jetlag is a temporary sleep disorder that occurs when we travel across time zones basically our
internal body clock gets thrown entirely out of whack and we suffer side effects such as
fatigue difficulty sleeping headaches and even poor digestion but what if I told you
there was a simple four-step formula that could help you avoid jet lag entirely so
if you want to know how you can avoid jet lag on your next trip keep watching
hey guys welcome back to my channel if you're new here my name is Kait I'm a certified health
and nutrition coach I post videos here on YouTube twice a week talking all things insulin resistance
weight loss sleep and more so if you're ready to take control of your metabolic Health make sure to
click that subscribe button and you can also find me on Tick Tock and Instagram or if you're new
posts every single day so if you've been around my channel for a while you probably know or maybe
you don't know that I'm actually from Canada but I live in Australia and the time difference between
these two places could not be bigger here in Adelaide where I currently live the time is 13 and
a half hours ahead of Toronto where I'm from give or take an hour for daylight savings so traveling
between these two places can cause a lot of jet lag if I don't prepare properly but thankfully
I've been able to find a four-step process that pretty much guarantees I won't suffer jet lag when
I arrive and if I do the side effects are going to be minimal but with all that being said let's get
straight into it now the four steps we're going to talk about today are centered around syncing
our circadian rhythm with the new time zone there are cues that our body takes to set our internal
clock and the sooner we can shift these cues from our old time zone to our new one the faster we're
going to get over jet like so number one is to plan your last meal the time that you have your
last meal before your flight is critical I want you to look at the time your flight takes off and
what time that's going to be in your destination country and plan your last meal at a time that
would be a meal time where you're going now this can be a little bit tricky depending on how far
you're going for example I think the last time I left Toronto my flight was at 6pm p.m which was
7 30 a.m Adelaide time so I didn't really want to eat right before my flight because I wouldn't
normally be eating at 6am if I was in Adelaide so I ate my last meal mid-morning Toronto time which
would Loosely be about dinner time in Adelaide and I fasted for the rest of the day now this will be
obviously a bit easier to manage and figure out if you're not traveling as far as I usually am and if
the time zones are a little bit closer together but that brings us into step number two which is
too fast now from here you have two options the first option is to fast for the duration of your
flight so this means don't eat anything and only drink water coffee and unsweetened tea if you can
manage to fast for the entire duration of your flight you're gonna feel a whole lot better when
you come out the other side but if you don't have much experience with fasting and if this option
seems a little bit overwhelming the other option would be to continue sinking your meals with your
destination time zone figure out what time at your destination you would be having breakfast
lunch and dinner and only eat at those times now of course you want to try to avoid eating the
airplane food pack some meals if you can and eat those instead or choose better options when you're
at the airport and at your stopovers if you have enough time it's worthwhile to go to an actual
sit-down restaurant and order some form of protein and vegetables steak chicken fish all good options
even grabbing something like a Cobb salad that's low in carbs and higher in protein and
fat is going to be a better option than eating the standard airplane food but again it's all
about getting our circadian rhythm in sync with the new time zone and the time we eat is a big
indicator for our internal clock it signals to our body what time of day it is there's a big
reason why we don't wake up in the middle of the night absolutely starving our bodies know this is
the time when we're sleeping and if this does happen to you if you are hungry in the middle
of the night this is a pretty big indicator that your circadian rhythm is out of whack and if it's
not your circadian rhythm it can also be a sign of blood sugar dysregulation but that's a topic
for another day step number three is to manage your light exposure okay and this is arguably
the most important step because just like the time of day that we eat light is a key indicator for a
circadian rhythm when we are exposed to light during the day ideally natural sunlight this
signals our bodies it's daytime and hormones that keep us energized and alert are released
such as cortisol and when we're exposed to less light after sunset this signals our bodies that
it's night time and hormones that help us sleep are released such as melatonin so again you want
to look at what time it is at your destination and go off of that if it's 6 PM or later at your
destination you want to limit your light exposure as much as possible and blue light specifically
the best way to do this is with a pair of blue light blocking glasses when you're wearing these
your eyes are shielded from blue light and this is going to help to sink your circadian rhythm more
than anything else now I've had these glasses for probably three or four years now these are
from a brand called bon charge and I will put the link to check them out in the description
box down below along with a promo code and I know you might feel silly wearing these but honestly
who cares trust me looking a little bit silly is well worth it to avoid jet lag so anytime you're
awake after 6 pm and your destination time zone wear these and that's going to bring us into our
final step which is number four stay awake stay awake until it would be your normal bedtime at
your destination if you go to sleep too early in your journey you're going to have trouble falling
asleep the first night when you arrive now again depending on how far you're traveling sometimes
this is going to be easier to do than other times when I'm flying back to Adelaide from Toronto as I
mentioned earlier the flight usually takes off in the evening which is the morning in Adelaide so I
I really try to stay awake as long as possible into my journey and then once it gets to around
6 PM Adelaide time I put on my Blu-ray blocking glasses and I start doing things I normally would
do to wind down AKA not eating maybe doing some reading taking a magnesium supplement having a tea
doing a meditation and then I try to go to sleep again sometimes this is easier to do than other
times but if I've kept myself awake for as long as I usually have on this particular trip I usually
fall asleep pretty easily now I want to make a quick note about melatonin supplements I generally
do not recommend people take them as mentioned earlier melatonin is a hormone and it helps us
to feel sleepy but the thing is when we take it as a supplement too frequently our bodies stop
producing it all together so then when we stop taking it were really screwed however there are
certain times I think that a melatonin supplement can be okay and when you're trying to beat jet lag
is one of those times so if you're having trouble falling asleep in this particular situation then a
melatonin supplement can be helpful and those are the four steps you can take to beat jet lag now
again once you get to your destination you want to get into your normal routine as quickly as
possible eat when you normally would exercise when you normally would and of course sleep when you
normally would and if you've followed these steps before and during your journey you should be able
to get into a normal routine pretty easily now I want to hear from you let me know in the comment
section down below what you do to combat jet lag I love chatting with you guys in the comments
section so even if you just want to come and say hi I appreciate it any comments help to support
the video and support my channel so thank you and I'm also going to put the link to check out
the blue light blocking glasses that I use in the description box down below now if you did enjoy
this video you might also enjoy my video on how you can get more deep sleep I'm going to put the
link right here if you want to catch up on my most recent upload you can find it here and if you want
to check out my coaching programs you can find those here thanks guys I'll see you next time bye