle recovery, and protein synthesis.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, in other words, your workout does not actually build your muscles, but your recovery does.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of that recovery happens while you're asleep.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: There is research showing that a single night of poor sleep can drop your muscle protein synthesis by 18%.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're putting in the work in your workouts and on your walks, but you're not sleeping well, then you're leaving a lot of your results on the table.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Next is your immune system.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: There is a fascinating study where researchers actually exposed people to a cold virus on purpose.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: And the people who were sleeping less than six hours a night were more than four times as likely to get sick compared to those who were getting seven hours of sleep or more.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: And separate research shows that poor sleep before you get a vaccine leads to weaker antibody response.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: So your body does not build the same protection.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Sleep is not separate from your immune system, it's part of it.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: And rest is one of the most underrated things you can do to stay well.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: And the final one is your mood and your emotions.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the one that I feel the most personally.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: So when you're sleep deprived, the emotional alarm center of your brain called the amygdala becomes dramatically more reactive.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: There is a study, a well-known study, that found that your amygdala was 60% more reactive after sleep deprivation.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: And at the same time, your prefrontal cortex, the calm and rational part of your brain that normally keeps things in perspective, gets quieter.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: So you have got the gas pedal pushed down and the brakes barely working.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why everything feels bigger and harder when you're tired.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: That small thing that your partner said just sends you over the edge, or the traffic that would normally be like no big deal has you like super overwhelmed.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's not that you are overreacting on purpose, but your brain is literally running with the alarm up and the brakes down, which is why protecting your sleep is one of the best things that you can do for your mood and for your relationships.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: The experts recommend at least seven hours a night for adults.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: And about a third of us are not getting it.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it's costing us across every one of these systems our brains, our recovery, our immune system, and our mood.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: So when I started having these crazy night sweats, that's when I reached out, went to the doctor, had that annoying experience that I shared last week about just being dismissed at the doctor's office and really having to take matters into my own hands.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I decided right then and there that my sleep was so important and I was going to go to work to figure out how to set myself up for success for a good night of sleep so that I could protect my brain and my relationships and my recovery and my immune system.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: So one of the very first things that I did was make an investment into my sleep and also my husband's sleep with purchasing the eight sleep system.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it is a cooling and heating cover that goes over top of your mattress and it regulates the temperature of the bed throughout the night.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, I was waking up drenched.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: I needed a cooling sleep system.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it was a complete game changer.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: My husband, on the other hand, often sleeps chilly.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: So he likes to keep his side a lot warmer than mine.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: I love that I can have my bed at like 55 degrees and his can be at 110 degrees, and we both sleep perfectly well throughout the night.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: This thing was literally a game changer.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Since purchasing the 8 sleep, I have not had the night sweats experience at all.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I genuinely love it so, so much.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'll link it in the show notes so you guys can read more about it.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I have a little code that will get you an extra discount as well.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to hear if you already own this and love it or if you have something similar that you love.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: It seriously has made the biggest difference to the point that when my husband and I travel, and we travel a decent amount, we stay at nice hotels, and both of us will look at each other like after the first night in a hotel and be like, oh, we miss our bed at home because you just get so used to sleeping with the temperature exactly where you need it.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: And if you don't have it, even though you're on the comfiest bed, maybe in like a you know, four-star resort, but you're still uncomfortable.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: I know first world problems here.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, the second thing is the aura ring.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: So this I have had even longer than the eight sleep.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: The eight sleep, I probably have had uh seven or eight years now.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: And the aura ring, um, I've had even longer, probably about a decade now.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: What I love about my aura ring is the data.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: So it has taught me so much.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's allowed me to really track my sleep and show me the difference between a good night and a rough night.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: And more importantly, how to connect the dots between what I'm doing in my life and also how that is impacting my sleep.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: So the most impactful thing for me is alcohol.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: I don't drink very often, but on the weekends, we might have a cocktail here and there.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I can 100% tell a difference in my sleep quality and like my amount of restfulness, my HRV balance, everything is thrown off with literally just one cocktail.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: You can also tell when you're super stressed.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: It also helps you to track your cycle.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're still cycling, this is a really great thing.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: It'll show me just from my body temperature that my period's about to start.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: So that was helpful back when I was cycling normally.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now I go like 80 days in between my periods, but still it's nice to know, like, oh, when did I last have my period?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll look back and it'll tell me because it knows based on my data.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing that I love is when I'm feeling a little bit off, my aura ring will tell me, yeah, your temperature was up, or you know, your rest and heart rate didn't drop until almost morning time or whatever.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Those are things that show that there's some strain or some stress on my body.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it gives me action items.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times for me, it's slow down, take a rest day.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I can really tell the difference in my recovery and how I feel in my workouts, um, and just how I feel in general.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: It has really, really helped me to track my sleep and pay attention to it.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that awareness has also made me more intentional and it's helped me to make better choices, like nope, no thanks to the cocktail, because I really want to sleep well tonight.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: I also will link the aura ring in the show notes as well as a referral code.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: I've had several of these, but I'm on the smaller, thinner one now that fits my finger a lot better and I love it.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, the next one seems kind of silly, really simple.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's inexpensive, but it's so effective.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: I had tried out several different eye masks that were supposed to block the light.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: And when I first was doing this, it was for a trip to Europe and I really wanted to be able to sleep on the airplane.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I tried multiple to try to find one that I loved.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't until this past Christmas uh that my sister-in-law gave me the sleep mask that she really loves.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: And oh my goodness, it is the best.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: It fully blocks out the light.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: But the other thing that I love about it is that you can open and close your eyes underneath the mask.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: There's like plenty of space from the mask, like doesn't touch your eyelashes.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that has that helps me a ton because I like to be able to open my eyes underneath, but blocking the light absolutely helps me fall asleep and stay asleep, especially in the summer months here in the Pacific Northwest.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: It is bright at the in the four o'clock hour and it stays light until 10 p.m.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I absolutely love using a really good quality eye mask, and I'll link that in the show notes as well.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: We also started using white noise back when we had little kids, and we just never let that one go.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: It gives my brain something steady and consistent to hold on to and covers up the random noise, like my kids staying up past midnight watching TV and doing laundry and all the things that they do as night owls that would typically like pull me out of my sleep.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: So the white noise definitely makes a huge difference.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I've got a little white noise machine that sits on my bedside.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then we also run an air purifier at night that has a fan feature.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: So between the two of those, it really does make a big difference.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, next up is the pillow that I sleep with under my head.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: And this is hilarious because I have been through many, many pillows in my life, to include one that I got gifted to me when I was about 10 years old, and it followed me around into my early 40s.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: And at the point when I tragically lost this pillow, it was basically just a little bag of feathers.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like it was not really anything to support my head, but it went with me everywhere.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: It even went with me on my honeymoon.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: And on vacation a few years ago, my husband accidentally, because it was very easy to get caught up in sheets, he accidentally put sheets in the wash with my pillow with it, and it was a down feather pillow, and that was the end of my pillow.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: So very sad.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, around that time I went looking for a new pillow, and I tried multiple, could not find what I was looking for.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, uh, my mother-in-law actually suggested this ear pillow, and it's made specifically for people who have lots of ear piercings where you don't want to keep your ear piercings in all the time, but you don't want to sleep and like put pressure on them.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I was really intrigued to try this out.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I absolutely love it.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like it is super helpful, even if you don't even have your ears pierced.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it sounds really silly, but there are two ear holes and like a memory foam pillow, and it completely supports my chin in line with my forehead, and it's flat, but my ear has a nice little place to nestle.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then if I want to flip over to the other side, your ear just kind of finds the other hole.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, I travel with this thing now, it's ridiculous.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: It takes up my entire uh carry-on bag, but it's so worth it because without it, I will not sleep as well for sure.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, I want to share about my pillow fortress.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: So, this is one that I've just made up, and my kids make such fun of me for it.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: But my husband and I are both side sleepers.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: And when I got pregnant the first time, I got a long body pillow and I fell in love with it.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so I've been sleeping with a body pillow for a long time.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: But somewhere in the past 10 years or so, my husband and I created almost like bowling lane bumpers in between us.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, two on the outside and one on the inside that we share so that when we sleep on the left or the right, we're fully able to support our body and be able to stack our joints properly as we're sleeping.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: So we're not waking up achy or twisted.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just a concept.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: But play around with supporting your body in whatever way feels good for you to sleep.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like this should be at the top of your priority list.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you're not sleeping well, if you are waking up in the night, if you are waking up feeling achy, or if your um lumbar spine needs a little extra support, if you're feeling like your head needs extra support, or if it needs to be higher or lower, like play around with this.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: We spend so much of our life asleep that it's really important to get intentional and optimize your sleep setup and your sleep hygiene to encourage your body to really get into that deep restorative sleep that really impacts everything else in your life.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope that today's episode helped you realize that your sleep is worth protecting.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's not selfish to focus on this, it's also not optional because it absolutely impacts your brain, your body, your immune system, your mood.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: And especially in midlife, when so much is shifting from what's happening in your life, but what's also happening in your body, our sleep is one of the most powerful things that we can do to set ourselves up for success.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: And you don't have to do all of this at once.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Just pick one thing.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you try the eye mask, or maybe you're gonna finally look into getting a cooling sleep cover.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe it's just protecting that earlier bedtime.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, any little bit that you do is going to impact and improve your sleep, which then will improve every other area of your life.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: So if this episode resonated with you, or if you have your own sleep hacks that have changed the game for you, I would love to hear about them.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: Come on over to Instagram and find me at Jones Fitzone or send me an email.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me what's working for you.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to hear from you.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, my friend.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, progress over perfection and consistency over intensity.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep growing, keep glowing, and bye for now.