by Jo Steinberg, owner and CEO of Midland Health and FluShots for You

Your quality of sleep has a direct impact on your physical and mental well-being, including your temperament and ability to focus. Some people simply lay their head on the pillow, turn out the lights, and off to dreamland they go! But for most people, getting to sleep and then enjoying a good night’s sleep can be a challenge. Sometimes, just the thought of having to go to sleep is a source of stress.
 
Many things affect your quality of sleep, from what you eat, how active you are, screen time before bed, your room temperature, even your pillow! The good news is that there are ways you can control all of these factors to work in your favor, enabling you to fall asleep faster and into a deeper, longer-lasting sleep. While some sleep issues require medical attention, particularly if you suffer from frequent insomnia, the majority of sleep issues can be rectified naturally by following a few simple steps, both during the day and at night before bedtime.
 
How much sleep should you be getting?
Insufficient sleep can lead to cardiovascular disease, obesity and can even speed up the aging process!
 
Experts recommend that in order to achieve optimal physical and mental functionality, the average adult should get between 7-8 hours of sleep each night. School aged children require 9-11 hours and toddlers 9-10 hours with an average naptime of 2 hours during the day. And while some adults enjoy the indulgence of a daytime nap, anything longer than half an hour can prevent a restful sleep at nighttime.

7 tips for a more restful night’s sleep

1. Create a bedtime ritual: Parents use bedtime rituals to get their young children to sleep and the same principle works for adults as well. Having a routine before bed helps to condition your mind and body for sleep. Some things to include may be your grooming routine (brushing your teeth, washing your face, taking a warm bath), reading a chapter from a book, deep-breathing meditation while sitting on your bed, or sharing the positives from your day with your partner before your head hits the pillow. Positive affirmations before bed have been proven to induce deeper sleep.
2. Stick to a schedule: Research shows that sticking to the same bedtime each night reinforces your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle. If you feel that you don’t go to bed early enough, do not drastically change your bedtime but instead go to bed ten minutes earlier each night for a week. By the weekend, you will have set your body clock back by an hour, therefore gradually settling into a new schedule whereby you are getting an extra hour of sleep each night.
3. Be mindful of what you eat and drink: You should never go to bed hungry or over-full. The discomfort of either sensation will keep you awake. As a general rule of thumb, give yourself at least three hours to fully digest your last meal before going to bed. If you must snack in the evenings after dinner, stick to light foods that are easy to digest. Your body will burn the majority of the energy from that last meal in your final waking hours, so that by the time you go to sleep, your metabolism has slowed down and your body is better prepared to sleep.
   
   Also, be mindful of your caffeine and alcohol consumption in the evenings. The stimulating effects of caffeine can take several hours to wear off and while alcohol may make you feel tired, it will actually prevent you from having a restful night’s sleep, not to mention increased trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night!
4. Exercise: Getting exercise every day is an important part of maintaining your overall health, and that includes good sleep. Exercise stimulates your heart, muscles and brain activity. For these reasons, it is not recommended within three hours of bedtime, however, those who achieve recommended levels of exercise each day are more likely to achieve a restful night’s sleep than those who do not get regular exercise.
5. Check your room temperature: As you sleep, your body temperature naturally drops. The National Sleep Foundation recommends setting your room temperature between 55-75 degrees, suggesting anything outside of that range will cause disrupted sleep. Layered sheets on your bed are a good way to maintain comfort throughout the night, with a flat sheet under a comforter or duvet.
6. Unplug before bed: One of the biggest obstacles to a good night’s sleep is a busy mind. By watching television or checking your phone right before you climb into bed, you are worsening this problem. It is far better for your mind to calm down with a book or a light conversation before you go to bed. The light emitted from any electronic devices can impede your sleep as well because it stimulates the brain. If you can’t resist picking up your phone to check your social media in the night, consider keeping your phone outside of the bedroom. Creating a dark environment in which to sleep, including opaque curtains or even a sleep mask, will help you to stay asleep throughout the night.
7. Find your optimal sleep position: You will change positions several times throughout the night and chances are, you will not wake up in the same position in which you fell asleep. But when trying to fall asleep, it is most beneficial to sleep on your back. Research suggests that sleeping on your back helps to prevent body pain better than any other position, as well as reducing acid reflux. If you feel more comfortable falling asleep on your side, make sure you have a pillow that keeps your spine aligned correctly. The packaging on most pillows will state for which sleep position they are best suited.

If none of these methods work for you, you may want to try massage therapy, which has been clinically proven to reduce stress in the body and better prepare you for sleep. Acupuncture is another method through which the body’s energy can be naturally relaxed. Try yoga or meditation in the evening, to help calm your mind before getting into bed - add an aromatherapy element if you are so inclined! There are several types of teas that can help get a good night’s sleep, such as lavender, chamomile or lemongrass teas. If none of these methods are helpful, make an appointment with your physician to discuss other options.

Sleep is vital to your health. Make sure you are getting enough.

What is the number one reason that you don’t work out as much as you’d like? Chances are your answer is: I don’t have time.
 
But if you examine your daily habits, you might be surprised at how much empty space you fill with senseless inactivity when, in fact, you could be fitting in fitness and adding wellness to your world!
 
Maximize What You Do Already
If you take walks or go jogging on a regular basis, step it up a notch by adding interval challenges, such as jogging at stop-signs while out for a walk, or stopping at a bench and doing press-ups during your jog around the park. Depending on your fitness level, there are so many options when it comes to interval training.

Add a few extra minutes to your walk or run – your heart health will thank you! Switching up your routine not only prevents monotony but it also gives you a better work-out and ensures that your workout routines remain effective. You will soon realize that you have time to fit in more fitness by maximizing what is already a part of your routine!
 
Work Out During the Workday
You likely don’t have much control in how long your workday is, but you do have control over how you maximize fitness in your workday.

• Why not bike or walk to work?
• If you take the bus, get off one stop earlier and walk the rest of the way. If you have to drive, park as far away from the entrance to your office building as possible and walk that extra couple of minutes in the morning.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator. If you’re on a conference call in the privacy of your own office, try a squat challenge (on mute, of course!) or do some knee raises to work those abs.
• Lift free weights while you read articles or long e-mails.
• Replace your office chair with a stability ball – balancing on the ball all day builds tremendous core strength.
• Instead of a business lunch, eat at your desk before you head out and make it a business walk instead. Chances are, you’ll eat more healthily making your own food, plus getting outside will not only fit more fitness into your day but the fresh air will also leave you refreshed and recharged for the rest of your day.

Make it a Social Affair
Many people consider exercise a chore. Instead of dreading the time spent exercising alone, invite a friend to go for a walk. If you have dogs, walk your dogs together and take a longer route, for a better workout and for more chat-time!

If you’re meeting a friend for coffee, why not meet up for a hike instead? You can catch up and exercise at the same time! Instead of enjoying sedentary activities with your significant other, or your family, make your outings more active - instead of going to the movies, try bowling or skating. Involving others also helps to keep you accountable to fitting in more fitness.
 
Be a Multi-Tasking Couch Potato
Commercials seem to be taking up more and more time during our favorite TV programs. Why not take advantage of that free time and see how many crunches or push-ups you can do, before your show starts again? There are several exercises you can do while utilizing the couch itself for stability or positioning. Lifting free weights is an excellent exercise to do while still sitting on the couch.

If you’re taking the time to watch the program, you automatically have the time to fit in fitness without missing your show.
 
Take a Cue From Your Child(ren)
Children rarely sit still. Get off your computer, turn off the television, put down your phone and play with them! If you can, get out of the house and take them swimming, or to the park and play soccer – walk there or ride your bikes.

If you’re confined to your home, play hide-and-seek or Twister – games that get you moving. Even building with Lego engages your body and your brain. If you have the backyard for it, enjoy a family game of tag or soccer. Include your dog! You are guaranteed to have fun while spending quality family time together.
 
Keeping it Real
You will soon see that you don’t need to set aside an hour a day to incorporate more fitness into your daily routine. Use a fitness tracker or a pedometer and you will see your results and be better equipped to build on them.
 
The truth is: you have time for whatever you want to make time for, including fitness, no matter how busy your schedule may seem.

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Like this? Here are a few others you may enjoy!

• How to Drink More Water and Why We Should
• 5 Ways to Integrate Wellness Trends into the Everyday Work Experience
• Workplace Wellness: The Secret Sauce for a Successful Workplace Wellness Program
• The Importance of Workplace Wellness

The Hispanic population has grown throughout the United States.  It is critical that your wellness program reaches out to them. 

How do you engage the Hispanic population? 

• Hire bilingual clinicians and staff
• Look at using Language Line when bilingual staff is not available
• Print all fliers and education materials in English and Spanish
• Recruit and elevate “Wellness Champions” from your Spanish population who are shining examples of how they benefitted from the wellness program.
• Find free local community resources to expand and engage your Spanish speaking employees outside of the work environment.
• Make sure you have easy to understand information packets in Spanish so that they can make use of their health care benefits.
• Hire Midland Health to assist you with your wellness program.  Midland Health has bilingual medical screening staff and health coaching staff.  We provide onsite biometric screening services, blood testing, and offer easy to understand outcomes-based reports in both English and Spanish, plus support staff for continuous education.
• Implement onsite smoking cessation programs especially for the Spanish population.
• Contact your public health department for resources for your employees.

Primary Health Concerns in the Spanish Population and Where to Start

• High Blood Pressure
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Smoking

Learn more about Midland's bilingual services for Spanish-speaking populations now. 

Unless you have a pet pig, do not be concerned about your dog or cat giving you the flu. Most viruses are species-specific.  Viruses can be passed between humans but not between you and your pet.

​Do you remember the H1N1 flu outbreak during 2011 and 2012?  It was originally called the “Swine Flu” until they changed the name to the more politically correct H1N1 virus.  Oregon State University identified cases that were probably transmitted to a few cats, dogs, and ferrets from humans.

​There is influenza A (H3N2), usually found in pigs, that can make its way to humans through contact at state fairs or other agricultural functions.  The CDC has a history of these cases!  For this reason, the CDC cautions that children younger than 5 and adults 65 and older, pregnant woman and others with conditions such as heart disease, asthma, diabetes and weakened immunity avoid pigs or swine barns.
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Safety Precautions During the Flu Season

It is a good idea to practice safety precautions especially during the cold and flu season, such as:

• Make it a habit to wash your hands. Soap them up, sing the Happy Birthday song (in your head) and then rinse. Doing this is important especially after socializing with pets or other animals.
• Make sure all of your loved ones are vaccinated especially if you have a pet pig.

What is the best time of day to get a flu shot?
 
The flu shot stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies that protect an individual from various strains of flu for the given year.  These strains usually change annually. The overall effectiveness of the vaccine is dependent, in part, on the age and health of the individual getting vaccinated.
 
Our immune system can fluctuate during the course of the day. As we age, our immune system can decline.

The University of Birmingham in the U.K. conducted a study on the timing of the administration of the flu shot using a group of about 300 people age 65 and older. The results are fascinating!

In the study, half of the group was given the shot between 9 and 11 AM, the other half between 3 and 5 PM.  Because antibodies need at least two weeks to develop, they decided to wait one month before drawing their blood and checking their antibody level.  Remarkably, antibody levels in the morning group were a lot higher!

Keep in mind that time of day does not affect all types of vaccines.  This recent study only focused on flu shots. Also, these findings do not ensure that if you get a flu shot in the morning, you will not get the flu, But, if you are 65 or older, why not take advantage of the edge? 
 
If you have a choice of getting the shot in the morning, take it. Above all, don’t refuse the shot. Having the flu shot administered at any time of day is better than not having it at all. 

Be well!