How many hours of sleep do you really get? If your answer is less than seven hours then you could be in trouble! Getting a solid night’s rest is vitally important to the health of our body mind and spirit. Do whatever it takes to wind down, establish a routine and hit the pillow at a decent time.
If you skip out on sleep:
1) You are more likely to be in a bad mood! Sleep is restorative and if you get less than seven hours then you wake up tired and burned out. Even if you can fake it for a few days…eventually the deprivation gets to you and your mood changes for the worse.
2) You are more likely to gain weight! Research shows that solid sleep every night helps considerably with weight loss because it’s important for your hypothalamus in your brain that sets the metabolic rate. Additionally, you are less likely to reach for high sugar foods in an attempt to increase your energy.
3) You are more likely to have inflammation! Are you in chronic pain? Injuries won’t heal? Irritable bowel? Chronic headaches? When you sleep, your growth hormone increases to recharge your entire body.
4) You are more likely to forget! When you don’t sleep then your stress response goes up which can wreak havoc with your short-term memory. You find yourself forgetting names, words, or your ‘to-do’ list. You start to experience foggy thinking and aren’t as sharp as you used to be.
5) You are more likely to feel crummy all over. When you don’t sleep you don’t restore your health. This causes you to wake up fatigued which increases your stress which can then affect your hormone balance overall.
If you aren’t getting at least seven hours of sleep then please work on your sleep hygiene. Start winding yourself down at a decent hour and get off the computer. Make sure to have a small protein snack especially if you have hypoglycemia tendencies. Take a relaxing lavender bath and drink night-time tea with relaxing herbs. Write down your worries, fears, and to-do list before you go to bed so you don’t spend the night spinning about everything.