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BETTER NIGHTS SLEEP
Sleep disturbance or insomnia is not uncommon in women starting at midlife. While this may be due to a physical concern, usually it’s not. Let’s discuss some things you can do NOW to improve your sleep.
- Good sleep is a component of good health. Things that you do for good health are essential and will directly impact your quality of sleep. This means eating a healthy diet, regular exercise and good daily multivitamin/mineral supplements.
- A healthy diet that is high in phytoestrogens such as fruits and vegetables may help if the cause of your sleep disturbance happens to be related to being perimenopausal. Apples, carrots, cherries, green beans, oats, peas, potatoes, soybeans and sprouts – just to mention a few!
- Avoid stimulating agents such as nicotine and caffeine – that includes coffee, tea, soft drinks, and chocolate. Even one cup of coffee in the morning can affect sleep quality hours later. We, as women, tend to metabolize caffeine much slower than men. If you smoke or chew tobacco.quit. Short of that, avoid smoking/chewing within a few hours of going to bed.
- Sleep in a dark room. (How bright is your illuminated clock?)
- Develop a sleep routine: going to bed at the same time; rituals such as having a cup of relaxing tea and then washing up, and the like.
- Avoid taking naps.
- Is your sleeping space comfortable? Look at light, noise and temperature. How about your bed? Is it too firm or too soft?
- Avoid late night heavy meals. However, a light snack at bedtime may be helpful.
- Try relaxation – mediate, take a bath, listen to soft music, read a gentle book, get a massage.
- Avoid the news and other violent or emotional stimulation before bed! It’s hardly relaxing!
- Avoid alcohol late in the day. It can cause waking in the night and impairs sleep quality.
- Limit your bed activities to sleep and sex.
- If you cannot sleep – get up and do something until you can sleep.
- If worries are keeping you awake, try journaling – it may provide a way for you to “release” the worry onto paper and thus relax and sleep.
There are natural supplements that can be tried. If you are a milk drinker, consider having a glass of warm milk. Milk when it is warm releases tryptophan, the same substance that was in that Thanksgiving turkey that had you napping. On the other hand, I recently read that warm milk also has substances that can keep you awake. Let your own body tell you what it likes about milk.
Other suggestions include valerian root, melatonin, passion flower and of course the chamomile, catnip, anise or fennel teas. Some companies package teas in their own formulations for sleep, such as “Sleepy Time”. Your local herbalist or health food store may also be able to give you suggestions. As with anything else, the key to try different things and see what you respond to.
If none of these suggestions work, I would recommend the following. First of all, see your see your health care provider to ensure there is nothing physical that needs to be attended to. Keep a sleep diary for 3 months with the goal to see if there is some sort of pattern. Keep track of the time you go to bed, awaken, how often you are awake and/or up at night. Are you tired when you awaken in the morning? What time are you getting up? Is there something that is on your mind? Does any of this correlate with your cycles (if you still have them).
Use of sleeping medication is something that can sometimes be used to get your body back on track, but it’s not for long term use, and should only be used when other remedies have been ineffective.
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Take a read of these book reviews and pick your choice for a cold night accompanied by a hot chocolate…
The Rise and Fall of the Wonder Girls by Sarah May (HarperCollins £6.99)
The third novel in the Rise and Fall series chronicles the scandal that surrounds four teenage girls in an affluent communter town when they all fall pregnant one summer. And it explores how exactly a teacher at the local school and a cocaine addicted 50-something divorce figure in the events. May’s sharp tongue and original observations will make you gasp and giggle in turns as the town’s immaculate middle-class facade crumbles to reveal a web of envy, deceit and neglect – from which not a single family will escape unscathed.
The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman (Michael Joseph £12.99)
This dark fantasy throws the reader into a world ruled by terror. The Sanctuary, a prison run by The Redeemers, houses orphan boys who are taught fighting skills to prepare them for the Redeemer’s crusade. But for one of them, Thomas Cale, a hidden destiny awaits. An epic read that will take you on a mysterious and enjoyable adventure.
Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne (HarperPress £7.99)
Opening with the 2005 London bombing, this novel then rewinds to 1970′s Sri Lanka on the brink of civil war. It’s almost as if the pages are suffused with the scents and tastes of this exotic island, as Tearne’s vivid prose brings it to life. And she describes perfectly the emotions of eight-year-old Alice Fonseka as she embarks on a journey far away from the home and relatives she loves. Fundamentally about relationships and identity, this is a heart-warming and heartbreaking tale, a definate must-read.
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Beauty over Fifty
How to Conceal Wrinkles
Less is more when it comes to downplaying wrinkles on your face. Find out the right and wrong way to apply powders and foundation.
Highlight your eyes
Great eye makeup will make eyes “pop” and attract eyes away from the wrinkles on your face. Keep brows groomed and filled in.
Go light on foundation
Many women with wrinkles make the mistake of trying to cover them. But a face full of heavy foundation only highlights wrinkles. Instead, try a tinted moisturizer and use only on the parts of your face that need covering up. Also, no matter how pale you are, go a shade or two darker with your foundation or tinted moisturizer. Lighter shades only highlight wrinkles.
Watch that powder habit
When you were younger, you likely had oilier skin and got used to powdering your entire face. But dewy skin is actually youthful and you should put away your powder (except for the nose and chin). Makeup artists tell me they NEVER use powder on women over 50 unless they’re going to be taped, because powder sits atop wrinkles highlighting them.
Thinning or Bushy Eyebrows
I’m a stickler for good brows and am known for making my friends let me tweeze theirs.
Keeping your brows done nicely is like having a facelift without surgery, according to author Charla Krupp’s brow guy. Here are some tips for keeping your brows perfectly done:
Get your brows professionally done
Nothing opens eyes up like curling lashes and keeping your brows neat. If you can’t afford waxing or threading every few weeks, use the professional’s job as a map for your own tweezing. Simply pluck the stray hairs that grow in between professional tweezing or waxing.
Drawn-in brows are a no-no. You know the pencil-thin line you see some of your friends or women in your town wear? Well, they only age you and they’re somewhat tacky.
Saggy Lids
Crepe-y lids are another natural part of the aging process. You can spend thousands on an eyelift or you can try these beauty tips that cost nothing.
Never apply mascara to bottom lashes. Instead, curl lashes and then apply a couple coats of the darkest mascara you can find. Curling lashes always makes eyes pop.
Makeup artists also suggest keeping eyeliner to the upper lid only. A liquid liner stays better than pencils. You can practice curving the line up on the outer corners of eyes to “lift” them. Avoid thick, heavy lines, however. I am a believer in rule-breaking however, so I think you can go ahead and line the bottom lashes, just skip the liquid liner and try a pencil instead. Don’t make the line thick and be sure to smudge. Also, your eyes will look beady if you try to line the inside of your eyes (my mom used to do this and it drove me crazy).
When you have a saggy upper lid, no need to go all out with several different colors of eyeshadow. Instead, keep eyeshadow in place all day with an eyeshadow primer, then apply a couple sweeps of a light eyeshadow that’s flattering to your skin color. Skip the bright, crazy colors.
