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LenDentonThrive Letter #9

The Sleep Edition

Happy Saturday! I’m Len Denton, and I’m glad you’re here!

The subject of this week’s edition is SLEEP! Most Over-50 Guys are not getting nearly enough sleep, and it’s undermining our health and slowing down our efforts to improve our fitness levels. It’s time to talk about sleep…why it’s important…and how to get more of it.

But first, here’s a quick overview of this week’s edition of the LenDentonThrive Letter:

• The Big Idea - This week, we'll dive deep into all things related to getting a better night’s sleep.

• Tip of the Week - This week, I’ll share what I’m doing right now to improve my sleep health.

• What I’m Eating - a quick look at a typical ThriveAge-compatible meal or snack. (Warning - non-professional food photos below!)

• What I’m reading - I’ll share two useful news items that you can benefit from!

I’m really glad that you’re here! We have a lot to cover in ten minutes or less, so let’s get started!

1. The Big Idea - Sleep!!!

We Aren’t Getting Enough Sleep!

Sleep is an important component of our health and fitness. It is a co-equal partner with nutrition and exercise in determining how healthy and fit we can become. And, unlike nutrition and exercise, there are very few outward visual indicators to tell us how well we’re managing our sleep. That’s because most of the indicators of sleep wellness are hidden from view, buried deep inside our bodies…and our brains!

If you’re an Over-50 Guy, like me, it’s likely that you aren’t getting enough sleep. Starting in my teenage years, I was a member of the “Work Now - Sleep Later Club.” 

Sleep was a luxury back in those days that I decided I could do without. After all, I was young and invincible. That sense of invincibility carried on through my adult years, driven by the urgent needs of family and career.

And, I’m apparently not alone in my previously misguided efforts to avoid sleep. A Gallup survey from 2022 found that 1 in 3 Americans said that their sleep was only fair or poor.

In my case, I chose to prioritize other things over my sleep. But today, I realize that was a mistake.

Sleep matters to our overall health and well-being, regardless of whether we are experiencing tiredness or not. Living in a sleep deficit (yes, I learned that that’s a real thing) has consequences. Both physical and mental consequences!

Next, let’s look at why sleep is so important. Then, we’ll close with ways to improve our sleep.

Why Sleep is Important

Science has learned a lot about sleep over the last decade. There are many important tasks that occur only while we sleep. Without sufficient sleep, these important functions are less able to keep us healthy and alert.

Here are four examples of important functions that occur as we sleep:

1. Growth and tissue repair - During sleep, our metabolic activity and body temperature both dip, allowing the body to conserve energy so tissues can grow and regenerate. The blood supply to the muscles increases, energy is restored, and hormones that promote growth and development are released.

2. Immune System Health - We need enough sleep to keep our immune system functioning optimally — when you don’t get enough sleep, you’re more vulnerable to respiratory viruses and other bugs. That’s why we seem to be more prone to catching a cold or the flu when we are sleep-deprived.

3. Brain Plasticity - a healthy amount of sleep is vital for “brain plasticity,” or the brain’s ability to adapt to input. If we sleep too little, we become unable to process what we’ve learned during the day and we have more trouble remembering it in the future. This is also the reason why we seem to be less alert when we are operating without adequate sleep.

4. Brain Repair and Maintenance - Researchers also believe that sleep may promote the removal of waste materials from brain cells—something that seems to occur less efficiently when the brain is awake. A 2019 study in the journal Science found that the brain washes itself when we sleep. A combination of cerebrospinal fluid and blood occurs in the brain when we sleep. This fluid washes away dead cells, impurities, and waste products that accumulate in the brain. Scientists believe that inadequate sleep reduces this washing function. Over time, it is thought that accumulations of water materials in the brain can result in neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and even Alzheimers Disease.

Finally, when guys don’t get enough sleep, their overall health risks rise, including:

• Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

• Diabetes

• Chronic Heart Disease

• Obesity

How Much Sleep is Enough?

According to the CDC, men over the age of 50 need at least 7 hours of quality sleep per night. Less than 7 hours of sleep per night means that you’re in a sleep deficit. Remaining in a sleep deficit for an extended period of time triggers many of the unwanted conditions noted above.

There’s an important point to note when it comes to how much sleep we need. Many of us guys tend to think that we can operate effectively on less sleep than we actually need. We think that as long as we don’t feel tired, then we’re doing okay.

Personally, I’ve found that this is a mistake!

We now know that prolonged sleep deprivation raises the risks of chronic health problems as we age. This includes the risk of neurodegenerative diseases that none of us want to have to deal with as we grow older!

This is why I’m no longer a member of the Work Now-Sleep Later Club! And, it’s why I think you should quit that club, too! The sooner, the better!

How to Get Better Sleep

Over the last year, I’ve been diligently working on getting at least 7 hours of good sleep per night. I’ve still got some work to do before I can say that I’ve achieved my goal. But, I’ve made some great progress.

I’ve learned that the keys to getting better sleep are a combination of good planning and self-discipline.

Good planning involves making sure that your bedroom is actually conducive to sleep. Things like comfortable bedding, proper levels of darkness, a cool temperature, and quietness are fundamental to getting a good night’s sleep.

Self-discipline requires you to create your own night-time ritual to help you gradually slow down from a busy and hectic day to allow your mind and body to prepare for sleep. I have found this ritual idea to be extremely useful in my effort to improve my sleep.

To help you to develop your own night-time ritual, I’ve included a couple of resources in this edition of the newsletter:

• In The Tip of the Week, I’ll share my current night-time ritual as an example.

• In the What I’m Reading section, I’m sharing two articles that will provide you with even more info on how to develop and execute a plan to improve your sleep quality:

  • The Ten Commandments of Better Sleep

  • Tips for a Technology-free Bedroom

With better sleep, we can all live healthier, better, longer lives.

Summary

Sleep matters!

It’s much more important than most people think it is. A number of important physiological functions occur only when we sleep. Without adequate sleep, we expose ourselves to serious health risks ranging from obesity to heart disease and even Alzheimer’s Disease.

The keys to better sleep are good planning and self-discipline. A good sleep hygiene plan is essential, along with a personalized night-time ritual that helps you prepare yourself for sleeping well.

Improve your sleep…improve your health…improve your life!

Want to Go Deeper?

Do you want to dive deeper into ThriveAge and what it can do in your life? If that sounds like a smart move for you, then consider subscribing to the LenDentonThrive Letter. It’s totally free!

As a bonus, new subscribers will receive a free .pdf version of Chapter 1 of my upcoming new book, The ThriveAge Way (The Over-50 Way To Lose Weight, Get Fit & Stay Fit For Life).

ThriveAge is the roadmap to your custom-built ThriveLife!

2. Tip of the Week: My Night-Time Ritual

This week, I’m sharing my current night-time ritual, which is designed to help me to get 7+ hours of quality sleep per night. I continue to tweak and improve this ritual as I learn more about sleep, and as I measure my sleep results. (By the way, I use my Fitbit Sense 2 tracker to monitor and record my sleep…Simple Rule #4.)

1. Ensure that your sleep space (bedroom) is organized to promote healthy sleep. That means comfy bedding, a dark and cool room, no distractions, etc. Do this as a first step.

2. Set a reasonable sleep schedule that works for you and stick to it. My current schedule is lights-out at 9:30 P.M. and wake-up at 6:00 A.M.

3. No caffeine after 2 P.M.

4. No food, drink, or alcohol after 6:30 P.M.

5. I start dimming and reducing lighting in the house at 8:00 P.M.

6. No electronics (TV, phones, screens) after 8:30 P.M.

7. Phone notifications are muted from 10:00 P.M. to 6:00 A.M.

This is just an example of a night-time routine that works for me. I don’t manage to accomplish this every day, but it is the plan I work toward.

You don’t need to copy it, but you should create your own!

Sleep well!

3. What I’m Eating

ThriveAge is a food-first approach to health and fitness. I call it '“fitness for food lovers!” So, each week I’ll be giving you a quick insight into one of my typical meals or snacks. No crazy diets, just real food.

This week’s entry is a recent discovery for me. These Chicken Sticks have only four ingredients (canned chicken breast, diced onion, cheese, and an egg). They’re simple to make and they taste great!

Check it out for yourself!

Here’s the break-down for three Chicken Sticks:

• Chicken + Egg + Onion (1 Green)

• Cheese (1 Yellow)

This is a total of about 150 calories. But, more important to ThriveAgers, this is a 1 Green, 1 Yellow, and 0 Red snack with a FoodIQ of 200. While it’s a little bit below our normal threshold of 260, it’s still a healthy and nutritious choice that’s filled with protein. It’s also a great entree as part of a complete meal.

Enjoy!

4. What I’m Reading

Here is some “news you can use” from this week’s reading stack. I hope you find these two items to be useful:

1. The 10 Commandments of Better Sleep https://www.sleephealth.org/sleep-health/ten-commandments-of-healthy-sleep/

2. Tips for a Technology-free Bedroom

   https://www.sleepfoundation.org/bedroom-environment/technology-in-the-bedroom

I’m Writing A Book!

I’m a busy Over-50 Guy who has spent the past ten years building a practice of personal health and fitness that relies on real food and smart exercise instead of crazy diets and killer workouts. This process, called ThriveAge, helped me to lose 70 pounds and keep it off for going on ten years. Now, I want to share what I have learned with other Over-50 Guys. So, I wrote the book!

In The ThriveAge Way (The Over-50 Way To Lose Weight, Get Fit & Stay Fit For Life), I share everything I’ve learned about the principles and practices necessary to create and sustain a healthy lifestyle. I call it my ThriveLife.

New subscribers to the LenDentonThrive Letter will receive Chapter 1 of my new book for free. To get your free copy of Chapter 1, just subscribe to the LenDentonThrive Letter.

Upcoming Topics

Here’s a quick look at some of the topics I’m working on for upcoming editions of the newsletter.

• Ten Years into the ThriveLife

• ThriveLife - What It Is, And How To Get There

• Develop a Longevity Mindset to Add Years to Your Life

Thanks for your time and attention. Have a great weekend. See you next Saturday!

Thrive & Prosper,

Len

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See you next Saturday!