Health Beyond the Plate: Sleep - The Foundation That Resets Everything

How Are You Feeling When You Wake Up in the Morning?

Be honest with yourself for a moment. Are you waking up refreshed, clearheaded, and ready to meet the day? Or does your alarm feel like an interruption—pulling you out of fog, leaving you slow to think, unmotivated to move, reaching for coffee just to feel human again?

Good sleep is the daily reset for mood, energy, and appetite. When sleep is consistent and restorative, the whole system regulates more easily.

If your mornings feel heavy, I want you to know something important: You're not waking up tired because you're weak. Your body is sending you information. It's trying to tell you that something in your sleep pattern isn't aligned with what it needs to repair, restore, and reset.

And here's the truth that might surprise you: It's not just about how long you sleep. It's about when you sleep.

This month, we're exploring the six foundations of Health Beyond the Plate—the pillars that support sustainable wellness even when your plate is perfect. Last week, we talked about Serenity and how stress impacts every system in your body. This week, we're going deeper into Sleep, because this one foundation touches everything else: your stress response, your appetite, your energy, your mood, your focus, and even your ability to connect with the people you love.

Let's think for a moment about what your body is doing while you're asleep—and why the timing of that sleep matters more than most of us realize.

The body treats the hours before and after midnight differently. Before midnight favors deep sleep, tissue repair, and glymphatic cleaning. After midnight shifts toward lighter REM sleep and rising cortisol. This is why early sleep often feels more restorative even with the same total hours.

Circadian Timing: Split the Night in Two

In general, 7 to 9 hours of sleep are recommended for adults (and more for kids and teens!). However, your body doesn't treat all hours of sleep equally. There's a biological rhythm that governs when certain types of repair happen, when your brain cleans itself, and when your hormones reset. That rhythm is tied to your circadian clock—and it divides your night into two very different halves, before midnight and after midnight.

Before Midnight: The Repair Window

The hours before midnight are when your body does its deepest, most restorative work. This is when growth hormone peaks, helping your muscles repair and your tissues regenerate. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) becomes active, supporting cellular repair and immune function. Deep sleep (also called Stage 3 or N3 sleep) is easiest to access during these early hours, and it's during deep sleep that your body truly heals.

This is also when your brain's glymphatic system works the hardest. Think of it as your brain's cleaning crew, washing away metabolic waste that builds up during the day, including proteins linked to cognitive decline! Memory consolidation happens here too, as your brain organizes what you've learned and experienced. And emotionally? This is when your nervous system recalibrates, helping you process stress and lower anxiety levels.

After Midnight: The Lighter Half

After midnight, the quality of your sleep begins to shift. Cortisol (your body's wake-up hormone) starts to rise gradually, preparing you for the day ahead. REM sleep, which supports creativity and emotional processing, becomes longer and more frequent. But deep sleep? It becomes much harder to reach. The repair work slows down. Brain cleaning is reduced. Your body is no longer in full restoration mode—it's beginning to transition back toward waking.

Pause and reflect: How does your body feel the morning after going to bed late? Does it feel different than when you go to bed earlier, even if you sleep the same number of hours?

Sleep timing shapes appetite, metabolism, and blood sugar more than people realize. Going to bed late pushes ghrelin up, leptin down, slows thyroid output, and reduces insulin sensitivity. Earlier sleep supports clearer mornings, steadier energy, and easier appetite control.

The Metabolic Loop: How Sleep Timing Affects Your Hormones

When you consistently go to bed late or miss that early repair window, your body's hormonal rhythms start to shift. And this doesn't just affect how you feel—it affects how you eat, how your body stores energy, and how easily you manage your weight. Let me walk you through four key hormones that are directly impacted by sleep timing.

Ghrelin: The Hunger Hormone

Ghrelin is the hormone that tells your brain, "I'm hungry. Let's eat." When you don't get enough sleep, or when you go to bed too late and miss deep sleep, your body produces more ghrelin. That's why after a poor night's sleep, you wake up starving and craving high-calorie foods, especially carbs and sweets. Your body is just trying to compensate for the energy it didn't restore overnight.

Leptin: The Satiety Hormone

Leptin does the opposite of ghrelin. It signals to your brain that you're full and satisfied. But poor sleep lowers leptin levels, making it harder for you to feel satisfied after a meal. You might eat a full, nourishing breakfast and still feel like something's missing. Over time, chronic sleep issues can even lead to leptin resistance, where your brain stops responding to the signal altogether. It's like knocking on a door that never opens.

Thyroid Hormones: Your Metabolic Engine

Your thyroid hormones (TSH, T3, and T4) regulate your metabolism, body temperature, and energy production. Sleep restriction causes TSH to rise slightly while T3 and T4 dip, creating a temporary "slow metabolism" feeling. You might notice you're colder than usual, more sluggish, or that your body feels like it's moving through molasses. This isn't permanent damage, but it's real—and it's reversible when your sleep improves.

Insulin Sensitivity: Blood Sugar Control

Even one late night can reduce your body's insulin sensitivity, meaning your cells don't respond as well to insulin's signal to absorb glucose from your bloodstream. The result? Blood sugar swings, more intense cravings, afternoon energy crashes, and a harder time managing your weight. When insulin sensitivity is compromised night after night, your body starts storing more of what you eat as fat, even if your diet hasn't changed.

Here's what I want you to hear: All of this is reversible. Your body is designed to restore balance. It just needs the right conditions—and the right timing—to do so.

Closing the Loop: Why Earlier Sleep Fixes the Fog

When you shift your sleep schedule earlier, even by just 30 to 60 minutes, you're giving your body access to that critical repair window before midnight. You're restoring the availability of deep sleep and letting your brain clean itself more thoroughly. This allows your body to stabilize the hormones that regulate hunger, fullness, metabolism, and blood sugar.

What does this look like in your daily life?

Clearer mornings. Better appetite control. More stable energy throughout the day. Easier glucose regulation. More emotional resilience. And yes, weight becomes easier to manage—not because you're restricting or forcing anything, but because your body is finally getting what it needs to function well.

You weren't failing. Your timing was off.

Simple cues that calm your body and help you ease into deeper, more restorative sleep.

Practical Reset: Simple Cues That Help Your Body Wind Down

Your body responds to environmental signals that tell it when to wake up and when to prepare for sleep. You can use these cues intentionally to support an earlier bedtime. Here's how:

Cool your room. Your body temperature naturally drops before sleep. A cooler room (around 65–77°F, depending on your climate) signals to your nervous system that it's time to rest.

Dim the lights. Bright light, especially blue light from screens, tells your brain it's still daytime. Dimming your lights an hour before bed helps your body produce melatonin, the hormone that makes you feel sleepy.

Create a quiet routine. A predictable wind-down routine—whether it's reading, journaling, or gentle stretching—signals to your nervous system that the day is ending and it's safe to relax.

Take a warm bath. The rise and then fall in body temperature after a warm bath mimics your natural sleep rhythm, making it easier to fall asleep.

Turn off screens. The content on your phone isn't just distracting. It's stimulating your brain and suppressing melatonin. Give yourself a screen-free buffer before bed.

Reserve your bed for sleep and intimacy. When your brain associates your bed with work, scrolling, or stress, it becomes harder to fall asleep there. Train your body to know: bed means rest.

Each of these cues works with your biology, not against it. You're not forcing yourself to sleep—you're inviting your body to do what it already knows how to do.

Your First Step Tonight: Choose a Time

I'm not asking you to overhaul your entire life tonight. I'm just asking you to choose one step.

Pick a bedtime that's 30 to 60 minutes earlier than what you're doing now. Set a gentle alarm to remind yourself to begin winding down. Start your routine. Dim the lights. Cool the room. Put the phone away. And see how your body responds.

You might not feel a dramatic shift the first night. But give it a week. Notice how your mornings feel. Notice your cravings. Notice your energy at 2 p.m. Notice how much easier it is to make healthy choices when your body is rested and your hormones are balanced.

Your body has been waiting for this. It's ready to heal. It just needs you to meet it where it is and give it the time it needs to do the work.

What If Your Schedule Isn't "Normal"?

I know that not everyone has the luxury of choosing an early bedtime. Maybe you're a shift worker. Maybe you're a parent with a baby who wakes every two hours. Maybe your partner works nights and you're managing the household alone during those hours. We’ve been in all those positions, especially in the last few years when I started to work in a hospital here in Puerto Rico, and my wife was looking after our two little babies. Standard sleep advice can feel disconnected from your reality in those situations!

These are real challenges, and there's no one-size-fits-all solution. This is exactly why we love working with clients one-on-one, to figure out what's realistic and sustainable for your specific life. But even when your schedule is complicated, there are still ways to protect your sleep quality and support your body's need for restoration.

If You Work Nights or Have Interrupted Sleep

You may not be able to get a perfect 8-hour block of uninterrupted sleep before midnight, but you can still protect your brain, hormones, and mood. Here's how:

Think in 24-hour chunks. Aim for 7 to 9 hours total in a day, even if it comes in pieces—one longer core block plus naps. Your body can still access restorative sleep stages, even if the timing isn't ideal.

Use light strategically. Bright light signals wakefulness; dim light signals rest. Use bright light when you need to be alert during your shift or early morning. In the 1 to 2 hours before your main sleep block, dim the lights. Avoid overhead LEDs right before bed.

Front-load your caffeine. Caffeine blocks adenosine, the chemical that builds sleep pressure throughout the day. Use it early in your shift or morning to stay alert, but taper off at least six hours before your main sleep window. For most people, that means no caffeine after 2 p.m. if you're sleeping at night, or adjusting accordingly if you sleep during the day. This gives your body time to clear the caffeine and access deeper sleep when you need it.

Create one protected block. Work with your partner, family, or household to carve out at least one longer stretch of 3 to 5 hours where you won't be interrupted. Even one solid block can make a meaningful difference in how you feel.

Bank sleep before difficult stretches. If you know several hard nights are coming—whether it's a tough work rotation or your baby is going through a regression—try to go to bed earlier or take an extra nap the day before. It won't erase the exhaustion, but it can help you start from a stronger place.

Ask for help early. If you're dozing at stoplights, snapping at everyone around you, or feeling low most days, it's time to talk with a doctor or sleep specialist. Chronic sleep deprivation affects everything—your safety, your relationships, your health. You deserve support.

Your situation may not be simple, but your body still deserves rest. Let's work together to find what's possible within your reality.

How Sleep Connects to the Other Foundations

Sleep doesn't exist in isolation. It's woven into every other area of your health.

When you sleep well, you manage stress more effectively. Your appetite becomes easier to regulate. You have more energy to move your body. Your mood stabilizes. Your focus sharpens. Even your ability to connect meaningfully with others improves, because you're not running on empty.

These six levers—Sleep, Serenity (stress), Sweat (movement), and the others we'll explore in this series—work together, not in isolation. When one improves, the others follow. And when one suffers, the rest feel it too.

Next week, we'll talk about Sweat—the role of movement in sustainable wellness. And here's a preview of how it connects: regular movement improves sleep pressure, making it easier to fall asleep at night. Exercise earlier in the day helps shift your circadian rhythm earlier, naturally. And movement reduces cortisol, reinforcing better sleep timing. It all comes full circle.

We'll walk this journey with you, one step at a time.

Let's Keep Moving Forward—Together

If you're struggling with sleep, cravings, fatigue, or weight changes that don't make sense, I want you to know: you don't have to figure this out alone. We can look at your schedule, your biology, and your goals together, and create a personalized plan that actually fits your life.

Book a consultation and let's start the conversation. Your body is wise. Sometimes it just needs support to get back into rhythm.

And if you'd like to stay connected and receive future blogs in the Health Beyond the Plate series, practical tools, and updates on upcoming events, subscribe to our newsletter. We'll be here, walking this journey with you.

Pause and reflect: What would it feel like to wake up clear, energized, and ready for your day?

Giomarell Feliciano, M.D., MPH, NBC-HWC

Medical doctor and board-certified health coach who helps busy professionals reclaim their wellness through plant-based nutrition, emotional resilience, and sustainable lifestyle changes.

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