PILLOW TALK
All partied out and the season hasn’t even peaked yet? You might have social jet lag
Moodiness. Weight gain. Anxiety. Lack of motivation. Back-toback colds. Ticking the boxes? Chances are you’ve been hit with social jet lag, a term used to describe the cycle of staying up late Friday and Saturday nights, then sleeping in to compensate, leading to chronic fatigue. If that sounds like you, we hate to break it, but the festive season is about to do you no favours. “You’re not flying from one country to another, but you’re basically forcing your body into different time zones,” says sleep expert Dr Michael Breus. “You really can’t catch up because your whole body clock gets thrown off.”
Maintaining stamina from pre-christmas drinks to New Year’s Eve parties takes preparation. First, where you can, pick drinking or late nights, but not both at the same time. “I call this the double whammy, so if you’re having some festive drinks, aiming to get to bed on time will keep your sleep on track.” Easier said than done? Think ahead and clear your schedule the day after a big night so you can recuperate as much as possible before it’s go-time again.
And commit to the age-old rule of drinking a glass of water for every alcoholic drink, because it works by not only slowing down your drinking but also prevents dehydration (read: hangovers). “Alcohol may make you fall asleep quickly, but it prevents you from reaching a deep sleep,” says Breus, who recommends calling last drinks around three hours before bed. “It takes your body about one hour per alcoholic beverage to digest, so if you have two or three glasses of wine on the high side of dinner, that’s one way to ensure you still get a decent night sleep.”
You can also get accountable with your shut-eye via apps such as Sleep Cycle and Sleep Better. Or step things up with a Fitbit Ionic or Apple Watch Series 3 (hello, Christmas present?), which go further to track your circadian rhythm, sleep levels and heartbeat. Another trick? Swap the heels for trainers once a day. “Around 30 minutes of exercise every day is one of the best ways to improve the quality of sleep,” says Breus.