Sleep!!

Jackielyn17
Jackielyn17 Posts: 80
in Health and Weight Loss
I know sleep is important for weight loss, I was just was wondering HOW MUCH of it we really need. I often have trouble falling asleep at night and I wake up early enough on workdays (5AM Mon-Wed, 6AM Tues-Thurs)

Replies

  • Smokey19
    Smokey19 Posts: 796 Member
    Your body truly needs 8 full hours of sleep to recover every night. I have trouble staying asleep, but I am able to take naps during the day if I need them. That isn't as good as a good night's sleep. Try to get to bed early enough to get plenty of sleep. Great job getting up 4 days a wk. to workout. That shows amazing dedication and commitment.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    If you know you need to be up at 6 then set bedtime as 10. Start a ritual every night to prepare for bed and stick to it. If you like to read then read in bed to relax. Your bedroom should be a place for sleeping, not TV watching or computers. It takes a couple weeks but you can retrain your body to sleep.
  • Jackielyn17
    Jackielyn17 Posts: 80
    I wake up early for a 5:30AM one-hour swimming practice on Mondays and Wednesdays since I start work at 6:45AM Monday through Thursday. Tuesday nights I have a martial fusion class until 8:30 so I'd have to be sleeping by 9 for Wednesday?? Does anyone use sleep aids?? I've removed all stimuli from the bedroom, the only thing that can keep me up is my siamese attention seeking baby lol. I've always had issues falling asleep as long as i can remember! I can't read to put me to sleep, I wouldn't put the book down!
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    Not everyone needs the same amount of sleep. If you feel well rested and have energy, you are probably getting enough for you.
  • Jackielyn17
    Jackielyn17 Posts: 80
    I dont think i get enough, I often feel the need to nap. If I were getting enough sleep, a nap wouldn't feel needed, right?
  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,689 Member
    Your body truly needs 8 full hours of sleep to recover every night. I have trouble staying asleep, but I am able to take naps during the day if I need them. That isn't as good as a good night's sleep. Try to get to bed early enough to get plenty of sleep. Great job getting up 4 days a wk. to workout. That shows amazing dedication and commitment.

    Actually, sleep requirements vary substantially from person to person, 8 hours is just a guide. If the OP can wake up feeling refreshed, doesn't "need" caffeine or other stimulants to stay awake, doesn't "sleep in" on the weekends to "make up" for lost sleep during the week, and doesn't have trouble staying away during the day, then she is probably getting enough sleep for her body.

    Edited to add: Apparently the OP doesn't meet these conditions, but in principal, this is still true.
  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,689 Member
    I dont think i get enough, I often feel the need to nap. If I were getting enough sleep, a nap wouldn't feel needed, right?

    Can you take a nap? I mean, if you "feel the need to nap" and can do so when needed, then occasionally (or even regularly) feeling the desire to take a nap isn't a problem. If you feel the need to nap, but can't due to work, etc., then you probably need to work on getting more sleep at night.
  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,689 Member
    I wake up early for a 5:30AM one-hour swimming practice on Mondays and Wednesdays since I start work at 6:45AM Monday through Thursday. Tuesday nights I have a martial fusion class until 8:30 so I'd have to be sleeping by 9 for Wednesday?? Does anyone use sleep aids?? I've removed all stimuli from the bedroom, the only thing that can keep me up is my siamese attention seeking baby lol. I've always had issues falling asleep as long as i can remember! I can't read to put me to sleep, I wouldn't put the book down!

    Have you tried meditation? It can take a little practice, but it can help.
  • tripod271
    tripod271 Posts: 112 Member
    8 hours of sleep and, with the exercise you're getting in - nap too. Congrats on listening to your body. You know what to do. :)
  • lookgreatfast
    lookgreatfast Posts: 106 Member
    I have a baby and need to get up 3-4 times a night too. Does this mean slower weight loss?
  • Jackielyn17
    Jackielyn17 Posts: 80
    I wake up early for a 5:30AM one-hour swimming practice on Mondays and Wednesdays since I start work at 6:45AM Monday through Thursday. Tuesday nights I have a martial fusion class until 8:30 so I'd have to be sleeping by 9 for Wednesday?? Does anyone use sleep aids?? I've removed all stimuli from the bedroom, the only thing that can keep me up is my siamese attention seeking baby lol. I've always had issues falling asleep as long as i can remember! I can't read to put me to sleep, I wouldn't put the book down!

    Have you tried meditation? It can take a little practice, but it can help.

    Meditation as in yoga?? Maybe that could help :)
    BTW, awesome DP, I totally want to do pole aerobics one day, maybe when I lose 25 more pounds :)
  • Pedal_Pusher
    Pedal_Pusher Posts: 1,166 Member
    "Sleep delays life, get up........"
  • Healthydiner65
    Healthydiner65 Posts: 1,552 Member
    I have a big noisy fan I put on high and aim it at my head then I burrow under the covers in a very dark bedroom.I sleep like a baby 8 hours a night!
  • katwal87
    katwal87 Posts: 19 Member
    I find listening to water or rain helps me to fall asleep, there are some great videos on youtube, search on there for "rain sounds 8 hours" - I don't listen for the full 8 hours but I find after about 15mins I start to fall asleep so turn it off but lots of people do have it on all night.
  • Bethscho
    Bethscho Posts: 1
    This website should help you :)
    http://sleepyti.me/

    And if you're up for a little reading about sleep and whatnot then this one is good
    http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleeping.htm

    Good luck!!
  • GreyV
    GreyV Posts: 60
    I've been suffering with depression for the past year and also have awful insomnia as a result of anxiety. Sleep has always been difficult for me but hopefully not for much longer. My lovely, generous, amazing parents have paid for a new bed for me. My boyfriend suffers from sleep apnoea so hopefully this new bed will help both of us. I ordered it yesterday and even splashed out on anti allergy bedding so from Friday I should be sleeping like a baby! Fingers crossed! x
  • PinkHurricane88
    PinkHurricane88 Posts: 156 Member
    I have fought insomnia for years and finally am starting to get into a more normal sleep schedule. I sleep about 7 hours a night, no less than 6 when I can manage it, and usually no more than 8-9. 7-8 seems to be where the magic happens.
  • RhineDHP
    RhineDHP Posts: 1,025 Member
    It is recommended to get at least 7 hours of sleep, but no more than 9, when you're an adult. Naps are a great way to reinvigoate concentration, focus, and energy, so long as its not any longer that 40 minutes. After that you go into the next cycle of sleep, and waking up from that cycle is not good because you feel groggy and disoriented. A 20 minute power nap should do the trick.

    I have days here and there where I can't sleep fitfully. Also my fiance and I are on totally different schedules since he works late and I work early. I have tried melatonin, and that seems to help a bit. Nice hot chamomile tea helps me as well, and lighting a lavender scented candle. If I really and utterly need to be knocked out, a muscle relaxant or nyquil does it. But you know I wouldn't recommend that as a go to method, as people have become addicted to muscle relaxants, or build up a tolerance and thus needing more and more of the drug. I use it sparingly.

    Another thing that I've been told helps (which I haven't tried myself) is, after removing all stimulating things, to close your eyes and breathe deeply, mimicking sleep. Its been said to help go into actual sleep.

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