Monday, July 28, 2008

The "Easiest" Thing I Can Do Tonight To Help Manage My Weight



Last week I stepped off the curb and into the path of oncoming traffic.

Fortunately, I made it across the street okay, but it was definitely a wake up call. I was essentially sleepwalking through my day on about 4-5 hours of sleep.

Unfortunately, this is a regular occurrence for me. I get in bed somewhere between 2-3:30am and am up at around 7:30am. Most days I think I "manage" it well but others, like that day, I know it's a problem.

I've always known about the link between lack of sleep and weight gain. I have a friend who recently lost a good amount of weight and credits his success in part to always getting a good night's sleep - at least 7 hours. With my average of 4 hours of sleep, I am missing out on one of the most crucial phases of the sleep process.

Phase 1: During this phase, a person is in between wake and sleep. The person can be awakened easily.

Phase 2: This is a period of light sleep during which body temperature drops.

Phase 3 and Phase 4: These are the phases during which a person experiences an increasingly deeper stage of sleep called delta sleep. During this restorative stage, the body is repairing itself, building bone and muscle and releasing certain hormones.

I know better than to think that I can just go home tonight, firmly pledging to sleep a minimum of 7 hours a night. I need to take small steps to change my habits.

Here a few tips from the article, "Sleep Your Way To Slim:"

  • Instead of trying to adhere to a strict lights-out policy every night, aim to get in bed early at least one night per week.
  • Ease yourself into your slumber session with a bath.
  • Eating a carb-based mini-meal of no more than 200 calories 45 minutes before drifting off can raise serotonin levels, helping you relax and sleep well. Try a whole-wheat English muffin with a tablespoon of honey or a cup of instant oatmeal with 1/4 cup of chopped apple.

How many hours of sleep are you getting on average each night?

4 comments:

Never200 said...

Fortunately, getting enough sleep is something I've never had a problem accomplishing. My mother drilled 7-8 hrs since I was a child. I also get up at 5 am to teach HS, and I must get enough sleep to be physically and mentally alert for those crazy teens.

Anonymous said...

Contrary to popular belief, skipping the major meals in no way contribute to losing weight. There are many factors that work against losing weight when a person skips meals in order to shed that extra bit of weight. Weight loss pills like phentermine are nowadays very much preferred in order to lose weight. This method of weight loss is usually taken up by those people who are either short of will power, time, and energy. Diet pill phentermine have however been banned. To know about this topic and its replacements browse the following link. http://www.phentermine-effects.com.

PYNTK said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Admin said...

I too have a blog with same theme. check @ Effective and uncommon weight loss tips