Why Sleep Eludes Us — And How to Find Our Way Back Part 2 of a 4-Part Series

Sleep & Timing — When Consistency Becomes Medicine

Why When You Eat and When You Sleep Matters More Than You Think

By Dustin Strong, CHN, ACN

One of the most overlooked aspects of sleep has nothing to do with supplements, sleep aids, or even bedtime routines.

It’s timing.

A woman in her 60s came to see me after making meaningful improvements to her sleep. She was feeling better than she had in years — and yet, she still sensed there was more available to her. Sleep was better, but not consistently restorative.

As we began to gently unravel the remaining pieces, two patterns stood out almost immediately: she was eating later in the evening. And her bedtime varied night to night.

Neither of these felt dramatic to her. In fact, they felt normal — especially given that her husband is a night owl. Over time, she had quietly accepted that her sleep schedule would simply follow his.

But biology doesn’t negotiate the way relationships do.

One of the most important — and often overlooked — principles of sleep is that the body thrives on predictability. When we eat late, digestion competes with the body’s overnight repair processes. When bedtime shifts from night to night, the circadian rhythm never quite knows when it’s safe to fully power down.

As we talked through this, something important happened.

She realized she had already made the internal decision that her body needed a different rhythm than her husband’s — she just hadn’t fully given herself permission to honor it.

Understanding the science changed everything.

This wasn’t about being rigid.It wasn’t about being “difficult.” It was about aligning with her physiology.

We discussed the value of an earlier evening food cutoff and the quiet power of choosing a consistent bedtime — even if that bedtime didn’t match her partner’s. With context and clarity, she felt grounded rather than guilty.

She even shared that having the science to support her choices gave her confidence to talk openly with her husband — not from a place of frustration, but from self-respect. She hoped it might even inspire him to reflect on his own habits.

Sleep improved not because she tried harder — but because she chose consistency.

This story is a reminder that sleep often asks us for boundaries before it offers restoration.

When we honor timing — when we eat, when we rest, when we stop — the body responds with trust. And trust is what allows the nervous system to settle into deep, healing sleep.

This is another cornerstone we explore at the Crazy Wellness Retreat focused on Sleep. Not perfection — but rhythm. Not force — but alignment.

In the next story, we’ll explore sleep from an entirely different angle — one that reveals how deeply sleep is connected to memory, brain health, and the nervous system.

If sleep has been inconsistent, fragmented, or just never quite enough, this conversation is for you.