You’ve set your goals, committed to your workout plan and started improving your diet. This time, more so than any other, you’re sticking to it and even seeing some results, but…you’re exhausted. Work is more demanding than ever, the kids are in every activity under the sun, and life in general can be described in one word: CRAZY! Every morning you drag yourself out of bed to get in a workout before the day begins, but each day you feel more tired than the one before and you’re no longer seeing the results you want. You start to wonder why: you’re still eating well, you’re still working out…what’s wrong?
The answer is that you’re not getting enough sleep. When there are so many activities going on and things to do, the first thing that goes is sleep. We have this all wrong though. Sleep is necessary to clean the body of toxins, regulate mood, improve learning and memory and much more. According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults (ages 26-64) need an average of 7-9 hours of sleep. If you’re constantly getting less than 6 hours of sleep and feeling sleep-deprived, it’s best to trade your workout in for some more sleep. Sam Sugar, MD states that “excessive sleeplessness can result in increases in blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar – as well as weight gain.” Skipping a couple of workouts can’t even match these negative effects. The real goal would be to consistently get a good night’s rest while working out at least 3 times each week.
Here are a few interesting facts from Shape about why sleep is the most important thing for your body:
- Sleep Controls Your Diet – Lack of sleep tends to cause us to feel hungrier, be less satisfied after meals, lack energy to exercise and experience less fat reduction regardless of a good diet.
- Poor Sleep Changes Your Fat Cells – Just a few days of sleeplessness changes the body’s insulin sensitivity. With lower sensitivity, fats circulate in our blood causing more insulin to pump and fat to be stored.
- Lack of Rest Makes You Crave Food – Getting less than six hours of sleep can cause hormones in the body to respond negatively and stimulate the feeling of hunger, even if we just ate a large meal. On top of this, lack of sleep can also lead us to make worse decisions about the types of food and amount we eat.
- Sleep Sabotages Gym Time – Lack of rest can decrease the body’s ability to make muscle, cause muscle loss, lead to greater risk of injury and not allow the body to recover as well after exercise.