How much sleep is really enough?

Tammy_1971

How many hours of sleep do have to have a night for proper bodily function--including weight loss. The reason I'm asking is because apparently I dont even know anymore.
Pre-kids, I was the person who HAD to have 8-9 hrs a night to function. If I went several days without that, I would start feeling sick.

After kids, I usually get to sleep around 12 and wake up at 6:50-7 during the week and usually go to bed at 1230 or so on weekends and sometimes get to sleep till 830.

I know some people like my husband that have plenty energy with 6-7 hrs a night of sleep. That being said, I just assumed 6.5-7 every night was fine for me, and better than some people probably get with busy schedules and kids.

But lots of my family members have told me that I'm exhausted and feel like I have no energy all the time, because of lack of sleep.

Does 7 hours (avg) seem low? I have low bp as well, so I even get dizzy if I don't drink enough water, eat enough salt, get enough sleep.

What works for all of you?

You get 6.5-7 hours of sleep per night? Lucky you!! LOL

748marie

7-8 is ideal but also consider if you are getting at least 7(which is pretty good) and you are still exhausted make sure you aren't
lacking any important vitamins in your diet. You might need a little more iron etc. I am not a nutritionist or anything but it might be something to consider. I have 4 kiddos and try to go to bed at 10pm and wake at 6 and rarely get an uninterrupted night but I find if I take my multivitamins I will have a good amount of energy.

chivalryder

9 hours for me! Unfortunately, this only happens on weekends. Not every weekend though.

For the non-sleepers, melatonin, a chemical your body will only produce while you're sleeping, has been proven to suppress cancer cells. The less sleep you get, the higher the risk of developing cancer.

Mischievous_Rascal

It also depends on the quality of your sleep, as well. I can do great on 5.5-6 hours if it's solid and then other days I need more. I have a Fitbit that tracks my sleep. If I'm groggy I can seel when I log on to my dashboard that it was a restless night, even if I don't rememeber waking up.

lemurcat12

i get no more than 5-6 hours a night and i function fine and am losing weight. i think it depends on the individual.

Same for me. However, I feel noticeable good and more energetic when I occasionally get 7, something I notice especially when working out. It's caused me to want to increase my sleep.

I couldn't imagine regularly sleeping more than 7 hours, though.

zman1313

I usually get between 5 and 6 hours a night and I've had zero issues losing weight. I work and go to school full time so there's not enough time in the day to get 8 hours of sleep! Jealous of those of you that have the time for that...

csuhar

It's going to vary from person to person.

In my case, I can survive on 4 hours.

I can function sufficiently on 5. (This was about the nightly average for me in college.)

I seem to function better with 7.

I usually aim for about 6-7. Reality doesn't always play along with that.

More than 8, and I actually either tend to feel groggier or I'm awake at the slightest impulse and unable to get back to sleep, regardless of how high or low the sun is or how much time I have until the alarm goes off.

flatlndr

I find that if get to bed early enough that I wake up on my own (i.e., slightly ahead of the alarm clock) I've had better rest than if I need the clock to wake me. For me, that works to be about 7 hours.

girlviernes

I think a lot of people don't even know what it feels like to be well rested regularly. The science will support that most people function best on 7-9 hours and it will depend on the individual and activity level where on that spectrum is best. More and more research is coming out that sleep is really the underpinning of good health and poor sleep probably has a lot to do with the increase in obesity we've seen.

sino19

2:sad: -12hrs:drinker: . avg 5

malibu927

i get no more than 5-6 hours a night and i function fine and am losing weight. i think it depends on the individual.

Yep, weekends I only get 5-6 (I have to be up super-early for work and don't go to bed before 10) and I'm fine. It's usually between 7-8 hours during the week.

alexib

I've just discovered I'm best with at least 7 hrs anything under that, even a little and I'm completely exhausted all day. I generally sleep in on the weekends when I don't have top get up early for work, but it's never more than 8.5 hrs

fitmek

7-8 is ideal but also consider if you are getting at least 7(which is pretty good) and you are still exhausted make sure you aren't
lacking any important vitamins in your diet. You might need a little more iron etc. I am not a nutritionist or anything but it might be something to consider. I have 4 kiddos and try to go to bed at 10pm and wake at 6 and rarely get an uninterrupted night but I find if I take my multivitamins I will have a good amount of energy.

I take a daily prenatal, which has 28 mg of Iron. I also take a daily D3 supplement. The Iron and Vit B was higher in the prenatal than it was a multivitamin, which is why i just continuted to take the prenatal, even long after kids.

It never occured to me though, that the sleep i'm getting, even though I don't wake up unless a kiddo is crying, may not be the best solid sleep. My fitbit is a zip, so i dont have the sleep function to track it for sure.

Also, I know I need to do better with drinking water. At MOST, on the average day I drink 16 oz of water. I don't drink a lot of anything! I get a black coffee from starbucks at 8am and it lasts me until late afternoon. But, I've always done this.