I’ve gotten some pretty awesome products through blogging, but this might just be the coolest yet. Guys. I got a king-sized memory foam mattress, mattress topper and pillows from Sleep Innovations. How amazing is that??
It came at the perfect time because Joe and I are hoping to upgrade from our studio apartment to a one-bed soon and I have decorating and furnishing on the mind. I love our place—phenomenal location, spacious, pool access—it rocks. But the one downside is that we technically sublet from another person so none of the furniture and décor is ours (keep that in mind as you judge my apartment in these pictures haha). I’m pretty low-key about living situations, but it does kind of bother me because I work from home and want the space to be my own. You have no idea how good it feels to at least get my own bed in here finally! 
So before we move onto the topic of this post—why I need sleep to maintain a weight I’m happy with—I have to gush about these Sleep Innovations memory foam products. I’ve never experienced memory foam before now, but consider me in love.
Let’s start with the SureTemp 12” Mattress. First impression: Wait, is this a mattress? It comes delivered in a box! This is me when it first came—so excited but wondering if they’d messed up my order and sent me a dishwasher by mistake. 🙂 
Sleep Innovations vacuum-packs their memory foam mattresses so that they’re easy to get in and around your home to the desired bedroom. Living in an apartment building, I was especially thankful for this.
I typically alternate between sleeping on my side and my back, but find with the memory foam I prefer my back. Which is great! While I don’t think it makes a huge difference, I have heard from multiple sources that this is the best sleeping position for postural alignment, your back and to prevent wrinkles. Take that last one with a grain of salt (haha).
I’ve always been a very still sleeper, but Joe on the other hand…I’m surprised I don’t wake up with bruises from all the tossing and limb thrashing that goes on in his sleep. BY FAR the best part of this memory foam mattress is that it eliminates motion transfer. He tosses less, and when he does, I don’t feel it and wake up. It’s literally life changing—and not in the way a teenage girl uses the term. Literally. Life changing. 
As if a mattress wasn’t a big enough gift, Sleep Innovations also sent me their 3” Gel Memory Foam Mattress Topper with Air Channels and Cover. So spoiled. The topper is made with the latest gel memory foam technology to help regulate temperature and the air channels essentially help by allowing airflow. The topper came conveniently packed as well in this wrapped little spiral:
And finally, the pillows! Sleep Innovations sent me their Cool Contour Memory Foam Pillow (Joe and I fight over who gets it every night—I obviously win) and their Anti-Allergy Pillow. The anti-allergy pillow is comparable to a “normal” (non-memory foam) pillow. Super comfortable regardless of your sleeping position. I thankfully don’t suffer from allergies so can’t attest to its efficacy, but the pillow’s TANA Biotic DC fabric technology reduces dust mites and other allergens. 
The memory foam pillow is amazing. Like the mattress, it took me a little getting used to, and I definitely find it most comfortable when sleeping on my back. The curves of it cradle and support your neck and head in a way that is so phenomenally relaxing.
Why Sleep Is Crucial for Me to Maintain a Healthy, Happy Weight
Like most people, my weight fluctuates. On any given week, I could be up or down 3-5lbs from my norm—which I’m totally fine with, for the record! I don’t weigh myself, but I can tell in the way my clothes fit when I’m up a little, and it’s always a signal for me to take a step back and look at my current life situation. Weight gain for me is typically linked to the same general scenario:
I’m super busy with work and/or stressed out about something else going on in my life. To keep up with it all, I prioritize work over getting a full night’s sleep. This also usually coincides with more quick, on-the-go meals instead of making my own food at home. Those meal purchases start to contain more and more sugar as my body craves a quick energy boost to compensate for the lack of sleep. Stress + no sleep + sugar turns into a nasty cycle, and it’s important to catch and stop it as soon as possible (the longer it continues, the harder it is to reverse—for me anyway).
Because I recognize this pattern and catch it pretty quickly, I can snap myself out of it with one good night’s sleep. Deadlines, due dates, to-do lists—I seriously just say eff it all and go to bed early with no alarm set. I will say, that’s one perk of working for yourself, but I would encourage everyone to do it once in a while. Your health is more important than your job. Period. Because no matter what your job is, you can’t do your best at it if you’re sick and rundown.
After my good night’s sleep, I try to workout first thing in the morning. Exercising when I wake up makes me want to make healthy food choices throughout the day. Just like poor lifestyle choices tend to snowball into more and more poor choices, so do the good decisions. One healthy change leads to another.
What about you guys? Do unhealthy “funks” and weight gain usually involve lack of sleep? How do you get yourself back on the right track?
I had a ton of fun working on this post with Sleep Innovations, and actually love that you guys get to see a little more of my apartment. All the bloggers I follow seem to live in these picture-perfect homes and apartments with beautiful décor and I always laugh to myself when I think of the wood-paneled man cave I live in. It’s messy, smells like Joe’s hockey gear, and is full of someone else’s furniture, but it certainly doesn’t lack in character. And pfff it now is home to a king-sized memory foam bed! Ballin’!
If I’ve L. Ron Hubbard’d you into the cult of memory foam (I can’t tell if that joke is funny or out of line, but let’s just go with it), I seriously can’t recommend Sleep Innovations highly enough. The quality is exceptional, but the products are still very much affordable (seriously—look at the prices of these mattresses! Especially if you have Amazon Prime, that is beyond reasonable for a mattress).
You can also follow Sleep Innovations on Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest. All products are available to purchase on Amazon. 
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Sleep Innovations. While I was compensated, all opinions—as always!—are my own.
Hey there! I'm Nicole, a group fitness instructor, healthy lifestyle blogger (you probably figured that one out by now) and Certified Personal Trainer living in Boston, MA.
The Scientology joke made me chuckle out loud-kudos. And holy awesome sleep swag. That mattress and the pillows look so comfy. I need sleep or I’m cranky, my workouts suck, and I’m less likely to make good eats.
While I’m certainly not old (I’m 26), there have been a lot of changes over the past four years since I finished college. I’m definitely tired earlier, and used to try and fight it to “stay young” and be up until 1am doing stupid stuff on the computer or watching tv. One night I was just like “why the f**k are the real housewives of OC more important to me than sleep?!” and since that moment, I have unapologetically set a bedtime of 1030 for myself. I definitely feel myself craving more sugar and caffeine when I don’t get enough hours of sleep, just like you said! Awesome bedroom swag you got there… I’m trying to convice my bf we need a king size bed, so maybe this will help me!
Do it! Tell him it’s life-changing. 🙂 And welcome to adulthood–I seriously go to bed at 9:30 on the week nights now haha
Oh man I had to go to some Scientology courses as part of my last job and I hated it. Bit of a tangent, but anyway…
Looks great! I’m glad you have your own bed. We have a Tempur Pedic and it is magical. I am definitely all about some memory foam.
I am all about having a good sleep routine. Some nights it goes better than others. It is so important to get just the right amount.
Totally funny line about Scientology. Love it. And yes, I need sleep to get through my days. The mattress set looks pretty awesome. 🙂 Good luck upgrading your digs!
There is nothing better than a memory foam mattress, sleep so much better since I got mine!
Come laugh at Kim Kardashian
Thank you for writing this. It couldn’t have been better timing for me to stumble across this post. I am the kind of girl who needs her sleep too. I’ve been seeing my weight creep up a few unexplained pounds, I get into funks easier, and I can’t get moving during the days until the evening. This isn’t normal for me, nor is not being able to handle stressful periods. But my sleep has been so awful, and I lay awake at night thinking about way too much stuff. I’m making some real change to improve my sleep, and I really appreciate your thoughts here. It’s always nice to know you’re not alone!
Cheers, Mads
http://www.whitewallcollective.com
So happy to hear you could relate! It really does all lend itself to a viscous cycle when you’re sleep deprived! I don’t know if you’ve tried meditation, but you can find YouTUbe videos for quick 5-10 minute guided meditations that really can help slow down your mind before bed. Might be worth a try 🙂
I agree, sleep is so important for maintaining a healthy lifestyle! That mattress looks heavenly!
After I watched the scientology documentary the joke is 90% funny and 10% terrifying (if you haven’t watched it yet watch it NOW)
Bad funks for me usually go back to not scheduling time to cook food / pack for work. If I pack well for work it involves a solid lunch with a small treat so that I don’t wind up with a huge cookie from flour. Sleep probably has a part of my eating but I don’t monitor it well enough.
Anyway, the bed looks way comfy! Very exciting 🙂
OMG I’ve been DYING to watch that documentary!!