It’s summer. Yay. However, whilst we can enjoy blue skies and glorious sunshine in the day, we’re also in for those hot, sticky and sleepless summer nights.

The optimal bedroom temperature for sleep is between 16 and 21 degrees Celsius and the brain actually needs to be a fraction of a degree cooler than the rest of the body, so if your bedroom, body and brain are too hot, it can mean a restless and uncomfortable night.

Here are 20 things you can do to help you beat the bedtime heat thanks to Warren Evans bed makers and their Sleep Expert, Dave Gibson.

Chill Your Sheets

Put the sheet you are sleeping under in the fridge in a plastic cover. Lying under freshly chilled sheets helps your temperature to drop into sleep mode.

Iced Hot Water Bottle

Fill a hot water bottle with ice water and place on the ‘cooling points’ of your body, such as behind your knees or ankles. The wrists, neck, groin and elbows are other ‘pulse points’ to pay attention to.

Use Aloe Vera

Replace your bedtime body moisturiser with an Aloe Vera based after sun cream, kept in the fridge for added cooling power.

Spray Water

Fill an empty and clean perfume bottle with chilled water and keep it by your bedside, spray on your face, back of your neck, and back of your knees to cool down.

Wear Cotton Pyjamas

Use cotton pyjamas and thin pure cotton sheets for your bed. Soft and breathable, high quality cotton is the ideal bedding material to sleep between to stay cool.

Eat Small Meals

Eat small light meals often, rather than large meals more sparsely, to avoid creating metabolic heat as you digest your food, which will warm you up. Avoid too much protein as this is a known food group to boost your metabolic rate, and heats your body up.

Eat Spicy Food

There’s a reason hotter countries like India and Thailand are famous for their delicious curries. The chemical capsaicin in spicy food stimulates heat receptors in your mouth, enhancing circulation and causing sweating, which cools the body down. Be sure to eat at least 3 hours before you go to bed though, as spicy foods can also stop you sleeping well.

Drink Chrysanthemum Tea

A popular Chinese remedy, chrysanthemum tea is said to have ‘cooling’ properties whilst also helping you keep a clear head and being caffeine free.

Morning Exercise

Exercise in the mornings out of the sun, you want to give your body as much time as possible to cool down when the days are warmer. Exercise is best before the heat of the day starts to set in, around 7am if you can do it.

Wear Cotton Clothing

Wear loose cotton clothing, preferably light coloured, throughout the day. Cotton is lightweight and loose clothing promotes air circulation, ensuring your clothes are not retaining your body heat.

Have a Tepid Showers

Keep your evening bath or shower tepid, which makes it easier for your body to reach the optimal sleep temperature. Leaving your hair wet can also help cool you during the night.

Cool Your Room Down

Keep windows closed and curtains drawn in the day to keep the house cooler, particularly those facing east or west. This stops your home warming up in the sun and in the evening can also help block the evening light, helping you to wind down more easily.

Turn of Electrical Devices

Turn off all electrical devices in the room as these produce heat when running (this will also help you avoid those tempting, late-night social media and email check-ups!). Use natural light if you can rather than light bulbs that emit heat.

Keep your feet and toes cool

Your feet and toes have a lot of blood vessels and can help the body cool quickly if kept cool. Put a hot water bottle in the freezer to create an ice pack for your feet at night or put your feet into a bucket of cold water before bed. If you don’t want to use these techniques also try dangling your feet and toes outside of the covers.

Try using fans in different ways

Put a damp sheet between the fan and your bed, or use it to push the hot air out of an open window. You can also position a roasting pan full of ice in front of the fan to cool the air. Always try to keep the bedroom door open too as it allows the air to circulate. Change the rotation on ceiling fans to counter clockwise so that they pull hot air up and out, rather than spinning it around the room.

Damp Sheet in Front of Window

Putting a damp sheet in front of an open window will have a similar effect if there is any breeze, cooling the air as it comes into the bedroom.

Sleep on a damp sheet or damp towel

This is also known as the Egyptian method, as it’s used in this area of the world. Make sure you protect your mattress with a dry towel underneath.

Drink Water Regularly During the Day

Drink water regularly during the day, but not too much at night. About ½ pint before bed will be enough to keep you hydrated (if it’s very hot and you are sweating) and prevent you from having to use the bathroom regularly. Have a glass by your bed in case you wake up dehydrated.

Sleep in separate beds

As this will enable you both to stretch out and prevent your combined body temperature overheating you.

Sleep Downstairs

Even try sleeping downstairs if it’s especially hot. Heat rises and the lower rooms in your home will be cooler.

We all know that protein has always been recommended as part of a healthy balanced diet. However, it is only now that people are discovering the true power of protein for managing blood sugars and for effective weight loss. Yes protein can help you lose weight naturally. You also have a wide choice of proteins now other than whey to avoid dairy, such as vegan protein, beef protein and even hemp protein powders.

So are there any other reasons to eat more protein? Yes there are. With the help of Explore Cuisine we look at 5 ideal reasons to include protein in your diet.

TO STOP SNACKING

Protein takes longer to digest than carbohydrates or fats, therefore you feel more satisfied and less likely to eat between meals! This has obvious benefits for anyone who is watching their weight.

HELP BALANCE SUGAR LEVELS

Combining protein with carbohydrates helps to slow the absorption of sugar from your stomach into your bloodstream. Therefore reducing sugar highs, sugar cravings and sugar crashes!

TO REPAIR MUSCLE & TISSUE

Protein is made up of ‘building blocks’ called amino acids that help to build and repair tissues such as skeletal muscle, bone, hair, finger and toe nails, cartilage and skin.

INCLUDE MORE VITAMINS & MINERALS

Eating protein can help you include more vitamins and minerals into your diet. Pulses and beans contain fibre, which helps ensure a healthy bowel. Meat and poultry are good sources of vitamin B12, iron and zinc (aim for lean cuts). Fish contains omega 3 fatty acids (which play a role in the function of our nervous system including brain function).

TO BURN CALORIES

Known as the ‘thermic effect of food’ (TEF), it refers to the energy we use to digest our foods. Protein has a higher TEF than carbs and fat, so you need more energy to process protein, which means we actually burn more calories to do this.

We know that it holds your hair, but did you know there are loads of other practical uses for hairspray. Here’s five of our favourite.

No more ladders

Do you constantly get holes in your tights where your toes are? There’s nothing worse than picking out an outfit that needs tights, but then realising every pair you own has a run in them. To avoid this wardrobe disaster, simply spray some hairspray on the feet of your tights. This will strengthen the threads, making runs less likely. It also means your tights will last for longer.

Tame those brows

Who said hairspray was only meant for the hair on your head? Use it to tame your eyebrow hairs too. Simply spray a little on an eyebrow brush and comb through for a more controlled look.

Fix your makeup

We don’t recommend doing this all the time, but if you desperately need your makeup to stay in place and don’t have any finishing spray to hand, use a little hairspray instead. This will help fix your makeup. But remember, hairspray contains harsher chemicals than the makeup meant for your face, so don’t do this all the time.

Self defense

We hope that you never have to defend yourself, but as a woman having some form of safety with you when you’re out like a rape alarm is essential. If you ever need an extra sense of security, know that a small bottle of hairspray can be used as form of self defense.

Sewing help

If you struggle to thread the eye of the needle when you’re sewing,  hairspray has just become your new best friend. By stiffening the end of thread with a little hairspray, it will be so much easier to get it through that little hole.

Heard of the campaign This Girl Can? To give you the rundown, it’s a celebration of active women who are doing their thing no matter how well they do it, how they look or even how red their face gets.

Don’t get me wrong, the campaign is absolutely brilliant. It gets us girls out there exercising with pride: running, breathing hard, improving our fitness, sweating and monitoring our heart rates. What’s more? It celebrates health, fitness and exercise.

We all know that social media and content marketing is essential to modern life and #thisgirlcan is honing on this. It’s getting girls healthy, active and best of all, competitive. Females everywhere are out there training with gritted teeth, lifting weights and exercising hard. 

But, at the same time, doesn’t it suggest that girls originally thought we couldn’t? Why do we need to add a hashtag to our fitness training?  

Can’t we just admit it? Girls can be competitive.

What’s more, a triathlon is the perfect competition in which girls can really race ahead of the hashtag.

If you’re not sure, a triathlon is a multi-sport race combined of swimming (usually open water), cycling and running. The distances range from sprint distance (750m swim, 25km bike, 5km run) to Ironman distance (3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42 km run).

So here are some tips on getting into the ‘I want to complete a triathlon’ mindset and, even better, ‘Bring on the competition!

The advice is divided into two IDEAL parts: ‘Training for the Triathlon’ and ‘Race day’ and includes ideal tips for us girls to really get competitive.

Ideal Training

Join a triathlon club

Don’t be scared to join a triathlon club and, what’s more, don’t be afraid to get in the fast swimming lane, if you really think that’s where you’re at. So many of us will modestly climb into the slow lane thinking ‘It’s only my first session so I’ll assess the standard of other people first’. Instead, bite the bullet, test yourself and you’re way more likely to succeed.

Okay, so don’t put yourself at a level way above what you can achieve, but I just don’t be afraid to raise your blood pressure and train hard.

Be Selfish and get in your Training Time

Find time for your training. Of course, childcare can be an issue for many mums and you can’t skip work but don’t feel guilty about the amount of training you’re doing.

Use your time wisely and you’ll fit in your training as well as look after your kids, your husband, your boyfriend, your off-the-rails best friend, sister etc.

In fact, you’ll probably find you’re happier and much more energetic if you do devote some time to yourself and your training. You’ll probably work more efficiently too.

Make Friends

There is nothing better than going for a bike ride with a couple of friends. You’ll push each other, encourage each other and you’ll find you’ll want to be more competitive.

Before you know it, gone are the days when you want to cycle along the cycle path, stopping for half an hour for a cup of tea, you’ll want to push yourself on the hills, go hard on the flat and feel the wind in your hair as you descend, taking the corners as precisely as you can.    

Race Preparation

Taper before the Race

Your training taper period will depending on the distance of the triathlon, but during this time you will take your training slightly easier in order to get race ready. In addition, eat well, sleep well and you’ll be set to compete.

Race Day

Go Hard. Be confident. Get a great time

The advice for race day? Race hard and show what all your training has been about. Try to avoid getting caught up in the crowds and be confident in your swim, bike and run abilities.

If you’re confident, you’ll enjoy yourself much more and perform better too.

You see, this girl can be competitive and she doesn’t need to hide behind a hashtag.

Image sources: Giphy

As the nation gears up for Wimbledon, all eyes will be on the court. Attention will be on the players—especially their fashion!

Wimbledon has a notoriously strict dress code, which requires all players to dress head-to-toe in white with the exception of some small accent colours. Inspired by their perfectly pressed, crisp whites, womenswear designer Ralph Lauren explains how you can steal their style and work all whites off the court.

The LWD

Move over the little black dress; there’s a new style staple in town! A white dress is the perfect way to channel Wimbledon-inspired, effortless summer style. A crisp white shirt dress is the ideal choice for a smart-casual vibe. The formal collar smartens up the outfit, while the shape remains relaxed.

Pair with white sandals and a classic pair of sunglasses. Either keep your handbag white or introduce a pop of colour—it may not strictly follow Wimbledon’s rules, but it’s all in the name of fashion!

The white suit

Whatever the colour, tailoring is always chic. A white blazer and trouser combo is perfect for cooler summer evenings. Tailoring can be heavy, so if it’s a warmer evening, don’t be afraid to swap the trousers for chic culottes-style shorts.

Although you may think of the white suit as a primarily formal ensemble, when styled right, it can actually work for casual events too. Wear belted white culottes with a loose-fitting striped t-shirt tucked in. Throw over a tailored blazer and wear with chunky block heels or wedges.

When day turns to night, a few simple changes is all you’ll need. Swap the shorts for wide-leg white trousers and wear with a black bralet. Keep your shoes simple with barely there heeled sandals. Add a dash of sparkle with statement jewellery.

The summer essentials

What’s summer without shorts and t-shirts? An all-white combo works perfectly with these style staples. White denim cut-offs are an everyday essential — wear yours with a sports-inspired white polo shirt. Canvas shoes or espadrilles will finish the look and leave you looking as fabulous as the ladies on the court.

Image sources: giphy.com