Keep these relaxing melatonin chocolates by your bedside to whisk you away into dreamland. Everyone will be jealous of your sleepy-time chocolate stash!
Combining the relaxing effects of melatonin along with antioxidant-rich dark chocolate creates just the right amount of calming benefits before bedtime. Melt a piece of sleepytime chocolate in your mouth when you are ready to wind down and experience an overall sense of relaxation within 20 minutes.
Melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, helps to regulate sleep cycles. Unfortunately, with busy schedules and stress, falling asleep isn’t as easy as shutting your eyes and waiting for melatonin to kick in.
For people with trouble sleeping, melatonin supplements can help them fall asleep quicker without resorting to prescription sleep aids. You can find melatonin supplements in pill and liquid form in health food and grocery stores, but this recipe calls for the liquid kind.
When choosing chocolate to pair along with your melatonin, look for an unsweetened variety that contains at least 70% raw cacao. Sugar can make relaxing hard and counteract the effect of melatonin. Instead, stir in a little bit of raw honey or stevia to taste before pouring into candy molds.
Start by melting chocolate in a double boiler until smooth. Then, turn off the heat and stir in the melatonin. The amount will depend on the type of melatonin you are using and your desired dosage.
I added 6 teaspoons of liquid melatonin into the melted chocolate (or 24 one-dose amounts) and divided it into ½-ounce candy molds. This amount yields .75 milligrams of melatonin per chocolate and is considered a low dose.
Add any natural sweetener if desired and stir. Spoon the mixture into candy molds and set in a cool place to firm up. Then, enjoy before bed for a sleepytime treat!
Tips:
Be sure to check the label on your melatonin to ensure proper dosing. Multiply the desired dosage by 24 in order to get a single dose in each of the 24 chocolates.
If you haven’t tried melatonin before, start with a low dose and try one chocolate before bed. If you don’t feel tired after 20 minutes, try upping the dose to 2 chocolates the following night until you find the regimen that works best for you.
Do not drive or operate machinery after eating these chocolates, as they may make you drowsy.
These melatonin chocolates are also useful in counteracting jet lag.
How to Make Your Own Sleepy-time Chocolate with Melatonin
Recipe by Jennafer Ashley
Keep these relaxing melatonin chocolates by your bedside to whisk you away into dreamland.
Tools:
Double boiler
Candy molds or 2 ice cube trays
Ingredients:
12 oz unsweetened dark chocolate chips
About 6 t liquid melatonin
Optional: Small amount of sweetener (stevia, raw honey or coconut sugar)
Instructions:
In a double boiler over medium heat, melt chocolate chips. Turn heat off and stir in desired amount of melatonin and sweetener.
Spoon chocolate evenly into 24 candy mold cavities and place in a dry, cool place to set or refrigerate until solid. Once set, pop out of molds and store in a cool spot in an airtight container.
Jenna is a Registered Dietetic Technician and recipe developer specializing in healthy eating. She styles and photographs recipes for her website, Fresh and Fit , as well as contributes to a variety of websites. In her free time, Jenna enjoys trying new restaurants and hiking with her German Shepherd.
A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.
Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook
We all know that it’s important to get enough sleep every night. Here are the five little things that might be ruining your sleep – and how to develop better bedtime habits.
Think about the last time you missed a good night’s sleep – how did you feel the next morning? My guess is, not the best. Our bodies heal themselves while we’re fast asleep at night, and when we miss out on deep sleep, we also rob ourselves of the regeneration we need.
There are lots of things that can mess with our circadian rhythm and cause us to stay up later than we should. Here are the top five things that might be ruining your sleep, and how to change your habits so you can get a good night’s rest.
1. Sleeping with Too Much Light
Light interferes with our hormones, turning us into stressed-out insomniacs. Blue light in particular, like the kind we get from electronics, is good at ruining your sleep hormones by throwing your circadian rhythms off.
For better sleep, make your room as close to pitch-black as possible. Shut off all your glowing electronics, and cover your windows with dark curtains. By making your room as black as possible, you’ll get your hormonal system back on its original sleep schedule, making it much easier for you to sleep deeply.
2. Not Having a Bedtime Routine
One of the best ways to ensure good sleep is to prep for it. Most of us work frantically or compulsively think until we hit the bed, with no restfulness in between.
Start with a solid nighttime routine. Give yourself some time to wind down for at least two hours before bed. This means turning off the electronics to do something relaxing, like reading, journaling, soft music or a warm Epsom salt baths. Try lighting candles or diffusing your favorite essential oils.
3. Keeping Stimulated
Coffee and other stimulants drive up cortisol, which inhibits the release of melatonin we need for sleep. Unfortunately, all that caffeine you drink during the day could be the culprit ruining your sleep.
As much as you might love your cup of Bulletproof Coffee in the morning, do not drink it past noon! In fact, you should stop stay away from all stimulating drinks in the afternoon, like green and black teas.
Caffeine has a half-life of six hours, so stop if you absolutely need an early afternoon coffee mix, make sure it’s at least 8 hours prior to bedtime.
Exercise also stimulates the rise of cortisol, so if you can, work out in the morning. Working out earlier in the day promotes hormonal balance and an easier time sleeping later on. If you prefer to move at night, stick to relaxing forms such as gentle yoga, stretching, Tai Chi or Qi Gong, or even a quiet walk down the block.
4. Staying up Late
If you’ve ever gone camping, you know that it’s easier to sync your sleep to the sun – the way nature intended!
Of course, it’s difficult to go to bed with the sun, especially in the wintertime. Instead, see if you can make a push to go to bed by 10 pm. The body creates an extra surge of cortisol after 11 pm to keep you awake, and if you push yourself past 10:00 you may notice this.
5. Thinking About the Next Day
As tempting as it is to go over what you’ll do the next morning, bedtime is not the time or place for excessive planning. This only creates endless thinking that typically yields no actual useful results – especially considering your brain is only partially functioning because it’s bedtime.
Save the game planning for the morning, when your brain is ready to work to capacity.
What to Eat for Better Sleep
Our diet has a huge impact on our hormones, gut flora and metabolism – all of which could be ruining your sleep if they’re out of balance.
Nourish your body and brain for sleep with these simple guidelines:
Eat Omega-3 Fats at Dinner
These healthy fatty acids aid in brain functioning, and keep your brain nourished while sleeping. Also, easy-to-digest fats are great before bed because it keeps your energy levels stable longer. Otherwise, you risk going into a blood sugar drop in the middle of the night. Wild-caught sardines, salmon or mackerel are all great choices, but if you aren’t a fan of fish, try a supplement like krill oil two hours before bedtime.
Take Raw Honey before Bed
Just one tablespoon of raw honey on an empty stomach before bed might be enough to help you improve your sleep. Your brain uses glycogen stored in your liver at night, and raw honey replaces this supply so you can maintain stable blood sugar levels throughout the night.
Raw honey also improves bifidus bacteria in the gut, which populate during sleep, helping to create neurotransmitters like serotonin. Serotonin is a precursor to melatonin, helping you sleep deeper.
Try Grass-Fed Collagen
The easily digested fat and protein in grass-fed collagen truly help you sleep soundly. It can also improve your muscle recovery and aid in joint repair. The best part about collagen powder is that because it’s a fluffy powder, you can easily mix it into guilt-free late-night snacks.
Nick Kowalski is a Transformational Coach, fitness model and unconditional lover. You can find more of his writing on his blog NicksFit. His mission is to inspire the transformation toward love consciousness. Follow him on Instagram for more living in love inspiration and transformational mindset motivation!
A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.
Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.
Sometimes, less is more. The quality of our exercise is exceedingly more important than the quantity, especially when you’re trying to gain muscle!
When I first got into fitness, I thought the equation was pretty simple: do a lot of activity, as much as possible, and I’ll be fit. Surely, skateboarding, bussing tables, manual labor, football and wrestling all helped shape a fit body. However, this was a very limited view of fitness.
What I didn’t realize – among the many things I didn’t realize – is that behind the scenes, I was burning myself out. My exercise was excessive, and though I enjoyed the endorphin high of 2-hour workouts, long runs, and reps to fatigue, if I really looked deep, I was relying on pure willpower.
It helped being young and healthy; this gave me extra doses of willpower. However, the day came when after years of bodybuilding-style workouts, distance running, and other high-endurance workouts, I crashed.
During that time, I learned a few golden nuggets of wisdom about fitness and health, ones that are much more substantial, and ironically much healthier. So I give to you the dos and don’ts of fitness…
Exercise Don’ts
It seems before we find the best solutions, we make our way through some of the worst. In other words, by discovering what notto do, we finally find what to do.
For me, there were a few limiting beliefs and habits I fell into that slowly sabotaged my fitness and health. Here’s what I learned:
1. Fit does not always mean healthy
If you would have asked me years ago what it meant to be healthy, I would have probably taken my shirt off. I somehow pigeonholed the entire topic of health into physicalappearance.
I honestly thought that as long as I was fast, strong and looked good that I was healthy. It wasn’t until my mood began to dwindle, my skin broke out, and my overall zest for life was bent that I realized the truth – fit does not equal healthy.
In fact, some of the healthiest people in the world are overweight according to America’s standards. The Serbian, Russian, and Inuit people, for example, have a generally thicker, heavier build; however, they are some of the smartest people.
They live the longest and radiate health and beauty.
This same phenomenon is displayed through the triathletes who drop dead from heart attacks, professional NFL players that die at age 45 and myself, a young 21-year-old who worked out daily and ended up with a broken HPA-axis and digestive system.
If a fitness routine isn’t bringing about a more resilient life, then chances are, it’s taking away from it. The end goal of exercise should be improved health – zest for life, vigor, happiness, serenity, love, mobility and so on.
2. The true meaning of exercise
It would have been helpful to know the true meaning of exercise before I got into it. We can only succeed at understanding a subject when we understand its terminology. As I just mentioned, I previously thought healthy meant six-pack abs.
My idea of exercise was equally as fragmented. It only made sense that I used to think it wasn’t exercise unless I was drenched in sweat and looked good immediately after.
You can see the problem here. I adopted the no pain, no gain mentality – working myself into an energy deficit every time I got active. Today, my idea of exercise has shifted into something much more holistic, playful and healthy.
In short, and something I feel most people could agree on, is that exercise is any activity that encourages a positive physiological adjustment that acts to improve fitness and health. What I mean is that exercise should bring about positive effects on both health and fitness; it should enhance the overall quality of your life.
However, most of us work out with the “no pain, no gain” mentality. Essentially, we are overworked and sleep-deprived – hence the epidemic of adrenal fatigue.
The good news is this simplifies things greatly for us. Exercise does not have to be draining, torturous or at all unpleasant. In fact, by definition it is supposed to be enjoyable. “No pain, no gain” only leads to more pain and no gain.
Surely you could force off some extra weight via rigorous boot-camp style workouts.
However, in the long run, you’ll shut down your adrenals and thyroid, destroy your digestive system and weaken your overall immunity. I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t sound like health.
Exercise Dos
Hopefully, by now you can see a much healthier way to go about exercise. The truth is, regardless of our goals, it is possible to gain muscle easily without excessive hours of activity.
Here are a few shortcuts for putting on muscle that I’ve picked up over the years:
1. Health is the goal
The goal is not just to gain muscle — overall health is the most important! When we make the end goal of exercising one that focuses primarily on health, things become much easier.
I’ve seen many of my clients reflect the old fitness freak in myself too many times to count. When focused on weight loss, the image in the mirror or some other hidden insecurity as the primary drive behind working out, it only leads to very unhealthy relationships with fitness.
This behavior and thinking causes a broken mind-body connection, which leads to things like eating disorders, obsessive working out, chronic fatigue and body dysmorphia.
When health is the goal, exercise becomes fun again. If you don’t think you can gain that muscular physique by having fun, then I invite you to open your minds.
Look at gymnasts, dancers, parkour athletes, surfers, yogis and so on. These are all perfect examples of people who focus less on the image and more on the feeling. Think less; feel and move more.
When you’re working out and feeling good about it, your body releases even more endorphins, which leads to a healthy way to gain muscle, lose weight and increase your vigor.
2. Keep it brief
Before your workout, set the intention of having a shorter window of exercise. Shoot for 15-20 minutes and you’ll set up your mind to be more effective – time fills space for time allotted.
In other words, if you go into a gym with 1 hour to workout, you’ll work out for 1 hour and possibly not accomplish much. However, you could very well do what you would in 1 hour in 15 minutes if you know the right workouts.
We’ll get more into types of workouts in a minute, but just to give you an idea, consider the difference between a set of floor crunches compared to one good pull-up. A pull-up engages your entire body and you essentially can’t cheat your way through a pull-up as easily as you can with a crunch.
Generally, one perfectly-performed workout will be much more effective than a thousand sloppy ones. Also, because working out is a stress – and most of us are over-stressed – it’s a good idea to shorten the time of stress we give ourselves.
3. Be spontaneous
Overall, the more fun your fitness is, the more effective it will be. Never get caught up in a rigid routine, it leads to inflexibility and eventually has diminishing returns of muscle atrophy. It is always best to implement spontaneity into your routine to keep your muscles, joints and ligaments active but not overworked.
This is the principle of muscle confusion, which is demonstrated prominently in the great movers such as dancers and gymnasts – who just so happen to have some of the most world-class physiques. If you want to be great and gain muscle, do like the greats do!
4. Get your diet right
The funny thing here is that out of all the things we can do to gain muscle, exercise is ironically not number one. In fact, 80 percent of what determines how our bodies look comes from our diet. Sleep and exercise are the other factors.
The reason diet has such a huge impact on our body shape is because of how much it influences our hormones. It is our hormones which make us lose or gain muscle, not exercise directly.
Exercise is a means to influence our hormonal system, and so is diet. Proper exercise can do a number of wonderful things for our health such as improve insulin resistance, reduce cardiac disease and balance stress levels.
Diet will have an even greater effect on these things, so it’s important to consume a healthy diet. If you’re eating a Paleo diet already then you’re leaps and bounds ahead of many.
Upgrade your Paleo diet by upgrading your gut bacteria — the other most important factor in your body shape. At the core, gut flora will determine whether you are obese or fit.
You can upgrade your diet by focusing on prebiotic foods (foods that feed gut flora), which are rich in polyphenols. These include raw cacao, coffee, and bright, colorful vegetables. Also, experiment with fermented foods; especially ones made with brightly colored vegetables!
When your overall stress hormones are balanced in favor of helping you gain muscle, you will be in a metabolic state. While exercising or stressed, we are in catabolic states.
It’s important to consume a pro-metabolic diet rich in healthy protein sources, anti-inflammatory fats, prebiotics, and probiotics to ensure our bodies stay out of catabolism as much as possible.
If you turn your body into a metabolic machine, then all of your exercise efforts will be that much more effective. You’ll be able to work out less and gain muscle.
5. Make daily appointments with Dr. Quiet
Paul Chek advises that the only four doctors anyone ever needs are Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet, Dr. Happy and Dr. Movement. I teach this to all my clients and friends, and personally the doctor I see most neglected is Dr. Quiet.
This doesn’t refer to sleep alone, but overall finding quiet time each day. I am not referring to the quiet time spent standing in line at a store not talking. The type of quiet time I am referring to is total silence.
Noise is pollution and a stress in heavy doses. Think about how much sound is going on around you at all times compared to the silence experienced deep in the woods.
I feel this is very important because overall, gaining muscle is a process of balancing stress. When we are overstressed, we are in catabolic states and even exercise becomes more of a stress.
Almost everyone, especially athletes, would greatly benefit from an hour of quiet time each day. Not only would health improve, but so would muscle gains. Remember, we do not gain while working out; all gains are made out of the gym, usually while sleeping or during other states of deep rest.
I would recommend referencing my article on sleep to make sure you’re getting the most of out it. From there, start setting aside an hour of quiet time each day. Make it as important (if not more) as exercise, because it is. How you get your quiet time is up to you, do what you enjoy.
A few of my favorites are walks around my neighborhood – it’s a very relaxing, charming town so it works! I also enjoy sitting by the river, and naps in nature – find an open park with some grass and toss down a blanket. It’s even better in the sun; it’s one of the most metabolic and healing experiences in life! However you spend your quiet time, just make sure it’s actually quiet time, no thinking, planning or work of any kind allowed!
6. Know your purpose
If your goal is to be an Olympic runner, than you are going to have much different means to accomplishing that goal, with a much different outcome. You’ll likely be working out more. Surely, it can be done without completely ruining your body. However, you’re going to have to put in double effort for resting and healing.
Remember, working out is a stress, and if you do too much of it without sufficient rebuilding, you are bound to crash. I’m just being honest when I say to lead the life of a professional athlete is usually a less than optimally healthy choice – but to each their own. You can still apply some of these tips, which can help knock off some workout time.
On the other hand, if your purpose for working out is to be optimally healthy and live a good life, then you’ll see it’s a much simpler task to put on some lean muscle without killing yourself.
By knowing your purpose for working out, you can be clear on where you may be overworking yourself and then proceed to decrease overall output and improve your recovery (input).
Now that you have the groundwork for becoming a metabolic machine, we can talk about a few of the most beneficial workouts. These exercises are in alignment with the definition of exercise that I stated previously.
Compound Movements:Weight training is one of the healthiest forms of exercise next to body weight work. It is always best to choose exercises that are as functional as possible. The last thing you want to do is train your body to perform some strange movement you’d never find yourself doing in day-to-day life.
Compound movements make sense in terms of mobility and, because they engage the entire system, they are very metabolic. The most effective compound movements are: seated rows, chest presses, pull-downs or pull-ups, overhead presses, leg presses and squats.
HIIT: This acronym breaks down to High Intensity Interval Training, for those who don’t know. HIIT also engages the entire body; giving you the benefits of cardio and strength workouts all in a minimal amount of time needed.
My favorite way to do HIIT is sprinting. Called “spring 8s”, all you do is sprint back and forth 8 times. The trick is in the intensity. Simply sprint as fast as you possibly can for half a minute (30 seconds) straight. I like to set a distance, as it makes it easier for me mentally to race towards an object or finish line. You could also just use a timer.
When you’re finished, rest for 90 seconds trying to calm and regulate your breathing and heart rate as much as possible. The goal is to get your heart rate up as high as you healthfully can and then bring it down low as you can. Repeat this for 8 sprints total and you’ll have the most beneficial workout of your life all in 15 minutes.
One Last Tip to Help You Gain Muscle
There is research that shows the remarkable benefits of fasted workouts. Fasting is actually one of the most ancient healing practices in the world. It’d only make sense that, when done correctly, it could also improve our workouts and help you gain muscle.
The anti-aging benefits of fasted workouts include: increased HGH (the youth hormone), improved insulin resistance, normalizes hunger hormone levels, lowers triglycerides, and reduces inflammation.
The best way I’ve found to do this is to work out first thing in the morning after slowly waking. You must be fully rested to do this, though; otherwise it will just put a burden on your body. This could be a sign of adrenal exhaustion.
Use your energy as your guide; if you’re not feeling fully rested, then stick to light movement on an empty stomach. If you need some nourishment, then keep it liquid and you will still receive many if not all of the benefits of a fasted workout. Just skip the carbs.
Try a Bulletproof Coffee for breakfast followed by some HIIT and you’ll experience a workout unlike any other!
The key takeaway here is that exercise itself does not help you gain muscle, it is in the quality of rest in which we repair and grow. Exercise (done correctly) is very important, but balancing your overall stress load is much more important!
Hopefully, you’ve found these tips helpful and you’re confidently on your way to becoming a metabolic machine that can gain muscle easily!
Nick Kowalski is a Transformational Coach, fitness model and unconditional lover. You can find more of his writing on his blog NicksFit. His mission is to inspire the transformation toward love consciousness. Follow him on Instagram for more living in love inspiration and transformational mindset motivation!
A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.
Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook
If you’re feeling stiff from working at a desk all day, take
just 60 seconds to reset your body with this quick routine.
As we all know by now, constant sitting leads to lack of mobility in the hips,
shoulders, and spine.
Luckily,
performing certain mobility exercises can help you to improve your posture, ease pain and stiffness,
and prevent future injuries like throwing out your back.
Getting
your mobility back doesn’t need to take long. In fact, you can do it in just
one minute with the right exercises.
Take
one minute out of your busy day to hack your mobility and reawaken your hips,
spine, and shoulders with these exercises. Perform each of these exercises
back-to-back whenever you’re feeling hunched and stiff, or if you know you have
a long day of sitting ahead of you.
Increase circulation to the hips, lower back, shoulders, and
spine with this easy mobility exercise.
1.Begin seated on the
floor or mat, with your knees bent and your feet on the floor.
2.Place your palms down
behind your hips to support you, keeping your shoulders and elbows relaxed.
3.Inhale to lower both
knees to the right. Then, exhale to press into your palms and lift your hips up
towards the sky as high as you can. You should feel a stretch in your hips and
shoulders.
4.Lower your hips down
and bring your knees back to center. Repeat in the other direction.
This exercise improves mobility by lengthening the hamstrings,
opening the hips, shoulders, and chest, and warming the spine.
1.Begin in a high plank
position with your shoulders stacked over your wrists and your hips in line
with your shoulders.
2.Exhale to lift your
hips high, bringing your body into an upside-down V-shape to come into your
down dog. Engage your abs.
3.Take an inhale to come
into cobra by slowly lowering your pelvis to the ground and then lifting your
chest up. Keep your shoulders down and bend your elbows more if your back feels
tight.
4.Exhale to use your abs
to lift back up to down dog. Alternate between down dog and cobra for a total
of five reps.
This exercise quickly increases mobility in your ankles, hips,
thoracic spine, and shoulders.
1.Begin standing with
your feet slightly wider than hip-width distance and your toes pointing
slightly outward.
2.Slowly sit your hips
all the way back and down towards the ground to come into a low squat position.
Bring your palms together in front of your heart and press your thighs open
with your arms.
3.Place your right hand
on your left shin, and inhale to twist your torso to the left. Lift your left
arm straight up and back.
Here’s
the perfect remedy to sitting all day. This bridge variation improves your
thoracic and hip mobility while also improving stability in the shoulders and
core.
1.Stay in a low squat
position. Lean back and place your right palm on the ground a couple of feet
behind your right hip, with your fingers facing away from your body.
2.Lean back into your
palm and lift your hips up so that you are in a tripod position. Your knees should be stacked over your ankles
and your shoulder stacked over your wrist.
3.Lift your hip bones up
towards the sky, keeping your right shoulder down and away from your ear. Reach
your left arm across your body to the right for a gentle spinal twist.
4.Lower your hips back
down to the ground, place your left palm down behind you, and switch sides.
Kelly is a certified
Personal Trainer with NASM, a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher, and has
her B.S. in Kinesiology from San Diego State University. She is co-owner of
Roaming Yogi Adventures, a yoga and adventure-based retreat. She believes that
having fun and well-rounded exercise is the key to maximizing strength,
flexibility, and mental health.
A lot of people have
gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer.
However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time
finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to
complete.
Fortunately, Kelsey
Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found
that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only
delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few
simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.
