introducing myself - professional & mom of 3--always tired!

Hi there. I am not in your situation but I do happen to know a lot about sleep and personal energy. It's fair to say that you are not alone. A recent survey found that 75% of 30-something women frequently feel tired and of those 59% feel tired all the time. It can be very difficult to balance looking after dependents with getting the rest and recovery you need. Firstly I would say make sure you give yourself enough time to achieve the sleep you need. You need 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night. Don't sacrifice sleep for other things. You become listless and lacking in energy. Lack of sleep also has a huge impact on health. To address one of your points on loosing weight did you know that sleeping 6 hours a night increases your risk of obesity by 23%? This rises to 50% in 5 hour sleepers and 73% in 4 hours sleepers. So to help with your personal energy and your weight loss goals make sure you get enough sleep. Quality of sleep is just as important as there are many things that can disturb sleep. I would suggest a new website (www.sleepknow.com) which has worked with leading scientists to put together a sleep test and sleep training programme. All you need to know in 30 minutes about quantity and quality sleep with lots of useful pieces of information on how to achieve them. All the best and good luck.