I love to sleep. Anytime I can I will try to sneak in a nap. Doesn’t matter if it’s only 10 minutes, if I can get it you better believe I will take advantage. That being said lately I haven’t been getting much sleep. For the past few months I have been working extra hours, staying up late to watch movies or sporting events and in turn I have been slacking on everything else (exercise, healthy eating etc). Why? Because I am tired and by the time I can sit down for a second my body is so relieved to be sitting still that trying to will myself to get back up and do something strenuous is enough to make me want to cry. Also on top of that at work I find myself reaching for all types of unhealthy snacks or hitting CVS for my favorite gummy neon sour worms. It’s a cycle that I bet most of us are in and a cycle that needs to stop.
According to this Newsweek Article adults need seven to nine hours of sleep each night to feel fully rested. It’s no surprise that most Americans are sleeping an average of 6.9 hours a night. During a study conducted by Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania volunteers were restricted to less than 6hours of sleep per night. Guess what, the volunteers felt only slightly more sleepy and functioned regularly. Too bad after about 2 weeks they were as impaired as subjects who had been awake continuously for 48 hours.
On top of that a study conducted by Researchers at the University of Chicago have shown that too little sleep changes the body’s secretion of some hormones. The changes promote appetite, dulls the feeling full sensation after a meal, and alter the body’s response to sugar intake. All of these changes that can promote weight gain! So after reading all of this the good news is all of these things can be reversed by getting a good nights sleep. The University of Chicago study on sleep duration and appetite found that allowing the study subjects to sleep 10 hours for two consecutive nights returned the hormones to normal levels.
This article really opened my eyes and I am currently making a huge effort to make sure I get enough rest. This makes me happy that my kids are old enough where me taking an hour nap and letting them amuse themselves won’t hurt anyone. Granted I know nothing will change overnight I still have a super hectic schedule. As a matter of fact I am scheduled to work a few extra shifts this weekend but I know on the days where my schedule is regular making sure I am in bed at a reasonable hour shouldn’t be too hard.
Do you get enough sleep? Are you a pro at naps and like me will take one whenever you can?
~Randi
I’m such a BEAST when I don’t get enough sleep…moodiness, headaches, achy body – you name it, sleep affects it. I used to be a pro at napping during college and grad school, but now if I lay down, I can’t fall asleep, and even if I do, I wake up feeling like I got hit by a truck. The biggest hindrances to my sleep schedule are my Blackberry and iPod touch – they stay on the bed next to my pillow, and I end up wasting time reading tweets and blogs before I finally fall asleep. Such a bad habit!
NINE?!? OMG! No wonder I’m freaking sleep deprived all the time. Sadly, I don’t have a lot of hope for *ever* get nine hours of continuous sleep… lol
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I am also a lover of sleep!
I can’t relate to not getting enough though, I always hop in bed to get my 8 hours. If I’m not sleepy I read for 15 minutes & that helps put me to sleep. I don’t have time during my work day for a nap, so if you’ve got time, more power to ya! Sometimes I wish I was able to sneak a nap in!
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I don’t sleep well. I get plenty of time in bed, but just seem to wake up a lot. Doesn’t help to have a snoring hubby. I could easily nap every day if I had time. Love it.