Make a Cave.
Yes, we ask you to eat this crazy Paleo, Zone or BootCamp diet and now we ask you to make a cave. And no, we are not even kidding. Turns out getting some good, quiet and dark sleep is pretty darn good for you. Apparently embracing your inner caveman will help you lose body fat, recover quicker, look beautiful and be able to leap buildings in a single bound. To make your room darker, try these tips:
1. Install some blackout shades. You can find an array of blackout shades and curtains online. Installing both will give you the best effect. Our longtime buddy Mike Schmeelk (404-213-9897 or mschmeelk@bellsouth.net) of S&S Installations did a great job with shades at our house. The shades are tucked in with runners on the top & sides to block out pretty much every speck of light. We then overlayed those with cheap blackout curtains from Overstock.com.
2. Get a groovy new clock. I found one that you can set on DARK so it doesn't illuminate unless you wave your hand in front of it. Not only does this make the room much darker, but the fact that it comes on when I get out of bed in the middle of the night helps me see my way to the door. My legs are really happy with fewer bruises.
3. Learn to set your TV timer. If you fall asleep watching TV, set it on a timer. Don't understand your remote? Do an internet search for your brand of TV/remote and you should be able to download your instruction booklet.
4. Become your grandmother. Begin to cover any other light source in your room with doillies. All the cool people do it.
If you don't believe me on all this, I don't blame you but, we have some pretty cool people doing it along with us, see here:
Dr. Oz agrees.
Robb Wolf has a take on this here.
Mark Sisson has thoughts on the matter.
Even Gweneth is getting in on the action.
For those of you who have already darkened your room, do you have any tips to share with the group?
Happy Darkening!
Melissa
Reader Comments (4)
Folks- this is no BS. It really does make a difference. I thought M was going to the dark side- no pun intended when she invested in blacking out our room. It has made a HUGE difference in sleep quality and my ability to recover after a heinous WOD day or just an abnormally long or stressful day. Along with the no grain rule and heavy fish oil supplementation- I think this is one of the musts.
Agree wholeheartedly with Jeff and Melissa. Your room should be to the darkness level where you can't see your hand in front of your face. Yep, that dark. Think about those hotel rooms you've stayed in that were totally pitch black and the quality of sleep you've had. Makes a heyuge difference.
I have decided not to spend time posting more nutrition blogs unless anyone is out there. Anyone?
From what I can tell, the lack of a prize might make this a boring contest? Should we reboot and start over?
Do I count? I read this...
Anyway, PSA:
For those of you on the fish oil bandwagon, Robb & Whole 9 created an awesome calculator:
http://whole9life.com/fish-oil/