Living the Lifestyle Friday 10/7/2016

Al_Howard

Everyone says it, but just how do you do it? How do you take the guidelines of the WW program and turn them into a lifestyle you can live every day...from now on? That is what we are here to explore. Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Newbie? Join in! Veteran? Join in! Your thoughts may be just what someone else needs to hear.

Monday -- Podkey / Bob
Tuesday -- misterhub / Greg
Wednesday -- beachwoman2006 / Cindy
Thursday -- Calvin2008Brian / Brian
Friday -- Al_Howard / Al

Sleep?? Who has the time?

This week’s Weekly is about sleep. Not just “time in bed”, but quality sleep.
Do you get the recommended 7-9 hours per night?
Do you use any/all of the tips?:

Skip late-afternoon naps. Catching a nap late in the day can make it harder to fall asleep at night.
Be physically active. Regular exercise (not right before bed) helps you fall asleep, and sleep soundly.
Set a bedtime. Hitting the hay at the same time each night helps reinforce your body’s sleep-wake cycle and helps promote better sleep at night.
Shut down the kitchen after dinner. enjoy snacks no later than a few hours before bed—and skip late night caffeine and alcohol.
Check your tech at the bedroom door. leave phones, tablets, laptops, and such in another room for the night.
Create a bedtime routine. Whether you like to read a chapter of your favorite book each night, listen to music for 20 minutes, or have a warm shower before slipping into bed, find a routine that relaxes you.
Turn down the heat. Because your body temperature dips at night, a cool room—about 65°F— is best.
Meditate. Focusing on your breathing to cast aside disruptive thoughts has been shown to improve sleep.

Al_Howard

For most of my working years, I'm sure I was "sleep-deprived". After retirement, I enjoy the luxury of an afternoon nap, when I want (most of the time). However, I always looked at the hours in bed as my guide.
Last November, I got a Fit-Bit. Well!!!! Through their monitor, I now see the nights that 8 hours in bed usually does not translate to 8 hours of sleep.
I now attempt to go to bed around the same time. That's about the only change I've made, but now my 3 month, 1 month, and 1 week averages are a consistant 8 hr. 15 min. +/- 5 Min.
However, I can not see a correlation to my weight.
You?????

steve0mania

During the week I usually get 5.5 hours of sleep per night. It's a bit better on the weekend. I often look forward to a nice nap on Saturday though.

The real issue is that there simply aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I'd like to do!

I don't see a correlation to weight, either.

Kramti386

Sunday to Thursday I will get 6 hours of sleep a night. Weekends may get 7.5 hours since the gym is not open that early.

MICHGOLFER2

During the work week I average around 6 hours a night. That number has increased from 5 hours a decade ago or so. I try to sleep a little later on Saturday and Sunday, but that doesn't always work. A Sunday afternoon nap while watching football is part of my fall/winter routine. This sleep pattern works fine for me.

I have bouts of insomnia, and that does have a negative impact on my weight loss efforts in that I am awake, hungry, bored, frustrated, anxious, and so on. Good food decisions are harder to make when I am really sleep deprived. Comfort foods become even more appealing, plus if I overeat I get sleepy. Sort of self-medicating with food.

I have tried all of the tips for better sleep that they list. Most have worked about as well as not reading or watching TV while eating - not very well at all!

The tips that do help me sleep better: exercise, cool room temperature, and breathing techniques. And medication.

DavidKuhnsSr

I stay up late and get up early. Maybe it was my decades in the Army; maybe it was that we got up early to eat breakfast as a family at 6, when I was a kid; but my internal clock wakes me at 5 every morning, no matter when I retire to bed. I usually get about 6 hours. I am jealous of those who can sleep in when they feel like it.

misterhub

I generally get between 5-7 hours of sleep. I usually wake up after about 4-5 hours to relieve myself. Then, if I am lucky, I slip back into slumber for another couple of hours. Sometimes, though, I am wide awake. This is true even on weekends.

Calvin2008Brian

>Check your tech at the bedroom door. leave phones, tablets, laptops, and such in another room for the night.

No, I don't do this, and I wonder why there's this bias against electronic devices when the very next tip includes reading and listening to music. I don't read or listen to music unless it comes from a kindle or smartphone.

>Meditate. Focusing on your breathing to cast aside disruptive thoughts has been shown to improve sleep.

I've got an app for that. ;-)

60in2017

I'm in the maybe 6 hours a night camp. I do all the recommended stuff listed, but I still wake up three to four times a night. Most nights, I can go back to sleep, sometimes I can't. The only correlation between sleep and my weight might be that when I am especially tired, I get more hungry. I've heard this is a common complaint related to sleep loss. The decision to eat or not is still mine.

Rachel0778

I'm a sleep addict and get really crabby if anything gets in the way of my sleep. I prefer about 8 hours a night, but sometimes it's less depending on schedules. Since I don't have kiddos to worry about, I'm able to get the rest I want/need so I'm a decent human being in the mornings.

Edited to add: I definitely notice if I get less sleep, I eat more the next day. When I'm tired, my body wants to eat more to spike my energy level.

goldenfrisbee

Well I'm really in the minority here. I get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. I have a cpap machine that has a wireless connection and monitors my sleep every night. So I know exactly how I am doing. I do best when I stay in this range. And the machine has been a godsend to me. I don't feel sleepy during the day anymore. Used to be that I could actually start to nod off waiting at a stop light. Doctor told me I had one of the worse cases of sleep apnea he had ever seen.

leeless511

We (DH and I) made a conscious effort about 8-12 months ago to get more/better sleep. We set a much earlier time to go to bed because we felt we were missing our window of "tired" -- and we pretty much made all of the recommended changes you listed with the exception of snacks, sometimes we have one right before going to bed. And we are worst at shutting off the technology early. We don't bring it to the bedroom but pretty often use it until we decide to go to bed. Well with the exception of the fact that we use technology to "consume books" -- I read a book when we get to bed via Kindle and my DH has a cool headset that is made for using in bed laying down and he listens to an Audible book. We are early risers and pretty much follow the same routine every day of the week. When we don't it is not good for us...the lack of sleep has significant impact on both of us.

podkey

I was knocked silly a year ago August and also a bit of a clunk in January of this year. As a result I have been making more of an effort to rest my brain. I seldom get straight sleep all night without waking up so not sure how that adds up. I take an afternoon nap with some frequency too before making dinner.
What usually gets me the most uninterrupted sleep is long bouts of activity like backpacking or a long bike ride. I slept like a baby from about 9PM until 5AM on Cycle Oregon a week long bike ride. Like Dave I am good with arising early often and in my case now turning in early too. Currently shooting for about 10pm to 6 am.

Woke up at 3am this morning and was stressed out so I meditated for 20 minutes. My HR dropped almost 10 BPM and I went back to bed and slept in this a.m.

countcurt

I don't sleep much. During the week, five hours is a long night. But I usually fall asleep when i want to and sleep very intensely. Until nature's alarm clock (my prostate) triggers. Then I'm wide awake and feel refreshed.

beachwoman2006

When I was working, I *averaged* about 6 hours of sleep a night. After retiring, I've *averaged* about 8 hours a night. I don't always sleep 8 hours a night -- sometimes it's 5 hours and sometimes it's 10 hours and sometimes it's something in between.

I do love my naps since retiring though

spospo1

I average 6 to 7 hours per night and this topic applies because I am up at 5 AM on Saturday morning because I went to sleep at 11 PM on Friday night. I do enjoy naps and can take one almost on demand. I rarely get 8 hours or more. I don't see a weight correlation relating to the amount of sleep that I get.

minimyzeme

Great question Al, and thanks for taking the time to include all the tips!

I probably average 5-6 hours of quality sleep time. Thing is, I sleep SO much better now that I weigh less. For a decade at least, I claimed to be a light sleeper (and I was). However, in hindsight I now realize I must have had sleep apnea. Now I sleep soundly and don't snore at all. So I might come up a little short compared to the RDA of sleep, but what I'm getting is really a marked improvement over how I slept for so many years!

I'm hit & miss on the sleep tips. Rarely do I take afternoon naps, but it can happen. And I love them when it does. They do mess with my night sleep but sometimes I just need that nap and it works. I am often physically active but certainly not daily--at least not to the point of exertion. I don't have a set bedtime but I find often my body is pretty predictable about initiating sleep. Often it initially happens in the living room and there is (unfortunately) some interruption while I transfer later on to the bedroom. I tend not to have problems with shutting down the kitchen, which is interesting because I used to 'snack' heavily at night. I'm on-track for tech-check but I do sometimes (inadvertently) fall asleep while watching video (especially if the cat's on my lap). No problem keeping heat (or cool) optimal. I do not like a hot house so unless we have to keep it warm for really cold weather, that's not an issue. Only under stressful situations do I make a point of working my head toward positive thoughts before bed. I used to do this quite often but the stress level has dropped somewhat and sleep comes more naturally now than it used to.

All totaled, I think there I could employ some of the tips for better sleep but I do think I get pretty good quality sleep time most nights. I can absolutely say that losing weight has definitely improved the quality of my sleep and for that alone, I'm glad to be lighter!

gadgetgirlIL

I find that I need about 8-9 hours of sleep. I never sleep through the night as my bladder always seems to get me up every few hours.

I find that when I don't get this much sleep, I'm using food to combat the fatigue. The fatigue also leads to an F-it attitude which is not conducive to weight maintenance.

crewahl

I generally get 7 hours - asleep by 9, up at 4. I start the "going to bed" process around 8 PM.

I don't exercise before going to bed - but I don't "exercise" much anyway.

I snack before going to bed, and it hasn't impacted my sleep our my weight. What impacts my weight is staying in control of my choices.

I wake up 2-4 times a night. That's correlated to how much I drink in the evening, and more strongly correlated to being sixty years old. Again, I generally get back to sleep.

What does impact my sleep? Thinking. If I'm thinking about work or some family issue and can't sleep after a half hour, I grab a (physical) book are read until my mind drops back into neutral.