That's Fit

Do you have trouble sleeping sometimes? Yeah. Me too. Standard recommendations for getting a good night's rest include going to bed at the same time each night, avoiding caffeine and alcohol before bed, exercising regularly, and avoiding daytime naps. It's also good to make your bedroom a restful environment -- not for working or other activities, just for sleeping. Also, avoid using the computer and watching TV just before bed.

But what works for one person, doesn't work for everyone. In my case, it's almost necessary to sleep with the TV on. The main reason I can't sleep at night is I just can't turn my brain off enough to rest. Leaving the TV set on some old re-runs allows me to distract myself enough from worrying but yet not pay too much attention. That way, I'm able to get to sleep. It's odd, and it's completely opposite of the typical suggestions, but it's what works for me.

BBC Health users submitted some tips for beating insomnia. The tips include playing Sudoku, counting backward from 300, and writing down everything that's on your mind. They certainly aren't the most common recommendations, but they must work for the people who sent in the idea. How about you? What are your tips for a better night's sleep?

Need help sleeping? Mother Nature may be all you need, say the Ladies Home Journal folks. Try these recommended remedies.

• Soak up the sunshine, preferably between 6:00 and 8:00 AM. Sunlight has a potent effect on your body's internal clock and this can help reset your sleep cycles. The goal: Stay awake all day; sleep all night. Letting the sun in will help you land success.

• Dim the lights, preferably between 7:00 and 8:00 PM. This will help prime your body for sleep. Do dine by candlelight. Don't use your computer at night -- the glare will stimulate your brain instead of calming it.

• Exercise in the evening. Some studies say exercising close to bedtime will leave you wired. But a new one says three workouts a week between 5:00 and 7:00 PM can help improve sleep. Perhaps exercise during these hours creates a pleasant tiredness. Maybe it helps us unwind after hectic days. Regardless, it seems to work.

• Cover your clock. Or at least move it away from your bed. The more you look at your clock during sleepless nights, the more anxiety you'll feel about not sleeping.

• Perfume your pillow. Call it aroma-sleep-therapy. Some fragrances can lead you into slumber. Try lavender or myrrh -- just put a few drops of the oils on a handkerchief and tuck in your pillowcase.

• Relax in the tub. Warm water can ease your body into sound sleep. It relaxes tired muscles and triggers a shift in body temperature -- a cue it's time to doze off.

If you've been through the "new baby" phase with a new baby or a past one, you probably had many (many) sleepless nights. It's part of parenting and it's one that makes many moms stir crazy for a little while.

A new study released in Australia this week concluded that if moms can teach their babies to overcome sleep problems, the resultant benefits for the baby don't stop there: that mom also reaps benefits as well.

Moms who took part in the study felt less depressed when taught how to mitigate sleep problems in their younger children compared with a group that was not given any specific instructions for correcting sleep problems with their young ones.

In the search to better understand and treat sleep problems in humans scientists have turned to a group of unlikely creatures: fish.

Fish are not often thought of as animals that spend much, if any, time sleeping but like all animals they need their share of "shut eye" to stay healthy. Research has discovered that fish can suffer from insomnia just like people can, and that this is often due to a genetic difference in the brain. Experts are hopeful that this discovery will lead to a better understanding of how genetics affects our sleep patterns and problems, although as we hear so often: more research is necessary.

Normal logic says that the more you work the more you'll sleep, given there's enough time in the day. It's a law of physics or something, right? New studies say no, that's not how it works at all. The more people work the less they sleep, on average. That seems totally backwards!

Recent research took a look at how much people sleep as compared to their lifestyles, and found that the #1 culprit for eating into sleep time was work. Those who got less than 4 1/2 hours of sleep a night (every night? How can they function?) generally worked about 93 minutes longer on weekdays and 118 extra minutes on the weekend. On the flip side the people who slept more than 11 hours (whoa) on average worked 143 minutes less on weekdays and 71 minutes less on weekends. TV time was also higher for the long sleepers, as compared to socializing and housework which were higher for the sleep-deprived group. And age seemed to have something to do with it too, as the age group 45-54 was the most likely to be working the most and sleeping the least.

Does it ever seem like on those nights you're stuck lying awake you're also getting up to use the bathroom more often? Well it's not your imagination, and we have Danish researchers to thank for understanding the science behind why. They recently did a study looking at men and women and how much urine their bodies produced while sleeping overnight versus while kept awake overnight, and they found that although both sexes made more urine while awake the effect was much more pronounced in men.

Lucky you. A very random bit of information, but we all need those sometimes, right?

So it seems many people have just given up completely on the idea of getting enough sleep every night, and have resigned themselves to being tired all the time. And some of those people get a false sense of "getting used to it" when they start to feel less tired and think they've adjusted. But the truth is that not only are these people losing out on sleep, but they're losing the ability to catch up on sleep as well. When only deprived of sleep for one night at at time the body is "extra tired" the following day and sleeps longer or deeper to make up the difference. But when the body is deprived of sleep on a regular and chronic basis it loses the ability to trigger a "make up session" and won't necessarily feel any more tired than normal -- even though the body technically needs more sleep. The body generally suffers all the same negative side-effects of sleep deprivation, only without the warning signs.

So if you think you've "adjusted" to only a few hours of sleep you are probably fooling yourself -- for the best health we all need 7-8 hours a night!

Whether it's that frustrating driver in front of you who turns without signaling, or that the snow plow blocked your car in yet again with a mini-mountain range of ice chunks, we all get angry sometimes. And it's a perfectly healthy emotion designed to help us know when something is wrong and let others know how we feel. But unfortunately, many of the ways we deal with anger are not so healthy.

The most common negative ways most of us deal with anger are: withdrawing or moping, denial and suffering in silence, lashing out, using sarcasm, or even feeling guilty.

It may not seem like the most pressing issue in your quest for healthier living, but unmanaged and suppressed emotions can wreak havoc on both your physical and mental well-being. Depression, insomnia, and even physical aches and pains can result from misdirected and/or unmanaged anger.

So how should you deal then? Learn to recognize the physical and behavioral cues that signal you are angry, identify exactly what it is that is making you upset, and validate/accept your own feelings. Try listing all the possible solutions, and think out what you're going to say ahead of time -- remembering to avoid laying blame and focus instead on getting your feelings across and finding a resolution.

It's a total "catch 22" -- you feel tired so you don't want to exercise, but you need to exercise in order to feel less tired. So what's a person to do? It sounds obvious, but one answer might be as simple as trying to get better sleep. This can be a tough thing for many people to do, although it's possible that some just haven't given it conscious thought before. Some suggestions on how to sleep deeper or catch up on missed hours are to take a shower/bath before bedtime or squeeze in a quick power-nap in the afternoon.

A suggestion I found interesting to feel more energized was de-stressing by taking 10 minutes to clear your head, reflect, and relax. The idea is that sometimes physical fatigue can really just be symptom of an overstimulated or stressed-out mind. Cure the head, cure the body.

Other nixes for fatigue include drinking more water, changing eating habits to include several mini-meals and snacks throughout the day, and of course getting your heart pumping in some kind of physical activity to boost endorphins and feel better.