Exercise VS. Sleep! When should we Sacrifice one for the oth

snookumss

So I work in a food cart, and I work late. I close it sometimes after 4am and I often don't get sleepy untill 7-8am! I was fine with this, but since I've started going to the gym this means I sleep through my favorite classes!

10:15 is the normal morning class time that I WOULD go to. This can be either Yoga or Zumba (the two I'm embarking upon right now). I have gone later on, just to do cardio, but I like the classes because they help the time go faster

Today is one of the days that prompted me to write in my blog. I didn't start to get tired until about 6:30am. There was a yoga class I could go to but the big thing today was my Dad and Grandma needed a ride somewhere at 1pm. Now I KNOW that if I went to bed, and just tried to sleep and skip the class for the morning I wouldn't be on time for my Dad! So, I figured, I'll just stay awake, go to yoga and take my Dad running around!

Yoga seemed really hard, many things I would expect my body to keep up with I had a lot of trouble with. After yoga, I was starting to get super exhausted as well! I got myself a nonfat latte, water, ate right, I was able to have an extra energy spurt to drive my Dad around and I even brought my Grandma to get her nails done (while I squeezed in a much-needed eyebrow wax!). I got back home and it was 4:30pm. There was a Zumba class at 7:30 I figured I should go to, and I could tell that as long as I kept busy I'd be fine until class time rolled around!

I watched tv and passed out. I woke up only about 4 hours later, but that was when the class was ending.

Now finally I reach the point of my story. I love to go to these classes, I love how they'll help me lose weight too! BUT...

*continued @ http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/snookumss
There's not much more!

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engineman312

i would never sacrifice sleep for anything. i try my best to get at least 6 hours of sleep a night, sometimes 7 or 8. i understand you like your classes, but with the job you have, maybe you need to find a different work out routine that better fits in with your life right now. sleep is important for a number of reasons, including a reduction in stress, repairing your body on a cellular level with muscles and joints, and can actually promote weight loss. don't try and do too much, you will only wear yourself out and begin the downward spiral to poor decision making that can result in over eating and less exercise.

rockylucas

Sleep is one of the foundations of a healthy overall life. You HAVE to sleep everyday to be healthy, you don't have to exercise everyday to be healthy. Make getting enough sleep your top priority, and fit everything else in around that.

1a1a

I sound tech for a living and that can keep me out pretty late (and then the obligatory wind down period and so on) so I can relate.

My 2 cents - get the sleep. The exercise we do when well rested is more effective (plus you'll be safer behind the wheel, probably make better food choices and generally feel better).

However, we still want to get some exercise in right?! This is how I do it, exercise before work (well after breakfast/just before lunch, I wouldn't normally start till around 7PM). Classes are great for motivation and teaching us what to do but not critical to doing things. Zumba (and yoga too I imagine) can be done with the aid of a DVD or probably from memory once you have been doing it for a while (case in point, my mum does yoga for 2 hours every morning, she's been doing it so long she must have the routine imprinted in her brain). For me, I've was using aerobics DVDs, now I've switched to the 30 day shred. The one class I do attend is Tae Kwondo but on days when I can't go to the formal training, I can improvise some practice at home (like I had to just before upon realising that my car is defected and I can't drive there grrrr)

Nikstergirl

Sleep!!! If you don't sleep enough your weight loss efforts may stall due to stress and your muscles need the rest to repair themselves. I love to exercise, but always get enough sleep!!!!

girlinahat

sleep, everytime.

research shows that sleep aids weightloss, whereas for me, being tired means I tend to eat more just to function, no matter how much exercise I do to burn it off.

having said that, yoga is a great activity and will help promote better sleep, so try and get more of that in....

sandislim

getting enough sleep actually increases weight loss by lowering cortisol levels (I think) so sleep is important, whenever you can fit it in sleeeeeep!!!