HCB's Journal, 02 August 2012

thanks for sharing! i'm a person who doesn't sleep much...so maybe i should just start to sleep more? hmm.... 

I have heard this....I do think there is some substance to the idea. I have found when I am overly fatigued, I will make more bad choices with my diet. Also when I am not getting enough exercise on a regular basis, I don't sleep as well. I think it is another leg on the stool to lead to better health. 

Oh yes - the exercise and sleep quality link also is important! Good point.  

This study didn't mention: (1) quality of sleep over quantity of sleep (yes 7-9 hours is important for most people, but 4 hours of good sleep feels just as bad as 8 hours of lousy sleep) (2) circadian rhythm, the internal clock, functions best and promotes the best sleep when we keep to a strict sleep/wake schedule. (3) exercise/general physical exertion (read: non-sedentary lifestyle) positive effects on both the mind and body, and promotes sound, restorative sleep (4) too much sleep is just as bad as being sleep deprived. It can leave you feeling excessively tired and groggy. I'm sure it negatively affects your metabolism as well because your body's thinking no food is coming anytime soon and metabolism slows down to conserve energy. (*) here's another article: Nat Sleep Foundation: sleepfoundation dot org/article/how-sleep-works/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need 

That is a very good article! When we get plenty of sleep our stomachs "wake up slowly." You know that feeling when you do not want to eat much in the morning because your stomach is not "up" yet? That's a great feeling to have.  

I'm a total proponent of the sleep/weight loss juxtaposition. It's certainly working for me. Once I wasn't working two jobs, driving a 1 1/2 hour commute and single parenting a special needs child, with all that entails, my sleep, health AND weight loss improved. 

Sleep is incredibly important to me. I have to have it in a reasonable amount, because I am bipolar. If I don't get enough sleep, it can be dangerous, it can mean the start of a mania and a manic episode ( I haven't had one in 10 years). With weight loss, sleep is also very important to me. I actually sleep less with the dieting - I work second shift, so I used to come home at 11pm, stay up until 2 am and sleep until 11 or 12. I was getting NOTHING done! When I decided I HAD to start going to the gym, I started waking up at 9 am and then 8:30. Took me weeks to start doing that and it was very hard. Now I go to bed by 12:30 and I'm up by 8:30 - 8 healthy hours of sleep. I have a whole morning to dink around and go to the gym and it's great. With all this stress in my personal life I've been posting, I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping. My mind just races. I've been getting 5 to 6 hours a night for the past 2 weeks. I know it will get better when things calm down. 

There's def something to it. My weight always goes up even if I eat right and so on if I'm not sleeping. Which happens quite often lol! 

I agree! we need more sleep in our society!