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I have a confession to make. I use to hate sleep. I thought it was a colossal waste of time. There was always so much to do, and sleep was not one of them. I blame law school. While in law school fulltime, I worked three jobs. In addition to that, I needed to keep my B average. One can not do this while sleeping! I averaged 4 hours a night. It became a habit. Then I turned 40.
40 happens to be when I started running. What began as me wanting to lose a few pounds became much, much more. I fell in love with running and wanted to make sure I was always feeling my best. To accomplish this, I learned sleep was so important. I made an effort to get at least 6 hours but aimed for 7 hours of sleep a night. It was working well. Fast forward to last summer. I was now 47 and started to experience changes in my sleep. I had some trouble falling asleep. The quality of sleep was not great. I was not able to fall into that deep sleep that is important.
During one of my runs, I was listening to a podcast. The hosts, both women, were talking about sleep and what has helped them. One of the products was Nuun Rest.
Nuun Rest is part of the Nuun family of products. Nuun is a hydrating beverage without all the extra additives and sugars. It’s product offerings originally were for sports hydration, but have expanded to everyday hydration. Nuun Rest is a blend of magnesium, potassium, and tart-cherry. Tart cherry has shown to reduce muscle soreness and improve sleep quality. It increases the level of melatonin and helps improve the quality of sleep and duration. Magnesium has shown to relax the body and to aid with sleep. Since I started drinking Nuun Rest, my time in deep sleep has increased. I feel more rested in the morning. According to one study, we need between anywhere between 1.5 to 1.8 hours of deep sleep a night. This is roughly 20% of our overall sleep. Like the other Nuun products, Nuun Rest is vegan, kosher, non-GMO, and gluten-free. It comes in Blackberry Vanilla and Lemon Chamomille. I love the Blackberry Vanilla. One tablet of Nuun Rest has ten calories and 1 gram of sugar. Mix it with 8 ounces of water and you are good to go.
I have been taking Nuun Rest every night for the last six months. I am hitting my deep sleep target about 99% of the time. It has been a game-changer for me. For those of you wondering, I am still not a fan of sleep, but we have agreed to co-exist. 🙂
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Whoa, it is the middle of August! Say what? Where did the summer go? It has been a busy one for sure. I am typing this post from my hotel room in Huntsville, AL. My youngest son, Nicholas, is attending Space Camp at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center for the week. I can’t wait to see him on Friday and hear all about it. Last month we were in North Carolina, and next week we head to Disney World for the opening of Galaxy’s Edge.
Before the summer is a thing of the past, I wanted to share a couple of my new favorite products. These mainly come in handy when dealing with this HOT weather. Hence why I have entitled this post, Love of the Week- Summer Edition.
My first Love of the Week is Nuun. Nuun is a hydrating beverage without all the extra additives and sugars. It’s product offerings originally were for sports hydration, but have expanded to everyday hydration. I use a few different Nuun products and love each one for various reasons.
First, I use Nuun Sport during all my long runs and for when I run in weather 85 degrees or higher.
Nuun Sport is a blend of electrolytes and minerals. It aids in muscle function, helps burn energy efficiently, and may aid with muscle cramps. I use one tablet for every 16 ounces of water. I drink it as I run, and it not only does it keep me hydrated, but it gives me the energy to keep going. Nuun Sport comes in 13 different flavors. It is vegan, kosher, non-GMO, and gluten-free. Each tablet is 10-15 calories with 1-2 grams of sugar depending on the flavor. A much better alternative to other sports drinks on the market.
The second product I love is Nuun Immunity. Nuun Immunity is a blend of botanicals and electrolytes for ongoing immune health. I use it a few days prior to travel, on the plane, right before we head home, and for a few days after that. It assists in warding off any of the germs I may have picked up along the way. Each tablet has 15 calories and 2 grams of sugar. It is vegan, kosher, non-GMO, and gluten-free. There are two flavors, Blueberry Tangerine and Orange Citrus. The Blueberry Tangerine is my favorite.
The third and final product I use from the Nuun family is Nuun Rest. Nuun Rest is a blend of magnesium, potassium, and tart-cherry. Tart cherry has been shown to reduce muscle soreness and improve sleep quality. It increases the level of melatonin and helps improve the quality of sleep and duration. Magnesium has shown to relax the body and to aid with sleep. Since I started drinking Nuun Rest, my time in deep sleep has increased. I feel more rested in the morning. According to one study we need between anywhere between 1.5 to 1.8 hours of deep sleep a night. This is roughly 20% of our overall sleep. Like the other Nuun products, Nuun Rest is vegan, kosher, non-GMO, and gluten-free. It comes in Blackberry Vanilla and Lemon Chamomille. I love the Blackberry Vanilla. This has ten calories and 1 gram of sugar.
My second Love of the Week also has to do with hydration. It is my new hydration vest by Nathan. Unfortunately, I was only able to wear it once before I got injured. However, I love it and look forward to using it again.
As you can see from the photo, it is worn like a vest, with the 1.5L hydration bladder sits in the back. It has front storage for fuel and phone. There are other pockets to carry all sorts of things. It is adjustable and has soft material to prevent chafing. Once the bladder is full, the vest weighs 9.5oz. It was extremely comfortable when running.
There you have it, my Love of the Week Summer Edition. With the start of the school year, I already have a list of products I want to try. We will have to see if they end up being one of my Loves of the Week.
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Welcome to this week’s Tip Thursday. Today’s tip has to do with hydration. Drinking plenty of water does more than just quench your thirst. The majority of our bodies are made up of water. It has numerous health benefits.
Drinking water
- Flushes the toxins out of our systems.
- It aids with weight loss.
- It makes our skin and hair look and feel better.
- It impacts our performance of physical activities.
- Helps with mental clarity and more.
The amount of water we should drink, varies depending on the person. Everyone, at a minimum, should aim to drink half their body weight in ounces. For example, if someone weighs 120lbs, they should drink 60oz of water. So, what if you don’t like plain water? Here are some tips to jazz up it up.
- Infuse the water with fruit, veggies or herbs. Water with cucumber and mint, is delicious.
- Try herbal tea. As long as the tea is decaffeinated, count it toward your water goal. I am a huge fan of David’s Tea.
- Seltzer Water. This is all I drink (besides coffee and Shakeology). Just make sure it has zero artificial flavors and sodium.
- Add something like Nuun to your water bottle. Nuun comes in yummy flavors and jazzes up plain water. I actually take one tablet of Nunn Immunity in the morning for about a week prior to travel. No one wants to be sick on their vacation.
So there you have it, 4 ways to turn plain water into something you look forward to each day.
