Monday, March 23, 2009

Sleep

Most people that know me, know that I don't sleep. I get 2 - 4 hours a night for the nights I even go to bed because there are many nights I don't even go to bed at all.

I get lectured about this all the time. Kimball is always on me with his concern about my health. I have friends tell me the that I need to take care of myself. My boys just shake their heads at me because they can't even understand. But I usually just smile and brush it all off.

Well, I'm going to start using a personal trainer starting tonight and I've done some reading and everything says that the body needs at least 7 hours of sleep to "allow" it to respond to exercise and to weight loss. Soooo I've been trying the last week to get more sleep.

Can I just say..........WHAT A JOKE!!!!

I'm more tired than I've ever been. My body hurts. I set the alarm and I sleep right through it and it's next to impossible to get myself out of bed. Really, it's next to impossible. The alarm is set for 5 and I DRAG myself out of bed at close to TEN. Yes you read that right 10. And what's worse, I've put on 4 pounds during this week of getting sleep.

Now I understand how people can complain about being tired. It's because they are sleeping too much?? Is that possible? To sleep so much that it makes you even more tired? What really is the perfect amount of sleep? Does everyone wake up feeling like crap?

I'm trying to decide if I should continue giving "sleep" a chance or if I should stick to my few hours a night routine??

3 comments:

Chris 'n Leah said...

I have always been worried about your lack of sleep. They say that if you are sleep deprived really often it can lead to many health problems AND cut years off your life expectancy. Give sleep more time. Maybe you need to go to a clinic and do a sleep study. They say if you go to sleep and don't wake up feeling rested that you could have sleep apnia (sp?). You literally stop breathing many times a night and it is dangerous and WILL cause you to have a shorter life expectancy.

Christian has had problems with sleeping also. Altough his sleep issues are different from your it was effecting him in the same way. Someone recommended he take "Melatonin" before he goes to bed at night and it has made a HUGE difference in how rested he feels in the morning. Just something you could give a try if you wanted.

Love you!

LessyDee said...

I am a firm believer in, that we all know our bodies and what they need. BUT...having had many sleep problems myself, and having been through two sleep studies, I learned that if you aren't sleeping normally, there is a reason why.

The normal person should go through at least three sleep cycles a night. Each cycle lasts about 90 minutes and is made up of 5 stages. For a body to fully recharge and repair itself it has to reach a stage three or four sleep, multiple times a night. Those stages are where your brain moves your short term memories to your long term storage. It's where your immunities rebuild themselves and your body and brain does any other necessary repairs.

Whether you like it or not, or whether you think your body needs it or not, you do need to be hitting all stages of sleep (multiple times) every night. I completely agree with Leah when she said that there might be something wrong. See a doctor. Ask about a sleep study. And then if they say everything is normal...go back to your two hours a night. It's better to be safe than sorry. :)
Leslie

Lora said...

My lack of sleep isn't something I have to do, but rather something that just works for me. I get my quiet time, TV time and just me time and it's become a habit.

I know I have to work on it and I will try again...someday. I won't make promises but I will try again soon!!!