Are you waking up at 2 or 3am and it’s affecting your health and fitness? You’re fatigued and your cramps while running have gotten worse? This was happening to my client Paul before he started working with us.


In today’s episode Paul tells his story about working with the Sleep Detective:

  • how he was sleeping and feeling before, 
  • what he had tried that didn’t work, 
  • what his test results showed,
  • how the program helped him sleep better in only a couple of months, 
  • and how he feels amazing now and just had a personal best time for a half marathon. 


If you’re ready to hear about how Paul was finally able to overcome his sleep issues and be inspired that you can do it too, this episode is for you. 


The Complete Sleep Solution will help you consistently sleep 7-9 hours, naturally. Book a consultation to get started.


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Episode Transcript


Are you waking up at 2:00 or 3:00 AM and it's affecting your health and fitness? Maybe you're experiencing fatigue or worse problems with cramps while running races. Like my client, Paul. In today's episode, Paul tells his story about working with us, how he was sleeping and feeling before what he had tried that didn't work. And then once he signed up for the program, what his test results show and how it helped him sleep better in only a couple months, and how he feels amazing now and it has transformed his health. He even just had a personal best record for a half marathon that he ran a few months ago. This is the Sleep Detective podcast, which will help you finally understand why you don't sleep well and how to fix it so you can consistently sleep seven to nine hours uninterrupted naturally without needing drugs.


My name is Martha Lewis. I've been a functional health and sleep coach since 2019, and I've helped over 200 clients fix their sleep problems and restore their health so they can wake up, rested, have energy, and achieve their fitness goals. If you're ready to hear about how Paul was finally able to overcome his sleep issues and be inspired that you can do it too, this episode is for you. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Sleep Detective Podcast. Today I have my wonderful client, Paul, on to talk about his story and his journey from dealing with sleep and other health issues to how he's doing now. So welcome, Paul. Thanks so much for being here.


Paul:

Yeah, thank you for having me, Martha.


Martha:

Yes, it's so good to see you again.


Paul:

Yes, yes, likewise. It's been a while.


Martha:

Yes, he has been working with my co-coach Claudine in the complete Sleep Solution program, so we chat sometimes, but yeah, he's mainly been working with Claudine. Yeah. So tell me, how were you sleeping before you signed up for this program?


Paul:

So I was waking up in the middle of the night really like a metronome. It was like I could set my watch by it awake at 2:00 AM and going back to sleep, maybe 4:00 AM something like that. It was really clear and it was noticeable, so I often had to take a midday nap to try to catch up with


Martha:

Sleep. Right, yeah. How else was it affecting you?


Paul:

So yeah, I would maybe wake up slightly tired or feeling okay, but I'd run out of steam quite quickly at work.


Martha:

Gotcha. Yeah.


Paul:

Yeah, it was like, and then with working from home, it's like, okay, I can take a nap, but days when I'm in the office, it's not possible. So you get to the end of the day and you're really, really tired, and then it goes into kind of a vicious cycle. So you go to sleep, say nine or 10 o'clock at night, but then you're awake again even though you're tired.


Martha:

Right. I know. That was exactly my problem too. And some of my clients have trouble falling asleep for sure, but a lot of people I'm helping, they're waking up like clockwork, like you're saying. Same time every night and having a really hard time falling back asleep. Yeah,


Paul:

Yeah. And it's frustrating. You lay there and you think, okay, what's going on?


Martha:

Right, exactly. Yeah. So what did you tried before signing?


Paul:

Well, you can hear my wild and wild theories. Well, I guess I was on the right line sort of. I thought it was a temperature problem, which it is because your body heats up. So I thought, ah, okay, maybe I need to change my bedding and get something that's more breathable. Maybe leave the window open at night, which I still do, and then maybe try to eat, not so close to going to bed. But I messed that part up by eating dessert just before bedtime, which I hasten to add. I've stopped now.


Martha:

Yes. That's probably not helping anything, right?


Paul:

No, no, definitely not. Definitely not. It was not the wisest move.


Martha:

Well, that's okay. Many people do it. My husband does. It has ice cream every night before bed.


Paul:

Oh,


Martha:

So we'll catch up with him at some point, unfortunately. Yeah,


Paul:

Exactly. Exactly. The other thing I did was exercise. So I noticed I'm a runner, and when I did a good training session, I noticed I slept really well, but in order for this to work, I had to run increasing distances to get tired mean, which was kind of good for athletics training. It was quite good, but there's a limit to what you can do with that. It's not the healthiest way. And also I think you get to a problem where the sport itself is causing stress in your body and cortisol goes up and stays up and doesn't come down.


Martha:

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So exercise is good for us for sure. Too much can not be good, especially once you are experiencing sleep problems or other symptoms. So luckily you were willing to take it easier for a little bit, and then we're able to come back and I think you did a half marathon or a marathon or a


Paul:

Couple. I did a half marathon. It was in Switzerland. There were 13,000 runners, and I got placed 34th in my age group. I won't say my age group, but I was really like, whoa. That's cool.


Martha:

Yeah. That's amazing. Awesome. Yeah.


Paul:

I'm going to say it was the modern shoes, but you never know.


Martha:

I love it. Awesome. Well, what do you remember from your test results? Do you remember anything that those showed that we worked on? 


Paul:

Yeah, I had a big shock. I was pouring over them thinking, what is going on here? And I knew something wasn't right and I knew that often. I felt quite bloated. I could never understand why my stomach was bloated, even though I was training a lot. I thought, well, I should have abs and really be really, well, what's the word? Toned, but it wasn't the case. And when I saw the issue with gut bacteria and overgrowth and I thought, ah, yeah, that makes sense that something's wrong, but you dunno what, so you can only find out by testing.


Martha:

Yeah, definitely.


Paul:

And then the other big shocker was the hormone levels and the brain function. So that was really shocking. I kind of thought, oh, crikey, it turned out it wasn't a hundred percent. I had to end up doing a blood test to get a confirmed testosterone level, which was a bit higher, but I'm pretty sure it was really, really low. And what struck me is how everything is interrelated, how your body's like a system. It's just like it's all connected together. So if your gut starts doing strange things, then you're going to have problems elsewhere, and that leads to other issues and brain chemical issues as well. So then you eventually get sleep problems and it runs in a great big cycle as well.


Martha:

Yes. I couldn't agree more. Everything is connected for sure. Yeah. So what did you do to start working on these imbalances that we found?


Paul:

So I immediately started studying the entire of the internet on the subject. I really tried to find out as much as I could, and then you were really helpful with the course and what you need to look at and diet and this kind of thing. So there's all the supplements and the protocols, which are really important and that really, really does make a difference. But you have to do it right. You have to do the protocol correctly, and you can't just say, I won't do today or something. I did quite a bit of diet change as well. I realized, okay, carbohydrates are not good. And I realized I'd kind of ignored the whole keto thing and all of this. I'd sort of ignored it. I knew about it, but, oh, well, I'm doing marathon training. I need carbohydrates. Which is true, but only in certain situations and only at certain times. Like two and a half hours before your training session, you should have some carbohydrates, but you don't need it just before you go to bed.


Martha:

Yes, especially them by themselves.


Paul:

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. As tempting as it is. So I did also, I realized that probably the lack of protein was causing gut lining, possibly gut lining some issues, something to do with that. Definitely things to do with hormones. Your body can't produce hormones if it doesn't have enough protein. And I was training and I wonder, well wondered, why aren't my muscles getting bigger? Or I get to a certain level of athleticism and it doesn't go further. And it's because I was not taking anywhere near enough protein today, and I was really shocked when I found out what you're supposed to take, whatever it was, 200 grams a day. And once I started doing that and a lot more, I actually started eating a lot more beef, good quality, grass fed beef, and it worked great. It really helped a lot.


Martha:

I love that. Thanks for adding that too. A lot of people aren't eating enough protein, and especially if you're an athlete and working out like that. Yeah. So that makes sense why neurotransmitters were deficient and hormones were deficient and the gut wasn't healthy and all of those things. You're exactly right.


Paul:

Yeah, it's really shocking. So the things like eating more protein, getting more sunlight and backing off training when your body's under high load, which is hard to do. If you're a bit and you like training, it's kind of difficult. But if you do that together, which I did in the summer, so there were days when I said, okay, I'm, it's hot outside, it's sunny taking the afternoon off. Just go and lay in the sun, swim in the lake and eat a burger. It actually works.


Martha:

That doesn't sound so bad, actually.


Paul:

Yes.


Martha:

Yeah. Now I know how hard it is. I live in a mountain town where all we do is activity. That's what I do with my friends, what I do with my husband. I used to spend go on three hour bike rides regularly and ski all day and all those things. And it was hard for me to take a break when I was having my sleep issues and health issues too years ago. I think we can even get a little bit addicted to it in the endorphins that it,


Paul:

Right, oh yeah. Right.


Martha:

That it releases and all that. So yeah. So I'm glad that you were open to that. Like you said, you kind of have to do the whole protocol. You definitely can't just pick and choose and only


Paul:

Exactly.


Martha:

Doesn't expect to get better. It's definitely very holistic. 


Paul:

It is. Yeah. It's like stacking these different things together. That's what makes the difference. So your body has no chance to compensate somewhere else. You are attacking on all fronts, so to speak. 


Martha:

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And that's just going to be the fastest way to get back in balance and to get better.


Paul:

Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah, we can be disciplined about training as an athlete or whatever, but you need to be equally disciplined about how you deal with sleep issues or any kind of health issues.


Martha:

Yeah. Awesome. So what do you think made the biggest difference? You think it was the diet changes and more protein?


Paul:

That's such a tough one. That's a really tough question. I was thinking about this morning and I thought I was taking my binder, the charcoal binder, and I thought that probably did make a difference because there were, or potentially mold issues, and it just binds all this stuff that's in your body and takes it out. And I thought I was thinking about how much better I feel after the months of taking this. It's really, really made a difference. But I don't think it's the main thing. Actually, one of the major things I think it is, is psychological. For me, it's dealing with stress. So when I saw my test results, I was really shocked and I realized that, okay, you're not destructible, and if you didn't catch this now 10 years down the road, it would be quite serious. It would turn into something serious. So I just thought, okay, a lot of the result of this is stress, various personal things that happened in my personal and professional life. And I started to say, if you don't just let it go and say whatever, then it's going to get you. And learning to do that helped me also to say, okay, I can take the afternoon off. The sun's shining. I'm going and this is my therapy. This is me getting better. Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing. Surprising, but I'm pretty sure that's it. But I say it's all the things that you do together that make the difference. All of the supplements and the protocols that you think, oh yeah, the binder made a difference. The Pylori thing made a difference, but you've got to add 'em all together. Definitely.


Martha:

Yeah. Yeah, I love that. Thanks for sharing that. So tell us how you're sleeping now.


Paul:

So yeah, it's pretty cool. It is pretty cool. I do get tired. I go to bed quite early. I've stuck. So nine, I'm getting into bed, but I sleep, I would say pretty much all the way through. Maybe half the time I wake up maybe two thirds of the time I wake up middle of the night, but I'll just to go to the bathroom very short once and I go straight back to sleep and about, I dunno, 30% of the time I sleep the way through and I wake up at like five 30 and think, oh, okay, that's cool, and that's a huge difference from what was happening before.


Martha:

Yeah, it's amazing. I love it. So what else has changed besides sleeping better?


Paul:

I haven't done any tests, so I can't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure my hormone balance is much better than it was. So as a result, I've got much more energy sports. I think I lost fitness, but clearly I'm okay because I did a recent race and was fine. So yeah, I feel sharper at work. So this has been huge. This has been, I don't get tired during the day. I just kind of go through it and think, oh, alright, that's the end of the day. Fine. Which is really great. So I've been able to do more complex and interesting work. I've had a go at things with success and it's leading on to more and more opportunities.


Martha:

Awesome.


Paul:

That could be quite life changing. I can think about doing things that I definitely wouldn't have thought about doing before.


Martha:

That's amazing. I love hearing that.


Paul:

Yeah.


Martha:

Yeah.


Paul:

It's pretty cool.


Martha:

Yeah. Yeah, I feel like that's a lot why this is my mission to help people because I know from personal experience that we're not our best selves when we aren't sleeping. And we definitely, you're just getting through each day instead of really being able to, I mean, think of how you can help others and make a difference in the world and excel you're trying to do. So yeah, that's so important. Imagine if we were all doing that. We were all getting enough sleep and all healthy, the world would be a different place.


Paul:

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. The difference, it's really noticeable. It's like sleep is your superpower somehow, and if you can find a way to fix the issue, you give yourself so much more opportunities in life. Definitely.


Martha:

Yeah. Awesome. I couldn't agree more. So, okay. One thing I didn't ask you this question advance, but how long do you think, or how long did it take you to get better? You were improving all along. At what point do you feel like you reached where you were?


Paul:

Well, it went in kind of a strange curve. I dunno if I started the protocol and within a few weeks started feeling quite a bit better to a point where I was thinking, Hey, this is great. But then I got sick. So I think I tried to have to confess, not in the protocol, I tried a liver cast oil, liver detox, and I think it upset my liver function quite, it just released some toxins somewhere that my liver couldn't cope with. And the secondary processes in the liver probably got overloaded and I dunno what it was or it was something else. I got sick, I was off work for a week and not really right for about three or four weeks, but luckily that was the summer, so it was really hot. So I was able then to really start recovering properly. It kind of spurred me into saying, come on, just take rest. And your body's telling you something, you have to listen to it. And then it took a while to get strength back. So I think if gut biome is changing, it doesn't change overnight. It takes time. You need some months and there might be days where you feel awful, but it works. If you keep going and you persist, it works. I think that's the key thing. And then you can feel yourself getting better over time. And there were moments in the summer holidays, I was on vacation in England and I just slept through the night. So I thought, wow,


Martha:

Awesome. I love it. Okay, great. Well is there anything else you want to add?


Paul:

Well, just to say thank you, I have to say it did make, it's made such a difference and this information, you can go on YouTube and the internet and you can try to figure it out. But I would never have come to this conclusions about what to do and how it fits together. And with your guidance and claudine's guidance, it's just, yeah, it's worked. I think. I mean we still have to do the retest, but categorically a hundred percent I'm on the right direction for sure. Right.


Martha:

Yeah.


Paul:

So yeah, all I can say is thank you.


Martha:

Yes, you're so welcome. Yes. And thank you for coming on here and sharing your story, I think, and I love it. You mentioned that you had watched the podcast before and heard other people's stories, so I love it when it comes full circle like that. And yeah, I just appreciate you taking the time to be here and I'm so glad that you're doing so well.


Paul:

Yeah, thank you. And you're welcome. It's a pleasure.


Martha:

Awesome, Paul. Alright, thanks so much.


Paul:

Thank you.


Martha:

If you're ready to get to the bottom of your sleep issue so you can be healthy and live a long and healthy life, then the Complete Sleep Solution program is for you. So it is a six month program that includes assessment and analysis of four functional lab tests, as well as six months of one-on-one coaching with an assigned coach so that you achieve all of your health and sleep goals. And the first step to get started is to book a consultation with me. So we will talk about what's going on with your sleep and health, how long you've been having issues, what you've tried so far, and I'll be able to tell you why those things haven't worked so far. Because even though you've probably tried a lot of different things, just because you haven't been able to get better doesn't mean that you can't get better.


So you heard in this interview all the things Paul had tried and why he thought he couldn't get better and yet he was able to because we found everything that was affecting his sleep and then gave him a plan to fix it. So on the call we'll talk about how the program works and how it's going to help you achieve all of your goals and be able to sleep well naturally and not need drugs or a ton of pills. So you can schedule that at the link in the show notes. And thank you for listening. I will talk to you next week.

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