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The Euro Cup is here and almost every match day, we find ourselves awake at hours when we must actually be fast asleep. Yes, with the Euro cup being held in France this year, it means that the matches are being held in the French timezone. How sad! With us sitting in Malaysia, catching up with all the action would mean sitting up all night. What does this in turn mean? Our food habits change, our sleep timings change. All this can and will have adverse effects on our body and health. So, how can we stay healthy amidst all this? Is it possible to stay healthy and also not miss all the action? Wondering how to do it, get best of both worlds? Read on to find out!
Now, is sleeping in late and ultimately waking up late or waking up with too little sleep a good thing? Is junking and binge eating late night, good for you? Not exactly. here is what you can do to not fall in the trap and stay healthy.
1. Ensure you sleep deeply
On an average, people require 6-8 hours of sleep every night. It is always not necessarily right to say that quantity of sleep is of higher priority than the quality. In fact, if you sleep a good 2 hours (deep sleep) it would make up for your 7-8 hours of your daily quota. This is how to make sure you achieve it:You surely do not want to look like the lady in the pic below when you start for work the morning after an important match, would you?
Even if you are clocking lesser hours of sleep, try to ensure that the quality of sleep is good. If you fall into a deep sleep, even for a fewer hours than usual, you can get up the next morning, as energized as you would be, after an entire night’s sleep.
How can that be done?
Firstly cut out all possible sources of noise as well as light. This could even mean that you might have to install blackout curtains in the bedroom in order to make it as dark as possible. Alternately you could use a sleep-mask to create the “dark” surrounding.
Remove ALL kinds of distractions and make sure to keep your sleeping space as quiet and comfortable as possible. Now, this will mean –> your phone goes on silent, no chatting late in the night.
2. Maintain a healthy and regular diet
A lot of people who stay up late, especially those watching movies or TV late night end up eating terribly. It is very easy to fall into the “junk” trap, since this is the only food that is available late night.
- Try to pre-make salads or healthy home-cooked food such as sandwiches, short eats for your match days (nights) and snack on them.
- You could snack on fruits as well, healthy and tasty option, right?? You will be saving your health and also a bit of money 😉
- Try and avoid aerated drinks, opt for home-made smoothies and juices instead.
- Some snacks you can enjoy guilt-free include: raw, roasted nuts; baked apples; Greek yogurt; cottage cheese;granola bars;celery with peanut butter are a few examples.
Remember you should never be too full or too hungry when you go to bed.
What foods to avoid
- Greasy,fatty foods like fries
- Foods rich in carbohydrates, sugary foods
- Spicy foods
- Meat
3. Drink lot of water!
We need not mention how important water is for the body. In addition to drinking adequate amounts of water, try to include juicy fruits and stay hydrated all the time. Dehydration can lead to increased fatigue and thus it is very important to increase your water/fluid intake. So drink away (erm.. the water)
4. Skip the caffeine
Caffeine in coffee is said to make you stay awake for longer periods of time. So, if you want to sleep as soon as the match is over, you better avoid that cup of coffee, late night.
5. Exercise regularly to stay healthy!
Apart from eating healthy and avoiding certain foods, it is of utmost importance to continue exercising. Exercise is one of the keys to restful sleep and the correlation between doing regular exercise and good health is quite obvious, right?
So, do you have any specific routine for the Euro Cup? Do share with us!
by Hridya Anand
A biochemist by education who could never put what she studied to good use, finally found GetDoc as a medium to do what she loved - bring information to people using a forum that is dedicated to all things medical. View all articles by Hridya Anand.
