[MUSIC PLAYING] What's up, Nashville? You're listening to the NFM podcast coming to you from the Game Day Men's Health Studio. We're so glad you're here, and we want to thank you for tuning in. Now let's get into it. [MUSIC PLAYING] If you're looking for healthy, delicious, and convenient meal options, clean eats has got you covered. Whether you're on a fitness journey or just want to eat better without the hassle, their meals are designed to fuel your body with the nutrients that you need. From their flavor for entrees to their fresh salads and snacks, everything is crafted with your health and mind. And the best part, clean eats, offers meal plans that fit your lifestyle. They're delivered right to your front door. No more meal prep, no more guesswork. Just clean, tasty food that's ready when you are. So why not try clean eats? Head over to the clean eats in Green Hills or MURPHISBROW and discover the easiest way to eat health. Your taste buds and your body will thank you. 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Today, Jarell is not going to be here with me, but that's OK, because who do I got here with me? Dylan Perry. I'll give you my last name as well. You guys may have heard Dylan on the podcast before he's been filling in for either Jarell or me if we can't be here, but he's here today filling in for Jarell. So thank you for being here, Dylan. Always a pleasure. Yes, always a pleasure having you. Thank you. So today, well, first, how have you been since the last podcast? It's been pretty good. I had set a goal for myself this year to do my first kickflip. OK, nice. Well, you tell the listeners what a kickflip is. For those who don't know. It's a skateboarding trick where you just get the skateboard to rotate all the way around, and then you'll land back on it. That's hard. Yeah, it was. I've tried it. No busting angles. Thanks. I went through a whole phase. So I haven't just tried it once. I've really got a new lease on life, honestly. I believe it. It's a new perspective. So if you guys don't know this, I think Dylan is a freaking really talented human, because he is. But he plays drums, and I'm already obsessed with that fact about him, because he's so good. But now he's skateboards. I mean, what can't you do? I get good sleep, so you know, I get to just try. Boom, ooh, that's like a little foreshadowing of what this episode is about. This is such an important episode, and I'm really-- I don't want to waste too much time, like, not talking about what we're here to talk about with it. So let's get into this icebreaker. I would like to introduce our guest. This is Dr. John. Will you please introduce yourself, Dr. John? Thanks, I've splashed to be in here. I am Dr. Bijoy John. I've been in practice for about 25 years in the Nashville area. So my background is pulmonary critical care. Sleep has always fascinated me. I suffer from sleep problems. So it's mysterious. It's spiritual. I got into it full time, about five years ago. And I decided to write a book, and my aim is to spread the good news of sleep all over the world. Well, I mean, you are doing that. And I'm so glad you wrote this book, because I was saying this off air before we started. But I came to know about Dr. John through his book. But I came to know about his book through his son, because I trained at the gym that his son was a member at. And we became friends. He took my classes and great guy. And then he posts on his Instagram one day, hey, you should check out my dad's book, pre-order it on Amazon before it comes out. And I saw it was about sleep. And I was like, you know what? I'm always, I like to read. I think it's important to read. I think it's important to educate yourself as a coach. But also as a human, you know, like I've had trouble sleeping. I've been through grief and things like that that, you know, kind of like shake up your world a little bit and sleep kind of is hard to come by when you're grieving. And then, so I was like, you know what, I'm going to do it. And I told Brandon, I'm going to pre-order this. And then got it in the mail, started reading it. And I could not put this book down, not because it was like, you know, it's not like a fantasy novel. It's like the kind of thing where you're like, I can't believe I did not know this information. And I thought I knew things about sleep. I thought I'm a fitness coach. And I've been one for almost, you know, nine years now. So it's like, I've always prioritized telling my clients how important sleep is. And you like, no matter what kind of exercise regimen or routine you're on, no matter what diet you're on, even I really think sleep is paramount to both nutrition and exercise. You cannot get those things done and they will not claim results if you are not prioritizing sleep. If your sleep is crap, you can't expect your workout to be what it could be. And it's probably going to be detrimental to work out at that point if you're not getting good sleep. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've read this book and I feel like it completely changed. Like I, after three chapters was like, everyone should be reading this book. Every single person on this planet, not just fitness coaches, not just doctors, everyone, because I really think it would change the world. I think it would help people sleep better. And if you're sleeping better, you can have a, everything is better. Everything is affected by sleep. And you said that several times throughout the book. So before we get into talking about the book, I just think it's so cool that you're here if I had to reach out. And he's a local doctor in town and he ended up being my mom's travel agent client. She booked a trip for him and we ended up, I was telling my mom, mom, you have to read this book. It's so good. And she was like, yeah, who's it by? And I told her she's like, that's my client. And I was like, what? Got a little Nashville. So she's like, you should have them on the podcast. I was like, yes, I should have them on the podcast. And we made it happen. So today's a really cool day. Thank you so much for being here. We're going to do this little segment, which is kind of like an icebreaker. It's called The Basket of Debate. I'm holding it in my hands. And I'm going to hand it to you after I grab one and we'll all read one of these and then we'll talk about it. I've always wanted to debate with a doctor. Right. It's a big day for me. I kind of wish I could debate with any other doctor but him. Because there's a lot of things I wanted to debate about what medical doctors have had to say. But I have a feeling I'm going to agree with Dr. John. OK, who wants to go first? I'll go first. OK. Shoot toilet paper, hang over or under. I think this can go 50/50. OK. Depends on how you're going to do it, right? So some people make it easier at the top or under. So this one is-- What's easier for you? I think it'll be over. OK. I'm with you there. I don't think there's any debate here. It has to go over. I think so, too. I'm glad we're all on the same page. I don't know why under is just more difficult. It's because if you go to tear it without the other hand, it keeps going. And you can never tear it efficiently. But somehow with the over, it's way easier to tear. It's easier to get that one handed tear. That's a little flick. Exactly. Exactly. Wow. So now I'm going to pay attention to now how it's all over the place. Change my life. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it can make a difference. You're asleep, too. Seconds every day. Waking up in the middle of the night. And you have to use the restroom, and you can't tear the toilet paper. And then you're mad. Just sleep frustrated. I'm telling you guys. You go ahead and tell her. All right. Should socks be worn inside out? What? It's an interesting question. You know, my dad always liked to wear his socks inside out, because he would argue that the seams are on the inside, and they agitate you, but turn the inside out. The seams are on the outside, so it's actually more comfortable. Yeah. Yeah. Actually, now that you mention it, when I was a kid, I had a huge problem with socks. I would throw temper tantrums as a baby about it, because of the seams. And I asked my mother. It was like, I'm sure it was a nightmare for her. So I had an issue with socks, and I can see how that would be more comfortable. As an adult, though, I did grow out of that. How about the designer logo? Yeah. Yeah, if you're wearing the designer logo, then it's going to look pretty. Yeah. It's going to be very obvious. Done. It's going to be a compliment side out, yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I think that's teach their own. If you're wearing socks, it's probably a good thing. Maybe you should just make socks reversible. Pat in that. You better pat in that quick. Like black and white socks. You can change the one to fly if you need to. Yeah. How do you guys feel about matching socks, or not matching socks? I like to match them. Me too. Yeah. I can't stand seeing. I feel uncomfortable if it's not. If I meet somebody and see that they have mismatched socks, I'm like, we're probably already not going to hang out. Sorry. Like-- I know everything I need to know about. Yeah. You might be great as a person, but I don't think we're the same. Well, I'm going to try it. Now I'm going to try socks inside out for-- Try it. You can see what happens. Let me know how that goes for you. What changes about it? Like suddenly you can jump higher and run faster. It's the secret, guys. That would be crazy. OK, last one. Should gym attire be strictly enforced? That depends. What is gym attire? From a standpoint of don't wear jeans, or from a promiscuity standpoint. I think it's like, OK, so as a coach at a gym, we've had rules around attire, as far as being staff at a gym. Don't wear frumpy clothes with holes in it. That kind of stuff. Wear something that's not ripped. Look presentable. Look like a professional. Because I think it's easy as a trainer to get into the like, oh, where am I ripped? Trash bag, looking shirt, because it's what I wear to the gym. It's just go go on it. It counts. Right. But it's got pit stains and stuff. Yeah, let's clean it up a little bit. But I think-- It's comfortable. Comfort is also important, right? Exactly. Absolutely. That's how I feel. I think if you're comfortable in it, there's a quote about having a $200 outfit and a $0.02 squat or something. It's going to lose sentence. OK, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, OK, so I'm not crazy. I didn't pull that out of my butt. But yeah, it's a real thing. So wear whatever is comfortable. And what you feel comfortable in moving around. Yeah, as long as you're not offending people. But I don't know. People wear things that offend people too. I'm definitely a culprit of the tank top that can hardly qualify as a shirt anymore. Sure, but not what I'm working-- Same. --when I'm working out. But there's nothing better than a good stringer tank. I mean, you're going to get it dirty and sweaty. Exactly. It's like, would you wear your nice white t-shirt to work out? Probably not, you know? Because I love pit stains. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Cool, well, basketball debate, success. I think we were all on the same page there. So Dr. John, please tell us, when did you-- I know you're a doctor, but when did you decide to specialize in sleep? So when I was doing my fellowship in Memphis, sleep was the upcoming field. That was in the late '90s. So one of my professors said, man, this is probably better to invest your time. And so I spent a little bit more time and effort specializing that. So because I myself knew the power or the rather, the superpower of sleep. Because in med school, you don't sleep much. Because it's very competitive. You drink a lot of caffeine. But then I always found that if I had better sleep, I performed better in my exam. I was like, this is early on. So at that time, that was not much information about the sleep. Then going through grief, just like you, lost my mom, couldn't sleep. Then started my own business, a lot of employees, bills, stress, couldn't sleep. But I found an answer through this. And I said, man, I can do it. After perfecting this for 25 years, I formed the seven strategies. And then I said, let me give it to the world. Because if I can do it and feel the power, this is something to share. Because I personally believe the world needs more sleep. Because we are better people. We heal in our sleep. We grow in our sleep. We're going to talk about fitness and sleep in a minute. But as an author, I always fear about how the message comes along to people, right? And for you, the great joy is when people like you and others call in and say, man, this is the best thing. This book is speaking to me. So that gives me the greatest joy that I'm able to connect. Because as a physician, it's easy to write. But to write at a level that people can understand and relate. And I'm so glad I also had some help with that final aspect. I'm glad this is the fruit of my writing. What it was in my head, I put two years into it. And I'm so excited that I'm able to share it and people are able to resonate with it. Absolutely. Yeah. So you said it's because of med school and things that, it's so ironic to me that doctors, what they go through to be doctors, is unhealthy sometimes, an unhealthy amount of sleep or lack of running on caffeine. And that can turn into a vicious cycle of staying away as long as you can and then sleep a little bit and then stay awake as long as I drink more caffeine. I know I've been in a vicious cycle of that. And I also know-- one thing I really want to ask you about is how do you-- there was a story about a trucker that you had in your book who was hesitant because of the rules of his job to get help for sleep and fix his issues. But from my understanding of the book, issues with sleep can cause so many more issues. And you have no idea that sleep is actually the root cause until you've done a sleep study. Or you've done-- what do you call it? When you-- the sleep tests, like you-- Home sleep study? Home sleep study, yes. So you are a big advocate of those and a big advocate of the CPAP machine. Am I saying that right? OK, so this guy was really hesitant to get treatment for sleep because he was afraid of losing his job. As a trucker, and they stay up long hours. And I know there are a ton of people who are very achiever mindset are very type A. I am one of them. It's like, I will stay up to finish the thing and the project or get done with all my emails or whatever it is. And be like, it'll be fine. I'll just adjust my workout in the morning. And then the next day, I don't adjust my workout. I'm like, go hard. And then I'm caught in this vicious cycle. And it's hard to have the awareness to go, I need to address this issue. I'm not sleeping well. And when I was grieving the loss of my brother, and that still happens, where I will wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to go back to sleep. And I will get frustrated about it. But then there's some things like grief that you have to move through it. But there's other things that I was not doing that are so easy. So for the people who are hesitant, like, I'll dress my sleep later, and I need to stay awake. I'm a different person, right? Like, I sleep myself in the rest of the world. We're all human beings. We all need sleep. So what are some easy ways, like one small change at a time that people can make to have better sleep? I don't want to give away the whole book because I want people to read it, but-- Yes. So you know, there's people who talk about this common phrases, you know, I'll die or I'll sleep when I die, right? So I tell those people, hey, literally that can happen, right? Because sleep impacts our memory. It impacts your heart. So if you are sleep deprived, you're not happy. You are at risk for errors driving accidents, right? So not telling all those-- if you look at history, how many disasters have happened at night, right? So the NTSB says there's 2/3 less cars and vehicles on the road, but 2/3 of all accidents happen at night. So it's kind of like-- 2/3. Yes. So nighttime, you have to prior sleep, sleep, you have to put a top there. So see, people search for sleep all over the place, but there's not good information. So what happens is there are some people who are called short sleepers. They don't need much sleep. I found that very interesting. Yeah, so that message gets around everywhere. Hey, you don't need-- but that's less than 1%. See, Elon Musk was somebody like that, right? So he felt everybody is like him. But then he realized, hey, no, no, everybody's not like me. Now he is a big proponent of sleep. If you look at every elite athlete, they all prioritize sleep. They know. But then you take this little misinformation about short sleepers and you don't need-- no, we all need seven to eight hours of sleep. We didn't get that genetic lottery connection in my book. So we can't compare ourselves to those people. So we all need-- so that we'll have enough stages and cycles and get all of that different stages of sleep that we deserve, right? Let's talk about the stages of sleep. All right. So everybody has the common misbelief is REM sleep, or REM sleep is the best. Actually, that's not true, right? REM sleep is a rapid eye movement. So your brain is still very, very active, but your body is paralyzed. This is where you heal. Like if you have conflict with other people, you go into your mind about all that, but you don't act it out, right? Your body is paralyzed. So there's non-REM sleep. That's how you enter into sleep. So it's got like three stages-- one, two, and three. So that three is the most restful. And I always call it like-- REM sleep is REM. No, non-REM stage three. OK, OK. So we are moved away from the REM sleep. Gotcha, gotcha. So the non-REM stage three is the most restful. That's, I call it, the sweet sleep. So you need more of that to feel, get rested, and you feel refreshed. Wow. So in my question, everybody has Dr. John. How do I get that? There's no easy answer, but you have to follow all the principles. And the beauty is, if you don't sleep well one night, the next night you will have an excess of that, the deep sleep, or the sweet sleep, or the stage three of the non-REM sleep. REM is good, but it's not good. Your mind is still active. So if you spend seven hours and five of them are in REM sleep, the next day, like, man, I slept seven, eight hours. I'm still tired. You slept in the lightest stages of sleep or in REM sleep. Big misconception, yes. There's fitness trackers out there. Like the whoop that can tell you what kind of sleep that you're getting. I don't know how accurate they are. I stopped wearing a whoop, but I remember wearing the whoop solely because I wanted to know how I was sleeping. And it was wild to see that I was not sleeping like I thought I was. And my whoop would tell me the next day, like, hey, you're not recovered. You got this kind of sleep, like you got REM, or you got deep sleep, I think it had, and then it had light sleep. And it shows you when you wake up in the middle of the night and I wake up, like, so much in the middle of the night. So I started prioritizing that, but that deep sleep, it was always if I didn't get enough of that because that's not the REM sleep. That's deep sleep, and that's what you're referring to, I think. - Correct, the stage three non-REM sleep. So I have a little take on the variables, I call it. - Okay. - So it doesn't monitor your brain wave, so it's not very accurate, it detects your body movement. - Interesting. - So people do, even like you, even my own son, anybody I say, take it away, because once you-- - Okay, good, that I did. (laughing) - Yeah, everybody. So what happens is people obsess on it. - Yes. - And then what they do, they obsess on it, and then they actually, the sleep quality gets worse. - Wow. - They're stressed about their sleep's going on. - I didn't get enough of this sleep, that sleep. - It's like you said when people who have trouble falling asleep end up having worse sleep, because they're thinking about how they can't fall asleep. - Yes. - They're like, "Oh, I can't fall asleep, I'm getting stressed about it." - See, a person who is in their weight, the coach will tell you, "Don't weigh yourself, right?" - Right. - You only will weigh after a certain time, so too much information, you can data mine your way into sleep, right? - Sure. - Then you obsess over it. So I tell people, it's not accurate data because you don't have brain waves. So you get some rough estimate, do something, and then do it, don't every day, wear it, and track it. See, sleep is, see, we have met our match in the hustle culture with sleep. Sleep is an ancient art, we work on fitness diet, we need to work on sleep too, right? It is contrary to the hustle culture, you have to ease in to sleep. We want it to be like an on/off switch, but sleep is a dimmer, you have to have several steps, you know, in my, you know, I have an acronym we'll go over that, you know, given the seven strategies as an acronym, so you have to slowly work it. It's like a seven course meal, you have to take it, you know, prepare it. It doesn't come like a, you know, on and off switch. We wish, but it, you cannot, there's no way around it. - No, wow, it's incredible because it really, hustle culture really does like, I think we're starting to get a little bit better or maybe talk about it more, but hustle culture being like, "Go, go, go, go, go, go." And then we don't talk about like, in order to be able to go at your best, you know, like and give your best, so athletes, you know, and there's, I'm sure people out there listening who are athletes or like, "Oh, I'm not an athlete, "so it doesn't really matter, it matters to every single person." This is what like, one of those things that humanizes every single one of us and puts us all on the same playing field. I don't care what you do, you are mentally affected. There was a story in there about someone who had diabetes and the source was literally sleep. And then the like, symptoms of that person got better and things were like, you can heal a lot of things through having better sleep. And you talk about the CPAP machine and sleep apnea and that's like a very common like issue people have and they don't even know it. One of the most interesting things I read in that book was about snoring and how it's usually a bad sign. So can you talk a little bit about snoring and the CPAP machine and like, I know there are people out there listening right now who are like, my husband snores and he wakes me up all the time and he might have a underlying health issue that either you're aware of or you're not, that could be resolved with sleep, so. - Yes, snoring is a warning sign, right? So imagine a pipe and that's narrowed and you have a flow of water. Now you narrow that pipe and creates turbulence. Same thing with our airway. So when it is narrowed, it creates turbulence. Snoring is nothing but a sign of obstruction. So what people are doing today is something called sleep divorce, right? Couples are sleeping separately. Oh, you don't need to, actually that is, that's actually wrong. We have to find out why and try to bring them back. So snoring is a warning sign. See what happened, men actually snore more because our larynx is bigger. Just imagine a trumpet, you know, it gets, our excess are baited and the larynx is bigger. So that's why men get help much quickly than women. Women's larynx is smallest, so the snoring is milder, right? So women are protected from sleep apnea because, you know, the estrogen protects them. So after menopause, there's increased incidence of sleep apnea in women. So women lose their advantage after menopause. - What are other circumstances in which people would have more of a risk of like snoring and sleep apnea? Like what are like warning signs and symptoms? - Sure, when you have deviated nasal septum, you can snore because it's blocking in large tonsils. That's very common in children. It's actually a simple. Both my children had sleep apnea from tonsils. So we talk about sleep apnea. There's actually a word before it. It's called obstructive sleep apnea. So there's literally an obstruction. So some people have the jaw pushed backwards. So, you know, that's the overbite. So that's another. And we, you know, I actually send people for surgery to move the jaw forward, you know? The common sign is when majority of the men who have thick beards have a overbite. They're covering it. You can watch. - Wow. - So that's, that's a, that's one of those ways. - Are you serious? Are you covering an overbite over there? - That's a very common sign. - What do you have? - It's like you have an overbite. - So, we all cut beard over there. - We actually put a chin to move it forward. - Wow. - So snore, I mean, see, do you know that number one in two search things on sleep? Number one is insomnia, cannot sleep. Number two is sleep apnea. So there's so much interest in, you know, these two topics. - Right. - So people usually like will opt for a quick fix, like melatonin. I've, I've been there and then I got into a vicious cycle of melatonin, caffeine, melatonin, caffeine and realized actually I don't think I can sustain this and it gave me anxiety. - So you're like a celebrity. That's what I used to my, for my celebrity clients. I give something for them to put the sleep, something to keep them away. - No, just kidding. (laughing) - I think it's a quick fix. - So we have melatonin within ourselves. So it's so great to see the challenges. Human melatonin is released in pulses. It secretes a little bit and then gives a big boost. It is related to the core body temperature. You know, it actually precedes it, you know, just before the core body temperature drops. That's when, you know, it starts a lot of melatonin. That's why I tell not to exercise heavily before, you know. - Yeah. - And also not have a big meal before bedtime because the end product of a big meal is heat and melatonin is, you know, hormone that's produced in, you know, the word melon means darkness. It's only produced in darkness and in colder temperature. That's why the screen, I tell people to prepare to bed. You have to have your phone at least 30 minutes prior because the light is deterring to the secretion of natural melatonin. And so when you take a melatonin from outside, your body gets tolerant just like alcohol. You might get the bus with one or two drinks then about a week or a month later, you want more drinks, you know, because your body gets tolerant. So that's why when you take anything from the external, you have to keep higher and higher dose as your body will reject it. - That's what was happening to me. - While our body's, yeah, while our body's metabol, you know, the way it's secretes melatonin is in pulses. It's so, so geniously programmed so it doesn't get used to the tolerance, right? So we don't need melatonin. I only prescribe melatonin for two things. When you are in jet lag and after a trip that your mom arranged, we had to take melatonin to synchronize our clock. - Your book, I traveled to Africa, right? As I was finishing your book. - Yes, yes. - And I had all the information I needed about jet lag is going to Africa, it's seven hours difference. And you had said when you're traveling east, it's a little bit easier because you're going like forward, I think, versus back in time. - It makes the opposite sense. - Yes, so coming back, I was like, but I felt fine, both getting to Africa and I climbed a mountain. I don't know if you know that, but I climbed a kilimanjaro. So it's like sleep kind of was really important and so is food, but on the mountain. But I remember like, I was taking this very seriously. So I'm like, I wish your book and I was like, I would not have known to do this and to account for your advice was to about four days before you traveled to start going to bed a little bit earlier, like an hour earlier. So I started doing that and then it was like, try to-- - Stay awake where you land. Think, forget about where you came from. - Yes, yeah, and like start thinking in the time zone that you're going to. So like, there was a ton of advice in there about jet lag that I've followed and it was fresh in my brain just from reading it and then I got there and the route that I took to climb the mountain was eight days, that was what was planned and that's what most people do. I didn't have an issue with altitude, I didn't have to take any altitude pills. I had plenty of an appetite and I slept well and was well rested enough to do it in six days and the guides were very impressed by that and I'm sure there's other things that went into that but I really, really think and then going back I was like, okay, what do I need to do to be okay going back to work 'cause I did have the weekend to recover but I felt fine, I worked out in the next couple days when upon getting back and altitude affected me definitely but I really felt grateful for that advice about jet lag. So there's a lot of stuff in there that's not just like, okay, how do we get better sleep? It's like, how can you think about sleep in your life in all of these different ways that it applies that like, how does it apply to your children? Why is it important for them? Why is it important for your marriage? Why is it important for athletes? Why is it, I mean, every single person on the planet can benefit from knowing more about sleep but it's not just knowing more because I know more and then it's really hard for me to not like watch TV or something before a bed for an hour but we do have power over this and it does make everything you do better quality. - So that's why I wanted to write a book for the whole family, there are a lot of good books but I said, that's why I wrote a chapter for children, teens, adults, a chapter for losing weight, mental health. I also chapter for women because women don't sleep well because of the nature of so many reasons. I have a story of a woman who doesn't sleep. I even have athletes a story for them because what happens when you sleep, the human growth hormone which is needed for growth but adults it's needed for muscle healing and repair, right? And the secretion of cortisol and the blood sugar control, all that, plus just feeling good. I even know why the titans lose. - That was fascinating to me. The time difference when teens travel, I was like, this man has figured out football and I wonder if any of these coaches know. So my dad and I actually talked about that. I was like, I wonder if, do you think coaches know this? Like, do you think they factor this in when they're traveling? - See the NFC championship, you know, the lions came out swinging, right? And then they shut off in the third and the fourth quarters and everybody said, what is going on? See, there's data already there. The West Coast teams play better at night. Hope they, you know, the coaches knew that information because it was late at night and they already got to sleep while they were peaking the Western teams. The San Francisco was peaking around like 8, 8, 30 because that's the time. You know, we are most awake at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. and we are more vulnerable at 2 p.m. and 2 a.m. Guess what? The third quarter in our, for the Titans, just stay in the stadium. You'll see everybody's gonna, and then I actually looked at the data for three years and guess what our worst quarter is? - The third quarter, it's the third quarter. - Is it the net point differential in each year, one year was minus two, one year was minus 19 and one year was minus 22 points. The offense is not firing. The defense is not doing. It's just a matter of few millimeters. So I really don't think why we are stuck at noon. See, see, I think some teams have figured it out. You don't see the top teams play at noon, right? - I don't know if I'll figure it out. - So for all fairness, you know, they trade players up and down. I think they need to trade times to be fair, right? Why are we not fighting? Why are we not fighting as a Titans organization? I'm in the stadium and I'm seeing this happens. I can even tell, hey, this quarter we're gonna lose. And duh, you know what I'm saying? I think the Titans should change the time. They should play a prime time or a different time. - Richard was just on, he has a Titans Connect. So Titans, 'cause I know you're listening. - And so we can do certain things. See, like we go for a seven o'clock meeting. We rarely go for a two o'clock meeting because we don't perform any better. - Everybody's asleep. - Yes, either you are having a tea time or a siesta. - You talked about the importance of taking naps. - Yes, oh no. - And there is, such thing is taking too many. So don't be like, I can just sleep all day. It's not, excuse, sleep all day, but 'cause that will mess up your sleep too. It's asleep too much during the day. - So when you are suffering from insomnia, I try to create a sleep debt so that, you know, they don't release that valve by a nap. - Right. - But encourage naps is so important. Your brain actually gets bigger in a little bit smarter after a nap because it's a circadian rhythm, right? - I'm taking a nap when I get a chance. - I love that. - And you are, let me just put it on the record here. He put this in his book too. This is an MD, this is a doctor, okay? Doctors are probably the busiest people on this planet. Takes naps in the middle of the day. And he tells his family, I'm taking a nap. I'm gonna go in here. I'll see you in a little bit. So there is no excuse. I don't care how busy you are, how rich you are, how amazing you are, you deserve sleep more than anybody. - So the sign of nap is, you know, because of the circadian rhythm, it gets lull or a down time around two in the afternoon. But if you are operating from a sleep dead and you're taking a large nap for like long nap for like four hours, then it's a different problem. Your body's trying to tell you something, right? You might have a medical disorder, like, you know, heart problem, lung problem. Your body's just telling you, it's a warning sign if you sleep too much. Or you didn't sleep the night before. You see the difference? So the nap should be like maximum 20, 30 or 40 minutes, not longer than that. If you're taking a long nap, then there's a, - Then you probably lacked sleep to begin. - Correct. So you're sleep deficient. - I always took a three hour nap this weekend. - You're operating forever. Sleep in sufficient sleep or sleep depth. - Yeah. - That's what it sounds like. - It probably worked a lot that week. - Well, I'd go on a long bike ride that morning. - There you go. - It shows up in the sun. I was like, I'm just gonna put on some TV and nap and then three hours went by, it's pretty awesome. - Yeah, but it's not normal. - Well at least it's not normal. - Yes. - So when you say sleep, that I've always, you always hear about like catching up on sleep. My God, I don't sleep well during the week. I'll catch up on the weekend. Is that, is there any kind of validity to that? - It's actually a recent trend. In fact, you know, my children when they come from college, they say I have a sleep problem. And they take, they long, they come home. I, I relieve them of all their phones and everything. They sleep for 14 hours. That's called bed rotting. It's actually a good thing to come and catch up and operate. But, but people are bringing their work to the bed and instead of sleeping, they're still working. See, when you're going to make up the bed, it's actually a good strategy to make it up in the weekends to make up. So you just think, if you don't sleep one hour a night, at the end of seven days, you're not slept the whole, one whole night. You see, that's adding, adding, adding. And you're in a mental form. You are not a good employee. You're not a good worker. You're in a bad mood. You are at risk for errors. So so many things, so, I mean sleep is free. You know, it's for everyone. It's a superpower and we need to work on it. We work on fitness and diet and getting, you know, getting forward, everything. We also need to work on sleep. Because like you said, once you do that, you are good in everything else. - I really feel like if you are working hard on fitness and nutrition and you are not seeing results and you are not feeling results, that's, that's why. Because you're not working. I really, it kicked my butt into gear about sleep. Like thinking about it, because I already nailing. It's, it's not horrible, especially like for reasons like grief and things like you can't control, but at the same time, like I, I think there are things that I can control about this. And knowing how already, how it affects my fitness and how it like, if I don't sleep well one night or two nights, like my workouts, I'm frustrated because I'm like, I know I don't feel as good as I could feel. I'm not getting as much out of this. And I want to be able to push through this and I want to be able to get something out of this. Or maybe I'm not feeling like too confident in my body and I feel kind of bloated or feel kind of bad. And it's like, my nutrition is usually, you know, on point. I have a pretty good balance with that. And these are things we talk about all the time in the fitness world, in the strength training world and yoga. And we talk about, actually I think yoga is a little bit better about talking about restful, you know, sleep and things like that. But we talk about how important nutrition is and I know I've had a lot of clients who have been so frustrated about not making progress. And I have told them, it's because you work too much into the night, you do not have a stopping point and you do not have a like set like routine, a nighttime routine around your bedtime. You don't go to bed. You just, you will wake up in the middle of the night and start working. And yes, I know you're on a Weight Watchers diet or yes, I know we're tracking your macros. Yes, I know you're working out tirelessly every day. You're doing everything that you're supposed to do, except sleep, that goes before those other things. And people still don't take it seriously. It's still not taken seriously enough. And be like, oh yeah, yeah, I know. But I just wanna work so much. And it's like people act like they are the only people in their life or in the world that work as much as they do and have the responsibilities that they do. It's because like, you know, people pleasing and like, there are a lot of good people out there doing really great things and working hard. And sometimes we do have to like push a little bit further than our limits. But for the most part, don't make excuses about your sleep. Read this book. It will like, almost scare you into wanting to sleep more because of how much you will learn about how sleep affects everything else in your life. It's not just like, oh yeah, like I know it can affect me and my mental health, I'll be moody or whatever when I don't sleep. But you can literally inherit problems like diabetes like mental health issues that you don't have to have if you don't fix your sleep, if you don't address it. And it's so controllable. So let's get into like the strategies. I don't want to give too much away. So you tell me, tell the audience what you want. - I want the audience to have everything. - I think on top of that, you need to get this book. - So, you know, for people who are busy, I have actually a program on my website, you know, my website, Sleep Fix Academy. And it's called the Sleep Now course. You know, people can just take that. And you know, it's a six weeks routine. And I teach how people, the self help, they can do it by themselves. - Can we put that in the credits Trent? - Awesome. We're going to put that in the credits. - So for everyone, so the seven strategies I'm going to explain, it's called sleep now. So SL, E-E-P-N-O-W, easy does, right? So as is a schedule, we all need a schedule. For any plan to succeed, we have to have a schedule. So 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. prioritize sleep, right? So that's the only way you can get all the cycles and stages because a lot of good stuff happened early part of the night. People ask me, why would I want to do that? Well, a lot of sweet things are in the beginning of the night. You don't want to push it later and later, and the sun comes out and then you won't, right? So the next is L in the acronym is low light, low noise, low temperature. Melatonin, duh, it's only secreted in darkness and you know, when there's low temperature. So I tell people to experiment between 65 and 70 to keep it low. That's why when you go to Africa or any other, you don't sleep well because that's not, it's hot. So any tropical vacation you do, you don't sleep well because it's hot. You don't have enough melatonin in ours for example. So the next is E in the acronym is no to electronics, at least 30 minutes. I tell people, at least an hour, but-- It's hard for people. At least 30 minutes because the light from the phone, especially in the bedroom where there's no ambient light, is very powerful, right? So I tell them, I actually leave my phone in the bathroom. So I set an alarm. So in the middle of the night when you wake up, hey, it's three o'clock, one with only three o'clock and then you know, text message. You know, you're, you know, you're awoken from that stage. Yes. So the next is exercise, at least four hours prior because of the heat. You know, one cool, you're revving up the cortisol and all the hyper, I've seen that in my own life. That's the only-- Yes, exactly right. And so then P is powering off your mind. I actually teach two techniques in the P in the acronym. One is, you know, the vivid imagination. I have practiced this technique for 30 years. I don't bring reality to the bed. I started being the director of the last show I watched and I see how it ends. So that is my own technique for sleep. And then of course, yoga, nidra. Nidra means nothingness in Sanskrit. So you lay down with your palms up and just don't think about nothing. You see, I'll come up. Yes, I'll come. Chavasana, yes. Chav means corpse, asana is a pose. So it's a corpse pose, yeah. Did not know that. Yes. Wow. So, you know, in everything, I'm always combining the East and the West. I think the truth is in the middle, you know. So that's what I'm trying to bring in everything I do. So, but remember, you cannot power off your mind until you've done the axis, the foam. And then your body is calm. So you can't just go there and do it. So you see how I've done? Yes, it's a list of things, like an order. And it's interesting too, what you talk about with like blue light and things like that. And all of these things make it's a chemical thing happening in your body where your brain thinks you're it's daytime. Like the blue light, literally it perceives it as daylight. You know, you know, where the cops use blue light, right? So the blue light is the first light you see. It's catches your eye, right? So that's the blue is the first light you see. So that's absolute danger that happens to us. That's crazy. Red is the red is the furthest you can see. That's the red light is, you know, that's the farthest wavelength you can see blue light is. And blue light therapy. Yeah, yeah, blue light is the first light. So then moving along is like the acronym is no, no to worries. I tell people to worry, you know, not in bed, but before that, I take time to worry 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. I was getting ready for your show and other shows. I just say, what do I do? I was done by 8 p.m. last night. I don't go in bed to worry. And then the last is W and the acronym is win by losing, you know, we can't complicate sleep. You know, you have to be in control of it. It's naturally easy. So that's the acronym sleep now is easy. It's not very complicated. It's natural. It's holistic. So I always tell people when you're entering the bedroom, it's like a TSA screen or the detector, right? Phone, beep, you know, you have worries. You're bringing to bed beep. You got to leave it all out, you know, tight clothes and all that. Beep. So you have to be comfortable, keep it easy, you know, it'll come to you and I've perfected this art after like 25 years. It works. I've helped so many clients, you know, this past two years. I mean, yeah, I read in your book. Yeah. The stories are really my favorite part. Yes. Because you start, he starts every chapter with a story about a client or, I mean, a patient of his. And it will be something crazy. It'll be like things that you, like people you know. It's literally people you know probably because you work right here. But it would just be something like this. This guy has diabetes. His wife is getting really frustrated with his snoring. It'll be like a kid who's having trouble in his sport. Like you were, you saw a college football player who ended up, I think he had insomnia. But there's, these are common issues. Like a lot of people have these issues and it's okay to have them. But I think if you're not addressing it and you're just writing it off, like it's normal, especially with hustle culture, that's what people do is like, Oh, well, you know, like, yeah, wake up in the middle of the night. It's, and that was a pattern for me for a long time after my brother died. So I wake up in the middle and I couldn't get back to sleep. And I'm like, Oh, well, this is normal with grief. And then after a while, I'm like, this is really affecting my life though. Like I need to get a handle on this and I know that I can. There's got to be some way, you know. And a lot of it is the blue eye, the phone by your bed. And it's like things that you can't, you can't like keep making that excuse. It's, yes, it's hard, but I do address how to, you know, waking up in the middle of the night is common because our sleep pattern goes in and out. It's not like, you know, you go light and deep, then you come back. You know, sometimes you wake up and then what do you do? So I address that very specifically of how to get over this. It's a very common phenomenon. When I was doing, before I read your book, I would wake up and I'd be like, mmm, I'm going to get on my phone. Yeah. It makes it a lot harder to go back to sleep and that's why I couldn't get back to sleep. You know, so there's simple things. Like you said, it's sleep, you know. It shouldn't be that complicated, but, you know, sometimes we have issues. And so uncomplicated, you know. And I like that you also talked about the bedroom being like for things like sleep and sex, that's it, you know. And I think, you know. Not for snoring or worrying. Or watching TV or being on your phone or making it in office. Yes. A lot of people combine their office with their bedroom, you know. It's like simple things that you can change about your life, about your sleep habits, about your nighttime routine. That can really change your life. I just, I think it's such a valuable information. So anyways, I think it's a good time to take a break for our sponsors. So we're going to take a break really quick, we'll be right back. Hey, there entrepreneurs. Are you ready to fast track your business success? Tune into the Ground Up Podcast, your ultimate business guide brought to you by Roy Mangrum and Terry Bargee. Whether you're just starting out or looking to skip those common business pitfalls, we've got you covered. Our mission is to help everyday entrepreneurs like you achieve stability and success faster than ever. So what are you waiting for? Subscribe to the Ground Up Podcast today and let's build your business from the ground up. Available on all major streaming platforms, don't miss it. Welcome back everybody. We are going to continue this interview with a little break. We are going to stretch our intellect. So what we all have are some pieces of paper here with just information. This is a little different than the debate we had brought to you by all strength in Brentwood. Go all strength. Love you guys. And to all the information that we are getting today, here's a little bit more for you guys. The color of fruits and vegetables can indicate the types of nutrients they contain. For example, orange and yellow fruits and vegetables like carrots and mangoes are rich in beta carotene, which is important for eye health and immune function. I always thought the carrots and eyesight thing was a myth, but that's true. I know, right? I think it's funny that it's beta carotene and it's called like carrots, but it's also spelled differently, right? Carotene is with K? No, it is a C. C-A-R-O-T-N-E, yeah. Oh, okay. Well, yeah, I guess I should have asked the doctor in the room. Okay, Doc, what do we got? Chia seeds known for their high fiber and omega-3 fatty acid content were staple food for the ancient Aztecs and Mayans. They were believed to provide substantial energy and endurance for long journeys and battles. Yeah, that's absolutely truth. So you see after your good night's sleep. Let's get stuck in my teeth, but I think I need to go back to what might happen. But only one caveat, don't eat too much. It can cost constipation. Did you say that way, no? Oh man, okay, wow, I love this stuff. Okay, quinoa is often referred to as a superfood due to its high protein content and unique amino acid profile. It is one of the few plant foods that contains all nine essential amino acids, making it a complete protein source for vegetarians and vegans. So to my vegan, the clients out there, more quinoa, please, I need you to get your protein in. Thank you. Do you have any clients that are like vegan or vegetarian? No, I used to be, though. Yeah. How did you get your protein in here? I did tofu a good bit, was doing like meat substitutes. I found out the hard way soy is not compatible with my body. It's not compatible with a lot of bodies. Yeah, it's the case a lot of times, but I wanted to give it an honest try, but yeah, those were the main sources and then nuts, seeds, stuff like that, quinoa, lentils, beans. Yeah, interesting. I'm always, I'm always asking like anybody who's vegan, pretty much any kind of vegan protein source usually comes with a secondary or tertiary effect, so that's why I kind of stopped doing it. I gotcha. It's like, I just want beef. I know. Well, I always want that. Yeah. Cool. Well, I do want to ask you one more question, Dr. John, before we have you leave our listeners with what you want to leave our listeners with, but the red light thing, I want to know your opinion on red light therapy. So that's not much information about, so they're trying to match the color combination. So I think the red light is trying to, if you look at certain celebrities have started wearing it. They're trying to get the evening, you know, they're getting into the process of less light towards the evening. I do agree with it, but I think we should all have that, but I don't know exactly the science of the red light, why'd they choose color, but the general principle is less light towards the evening. And the best thing I tell people is the evening sunlight is really good for you. So you see, yes, and because that has those rays that move the clock a little bit forward, especially if you see our older adults, they seem to thrive in walking. And they say they sleep better because of the walking is actually true. But the real truth is the sun is helps them, those rays helps them to move the clock. You know, they tend to go to bed early, it pushes the clock forward compared to teenagers who will go forward and you have to push it back, right? So I think the principle is just avoidance of a lot of light towards as we're preparing to bed. Awesome. Well, you hear that take a walk before in the evening around sunset. I mean, that's got to have so many benefits. Especially after a meal, short walk, yeah. I mean, then you get your steps in, you know, like honestly, people crap on walking as like a way to lose weight. But some people, if all they started doing was just a 30 minute walk at the end of the day. I have a friend that lost like 200 pounds and that was like the one big change he made. It was just walking. Literally. So don't come at me about walking, not working. I literally heard someone say that. It was like an Instagram thing. And I'm like, I have to put that out of my eyesight because I will get so you're discouraging people from walking. Get out of here. Come on. And sunset, the sun rays actually have something in them that sunrise doesn't have. That will like push the clock forward. Yeah. Sunrise is the stimulant in sunset is nature, right? Yeah. And I've heard other doctors talk about the importance of sun exposure. Yeah. Yeah. The Superman is really big on like the first first thing in the morning getting sunlight. Yep. You know, I try to do that. Even just sitting on my porch for a little bit and it's. We're all the creatures of the sun. You know, the babies wake up at the cracker down. We rotate in our life revolves around the sun, but we are moving away from it. You know, the benefits of the sun with the modern society with staying indoors, vitamin D, all that, you know, the sun, we revolve around the sun. So that's why in many cultures, the sun is worshiped. Worshiped. I was going to say it's like a God in a lot of cultures from since the beginning of time. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Dr. John, thank you so much for being here today. We're going to wrap up this episode, but we usually Jarrell invented this part of the podcast. I have to give him credit. What is one thing if you could leave our listeners with anything? What would that be? So this is a power that is within ourselves, you know, sleep is the superpower, right? If it was not meant to be, we wouldn't sleep. All creatures sleep. So this is a gift. Don't fight it. You know, embrace it and reach it. Work at it. It is spiritual, it is a superpower and it's free. We all need to know the power of it. Yeah. The drawback it, it doesn't hurt like a toothache, you know, or grow like cancer, so we ignore it. But with time it catches up. So sleep well, be well. Sleep well, be well. And by this book, it's called Nobody's Sleeping. You can get it on Amazon and we will put that course that you were talking about. Sleep now is the acronym, SleepFixAcademy.com. And I'm also in social media, I'm Dr. SleepFix. Dr. SleepFix. So follow Dr. John, get this book and go to sleepfixacademy.com, especially if you're struggling right now. And get edge-emicated on sleep, you will not regret it. I am so happy that we made this connection and we should probably have you back on periodically to talk about sleep until everyone gets it, because Nashville will be the healthiest place ever if I have anything to do. I'm excited to get this book and read it. Yeah. Very excited. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you so much, guys. We're going to sign off now. Thank you, Dylan, for being here with us. Of course. Do you have anything you want to say? Sleep well, be well. I kind of think I can top that. Good night, everybody. Be well, sleep well, sleep well, eat well, all the things. All right, guys, this is Dylan and Sav and on the NFM podcast, signing off. Thank you. All right, fit fam, that'll do it for today's episode of the NFM podcast. Be sure to visit our sponsors. And if you like what you heard today, make sure you like and share it with your friends. Thank you, guys, again, for listening. (upbeat music)
