When it comes to health, exercise and diet seem to dominate our conversations but there’s one vital thing that isn’t spoken about enough… sleep! 

I attended the FitBit Heart Rate Hotel to experience a high intensity workout followed by a rather different sleep session (read all about it right here). With the latter run by leading sleep expert Dr Nerina Ramlakhan, I came away with some very interesting tips on how to improve your sleep. Here’s how! 

1. Eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up. Who knew?! Apparently this breaks the fast (obviously) but also helps to increase metabolism and melatonin levels, which helps us to have a better quality sleep. 

2. Keep hydrated! Drinking the recommended 2litres of water per day helps to reduce nocturnal restlessness. Pass the water, please! 

3. Cut back on caffeine. Seems quite obvious but did you know that caffeine isn’t just found in coffee? It’s in soft drinks, teas and even chocolate bars and ice creams! Dr Nerina recommends no caffeine after 3pm. 

4. Withdraw from technology at least one hour before bed. Now this one for me is a toughy- I’m scrolling through Instagram in bed never mind putting it down one hour before. Dr Nerina recommends swapping the iPhone for a book when it’s getting close to bedtime. 

5. Go to bed early- ideally before 10.30pm. Or at least be resting by this time. Rest qualifies as relaxing in bed or on the sofa, perhaps with a book. No energy should be sent out after this time. 

You can see more from Dr Nerina right here. She explained how she won’t see clients again until they try these top tips. So if you want to improve your sleep, you now know where to start!