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5 questions for better sleep
LF #149: "Your work is too important to just let your body go", reduce knee pain through weight loss, and more
Hey there - it’s Don.
Happy Friday!
This month, I launched something new.
Kickstart40.
If you’re a busy parent, Kickstart40 will help you lose 10-15 pounds in 40 days, all at home (no gym).
If you follow the program and you don’t lose 10 pounds in 40 days, you get your money back.
Let’s jump into today’s newsletter!
🔎 What’s Inside
5 questions for better sleep
Your work is too important to just let your body go
Spartan Beast training plan
Reduce knee pain through weight loss
Profitable Christian Business Podcast
First time reading? Sign-up here.
💪 Deep Dive
Click here to read the article on the Layman’s Fitness Website
5 questions for better sleep
For 10+ years, the biggest health mistake I made was trying to cheat sleep.
During busy weeks (which was every week), sleep was the first thing to go.
This worked for a few months.
But I always paid for it later:
Waking up at 5a feeling like a zombie
Zero motivation for morning workouts
Energy crashing at 3pm faster than my iPhone’s battery
Irritable with the kids after work
Grouchy with my wife in the evenings
Here are 5 questions that have helped me prioritize sleep.
1) What time is my last sip of caffeine?
Powering through the afternoons with coffee set me up for either jittery evenings or massive 7pm crashes.
What helped: cutting out caffeine by 12pm each day
2) What time is dinner?
Irregular dinner times created hangry kids, inconsistent bedtimes, and the later food intake made it harder for me to fall asleep.
What helped: targeting a 5:30pm dinner meal (for most nights)
3) What time are the kids going to bed?
Irregular kid bedtimes created cranky kids and pushed everyone’s bedtime later.
What helped: targeting a 7:30pm - 8:00pm bedtime for my kids (for most nights)
(My kids are 7, almost 4, and almost 2)
4) What time is my phone going to bed?
Around 9pm I’d scroll through YouTube or social media for “one last check”.
2 hours later I’d look up and wonder where the time went.
What helped: putting my phone to bed in my home office at 8pm each night
For years, I had jobs at manufacturing plants where I was on call during all hours of the night.
What helped then was putting my phone on a chair right outside the bedroom door on high volume, with the door cracked.
5) What time am I going to bed?
A mistake I made was not scheduling my own bedtime.
I’m an adult after all!
Bedtimes are for toddlers (and for cranky Dons who need it).
What helped: targeting a “get in bed” time between 9:00pm - 9:30pm (for most nights).
P.S. Pro-tip.
Let’s say you want to exercise early in the mornings, 3x/week.
You don’t have to solve for sleep consistency 7 days a week.
Just the night before the workout.
That means 3x/week there’s evening structure… and 4x/week there’s not.
Enjoy.
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🔎 Finds
Here are my favorite finds/resources this week.
This is a quote from a David Mathis interview with David Kaywood.
I really like this.
While Mathis is addressing pastors here, I think this applies to every vocation.
Mathis just released a book called “A Little Theology of Exercise”.
I’ll be doing a Spartan Beast race with guys from my church in November.
The Spartan Beast is a 13-mile trail run with 30 obstacles.
This is a solid training plan for a challenge like this.
Excess bodyweight causes excess knee pain.
Rule of thumb = every one pound of bodyweight lost is 4 pounds of pressure removed from the knees.
Drop 10-15 pounds = remove 40-60 pounds of extra pressure from the knees.
🆕 What’s New With Layman’s Fitness
I got to sit down recently with Doug Greathouse and talk all things faith & fitness.
Some of business-y stuff in there to (if you like that content).
You can check out Doug’s stuff here.
🏆 Client Corner
Allen, at 51, felt like it was too late to start taking care of his health.
He described it as “fatalism”:
He felt like he missed the boat
He felt like lasting change wasn’t possible
He felt like he couldn’t break the cycle of starting and stopping with fitness
However, he also felt like he had to do something.
So he put in the work:
He lost 15-20 pounds
He started feeling more energized
His strength improved, making daily tasks easier
But here’s the best part.
About a month after finishing the program, he sent me this:
He had proven to himself he could make change.
It’s never too late to start.
Keep up the good work Allen 👊
Before you go!
Get a plan. Download my 30-day habit stack to build momentum.
Get started. Join Kickstart40 and drop 10-15 pounds in 40 days (no gym).
Get transformed. Apply for 1-on-1 coaching for a fully personalized partnership.
I’ll see you next week.
Be strong,
Don
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The information provided in this newsletter is for informational and educational purposes only, and does not constitute medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment.
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