Hey everyone! I’m excited to share a guest article written for us by Jacob Bowles, Paleo advocate, Gravity Janes coach, and my husband :) Enjoy!

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I’m lucky enough to be married to one of the Paleo Girls, and Joey asked me to write a little about the importance of sleep.

We are all trying to make the best choices for a long and healthy life. The Paleo diet has taken us closer to this goal than any other current way of eating.

One of the most important aspects of living this long and healthy life that is often overlooked is getting the proper amount of SLEEP. Yes, something as simple and everyday as sleep can have a dramatic impact on your overall health and performance. Lack of sleep can wreak havoc on your journey to optimal health.

Here are some suggestions for getting the 8 to 9 hours of sleep you need a night.

• Make sure your bedroom is completely dark, i.e. no clocks or cable boxes leaking light out disturbing your sleep. Invest in some blackout curtains or shades for your bedroom windows. This will make a difference. Use your cell phone as your alarm clock (our goal will be for you to wake up without an alarm because who likes hearing that alarm in the morning).

• Have a night-time routine:

1. If you want to be asleep by 10pm try shutting down all electronics i.e. TV, computer, and iPhones, by 9pm.
2. If you need something to wind down, try reading for 20 minutes.
3. Let us know what kind of nighttime routine you are on!

• I believe a tip from our favorite (Robbwolf.com) is to get as much sleep as you can without getting divorced or fired.

Without the proper amount of sleep, you won’t maximize the benefits of the Paleo diet or your gym efforts.  For those of use that have stalled on body composition changes, this might be an area that is holding you back.

As always, try getting the 8 to 9 hours of sleep for a few weeks and see how you feel (just like trying out the Paleo diet). My guess is you’ll never go back to less sleep if you can help it.

I just finished the book Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, And Survival by T.S. Wiley with Bent Formey Ph. D. I really enjoyed the read and would recommend this book to anyone.  It dives deep into the effects of modern life on sleep and what happens to you when a lack of sleep is your standard.