I need more sleep!

I really wanted to get up this morning to do some yoga but lately I’ve been feeling pretty tired lately and my brain feels foggy. I realized I needed to sleep a little more, so I did last night.  This is what my alarms looked like this morning:

As much as it is good to make yourself get up and workout, it’s also good to listen to your body when you really do need more sleep.  Harvard Health wrote an article “Importance of Sleep: Six reasons not to scrimp on sleep”:

1. Learning and memory. Sleep helps your brain with memory consolidation which helps you maintain information you have learned.
2. Metabolism and weight. Did you know that you can gain weight if you don’t sleep enough? Sleep helps you process carbs and also affects your appetite.
3. Safety. If you are tired, you might fall asleep or not be aware of your surroundings during the day. You don’t want to fall asleep driving or if you are in the city like me, be unaware of your surroundings when someone might come at you!  There are always some crazy attacks of women going on!
4. Mood. Duh! You may become grumpy, impatient, and moody. Let’s just say Dave knew this well when I was training for the Pumpkinman Half Ironman!
5. Cardiovascular health. Without enough sleep, you can have increased stress hormones, irregular heartbeats or high blood pressure. I definitely don’t want to worry about this! I want to be able to run far and long!
6. Disease. Sleep deprivation changes the immune function which means your body can’t fight disease as well.

These 6 reasons are good enough for me to be aware of my sleep. I think it may actually be good for me to keep track of how much I sleep.  It will be a reminder that it is ok to get that extra hour because I need it!  It don’t want to build up sleep debt!

How much sleep does everyone need? It varies. WebMD’s “Are You Getting Enough Sleep” says the following:

• Infants – 16 hours a day
• Teenagers – 9 hours on average
• Adults – 7-8 hours a night but some can need as few as 5 and some need up to 10
• Women in first 3 months of pregnancy need more than usual

Well now that I’m well rested and it’s Friday, it’s about time I enjoy my salmon bagel from Sportello!

Do you sometimes get a little drained? Do you have certain days you sleep in?

Dave and I try to let ourselves sleep in on the weekends, but lately we have been getting up early to do work or for some sort of activity.

How many hours a night do you sleep?

Weekdays about 6-7 hours and weekends probably 8 hours.