In this week’s Sleep Diaries, a 31-year-old gardener wonders what she should be eating in the day to improve her sleep at night.

A little about me:

Age: 31

Occupation: gardener

Number of hours sleep you get each night: 6 hours

Number of hours sleep you wish you got each night: 8-9 hours

Any officially diagnosed sleep-related problems: no

How much water you drink on average per day: 1 litre (not enough)

How much exercise I do on average per week: 1 cardio workout a week, plus the manual labour of my day-to-day job

Day 1

I went to bed late last night (around 11.30pm) and I get up late today as a result; my alarm goes off at 5am but I sleep through until 5.40am, and barely have time for a few mouthfuls of coffee before I’m out the door. Thankfully, I manage to stop at Costa on the way for a flat white and a pastry.

I get to work around 7am, have a cup of tea, and then get to work. I forgot to pack lunch, so I make do with some biscuits, then carry on until 4pm, drinking tea all the way.

I’m home by 5.30pm, snack and chill out watching TV for a bit, and then go for a run. I eat a little dinner of eggs on toast afterwards, and then I hop in the shower before bed at 10.30pm and fall asleep immediately.

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