Never underestimate the power of SLEEP!
I can't stress the importance of getting enough sleep when on a fat loss and fitness program - well all the time actually!
During the past three to four weeks I have had quite a lot to do in the evenings and started going to bed later and later. Because I have been feeling so much healthier more energetic due to my change in lifestyle, to start with I felt fine but then it slowly started to creep up on me. I craved sugary food more, found it harder to get up in the morning to do my workouts, chose quick 'snack' food for dinner sometimes as was too tired to cook well balanced and nutritional meals and just wasn't as focused on my weight loss goal as I should have been.
I use to think that if I had a week or so of late nights, I could 'make up' that lost sleep by going to bed an extra hour earlier further down the track. I read somewhere that this is not the case (sorry, can't remember where - you will just have to take my word for it - or google it). You can make up an hour here and there but not an accumulation of lost sleep over a number of days/weeks. Those of you who have had children will already know this I imagine!
Lack of sleep can really impact negatively on so many areas of your life. Next to nutrition, it is probably one of the most important factors in an effective weight loss and fitness program.
Next time you near your ideal bedtime and a great program on TV comes on or you are almost at the end of that brilliant book that you are reading, ask yourself what is more important; finding your abs or a TV program that will probably be on again in six to twelve months time as a repeat anyway!
Right. I'm off to bed to get some much needed sleep!
4 comments:
Who ya gonna vote for? Hmm? Hmm?!?!
Just kidding! I love the look of your blog, this is the first time I've had a chance to check it out.
Not big on web design, although my sister knows someone who knows someone who may be able to help me out.
Ha ha! Hmm. Now that would be telling! Do you think you deserve it? I seem to recall a day, no so long ago, where you had cookies, cake and candy! I also found a post where you were trying to avoid doing the dishes.... Actually I had to go back for ages to find any naughty food that you ate! You have done so well. Especially considering the setbacks you have had and the tentative beginning.
Actually, my cheat days were often grouped together. I did great at the beginning, but near the end, had a couple of rough days.
As far as sleep goes, I'll sleep when I'm dead, as the saying goes :)
Even though I've been up late recently, the kiddos have been letting me sleep in a bit.
Also - not to just randomly bring up kids again, but today my little squeaker was sick. All she wanted to do was be held, all day, and didn't want to roam around like normal. I feel so bad for her, but I love it when she just wants to be held, so I am almost kinda glad she wasn't feeling 100% today.
Is that wrong? I mean, it breaks my heart when she is sick, but she is getting too mobile to just be held all the time. Most of the time, the second I pick her up, she's twisting to get down. I'm sure tomorrow she'll be back to 100%, but for now, I'm just typing with her laying in my arms. Great day :)
You did well with only a couple of rough days! I started referring to them as 'reward' meals for awhile but it made me look forward to my 'reward' too much! I have gone back to 'cheat' meals - a bit more of a deterrent!
Some people (obviously you are one of them!) can survive on next to no sleep and still function fully. Not me or my husband. My husband starts getting a bright red nose after several nights of little sleep and I... well I start to lose all sense of self discipline and start LOVING food!
I know you are going to think 'she knows nothing and is completely mad' when I say what I am going to next but... I know exactly what you mean about kids starting to grow up and not wanting to cuddle and snuggle so much. I went through exactly the same thing... with both my cats! My older cat hurt her leg quite badly last year (NZ$850 later) and, although I felt sad she was hurt, it was kind of nice taking care of her and knowing that she needed me! My younger cat went through the wriggly stage but has gone back to the cuddly stage now that she is a little older! I am sure it will be the same with your little girl... I know as I am such an expert on kids! (joke!).
Awesome. Weighed myself today and have hit the 65kg range - 65.8kg - so just scraped in there but I was stoked! Yeh. I know, to a champion like yourself (heh heh) meaningless drivel - but for us little people we have to take what joy we can!
Post a Comment