Do you ever have to choose between sleep and exercise?

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  • midlomel1971
    midlomel1971 Posts: 1,283 Member
    edited February 2020
    I think about this every single day. I'm a working mom with 2 kids, one is special needs. I go to the gym from 9:30 to 10:30 at night. Add that to my other after-dinner chores around the house (paying bills, laundry) and the fact that I'm absolutely wired when I come home after a workout, I often don't go to sleep until 11:30 or midnight. Then I'm up at 5:30-6. So, I know I'm not getting enough sleep. I worry constantly that the lack of sleep might kill me, but I also worry that being overweight will kill me. Basically, I worry all the time. I don't know which is worse.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    midlomel1971 wrote: »
    I think about this every single day. I'm a working mom with 2 kids, one is special needs. I go to the gym from 9:30 to 10:30 at night. Add that to my other after-dinner chores around the house (paying bills, laundry) and the fact that I'm absolutely wired when I come home after a workout, I often don't go to sleep until 11:30 or midnight. Then I'm up at 5:30-6. So, I know I'm not getting enough sleep. I worry constantly that the lack of sleep might kill me, but I also worry that being overweight will kill me. Basically, I worry all the time. I don't know which is worse.

    I get stuck in that same cycle, and I'm not nearly as busy as you.

    Honestly, I'd start out prioritizing sleep. Find a way to make the stuff you do all day a little more active, do some jumping jacks while you're waiting for the washer to stop spinning, but don't kill yourself to get in a regimented workout. Really focus on getting into good habits around some kind of workable, realistic sleep schedule. Once you've got that down, then figure out a way to fit the gym in if you can. Everyone goes through stages in their life where something's got to give, IMHO with all your responsibilities, sleep is more important than gym. Plus, if you're over tired, you're probably getting a lot less out of that gym hour than you should be!
  • midlomel1971
    midlomel1971 Posts: 1,283 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    midlomel1971 wrote: »
    I think about this every single day. I'm a working mom with 2 kids, one is special needs. I go to the gym from 9:30 to 10:30 at night. Add that to my other after-dinner chores around the house (paying bills, laundry) and the fact that I'm absolutely wired when I come home after a workout, I often don't go to sleep until 11:30 or midnight. Then I'm up at 5:30-6. So, I know I'm not getting enough sleep. I worry constantly that the lack of sleep might kill me, but I also worry that being overweight will kill me. Basically, I worry all the time. I don't know which is worse.

    I get stuck in that same cycle, and I'm not nearly as busy as you.

    Honestly, I'd start out prioritizing sleep. Find a way to make the stuff you do all day a little more active, do some jumping jacks while you're waiting for the washer to stop spinning, but don't kill yourself to get in a regimented workout. Really focus on getting into good habits around some kind of workable, realistic sleep schedule. Once you've got that down, then figure out a way to fit the gym in if you can. Everyone goes through stages in their life where something's got to give, IMHO with all your responsibilities, sleep is more important than gym. Plus, if you're over tired, you're probably getting a lot less out of that gym hour than you should be!

    You are right - all great advice. Thank you!

  • ElizabethKalmbach
    ElizabethKalmbach Posts: 1,415 Member
    edited February 2020
    You don't need to go to the gym to get exercise, and you don't need to workout all at once to get benefits. I walk my dogs for 25 minutes in the morning (2 miles) and take a walk on my lunch break at work (2 miles) and then walk home from work (3.5 miles) and that's plenty of exercise without ever setting foot in a gym. I try to lift weights 3x/week for the benefits of resistance training, but when I do, I'm only in the gym for about 30 minutes.
  • ladyzherra
    ladyzherra Posts: 438 Member
    I am a working mom to a young child, and I understand the dilemma that you write about here. As mentioned above, sleep is really so important. But I get that moving the body and staying dedicated to exercise feels good because it's a release, it's "me" time, it feels like we are doing something apart from caring for everyone else; it feels important. Even if it isn't for weight loss, it's for our sanity. If you can use the time for sleep, then that is almost always going to be the healthiest option. But for busy moms, it's also often the most difficult option.
  • MidlifeCrisisFitness
    MidlifeCrisisFitness Posts: 1,106 Member
    My job and a busy house of teens makes it so I get 5 to 6 hours of sleep a night. Would love to catch up on the weekend but I wake up anyways. So I have to pace myself. I go to the gym 2 to 3 times a week and do bodyweight exercises daily. I've found I need longer to recover now that I'm older. The lack of sleep just compounds it.
  • runnermom419
    runnermom419 Posts: 366 Member
    Yes, a few times a month, I have to decide between more sleep or getting up and working out.

    I suffer from horrible insomnia. I'm talking mind numbing, may end up with only an hour of sleep, can barely function the next day insomnia. On those days where I'm not falling asleep until 2 AM, you can bet I'm not getting up at 4 AM to workout. I get the extra hour of sleep and either take a rest day or workout that night.

    And before anyone asks, sometimes my insomnia is so bad, a sleep aid won't even touch it. Which makes the next day super fun.
  • melharrisonfitness
    melharrisonfitness Posts: 5 Member
    I workour in a morning and get up at 5.30am to do so, I try and make sure I get to bed on time to get enough sleep but often as I'm busy I end up going to bed later than planned. I find I get more and more tired as the week goes on but on a weekend I get a few more hours sleep than during the week so by Monday I feel like I've caught up again. It's a hard choice sometimes, I often don't want to get out of bed but I like to try and stick to a routine other wise I find myself making excuses!
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  • whoami67
    whoami67 Posts: 297 Member
    I used to choose exercise over sleep. I did that for years. I'm wiser now. I choose sleep or rest over exercise and listen to my body. I managed to diet and exercise myself into really poor health.
  • sarnol33
    sarnol33 Posts: 2 Member
    I know how you feel OP. I work full time and raise two young children on my own. One who has ADHD and anxiety that can be pretty crippling sometimes. I manage an entire household and with what little spare time I have I sometimes just don't have the drive to do even more. While going to the gym is not possible for me, I have purchased some home equipment. I can squeeze in a short workout when possible. Ten minutes here or there does add up. I tried waking up earlier and losing out on sleep but my body doesn't function properly without at least 7 hours. I crave bad food when I have less sleep so then I make bad food choices. If you are physically able you could try HIIT exercises so you are maximizing your time. I have done that before with success and will eventually get back there. It definitely requires being in okay shape before doing HIIT
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,282 Member
    I chose sleep just this morning. I went to bed at 9:15 last night thinking I'd get enough sleep to be up for a workout at 4:45. Nope. Slept through until 6:45. And I feel great. I spent 20+ years with undiagnosed sleep apnea. I cannot recommend good sleep hygiene enough. Sleep gets the short shrift in our culture. If you're well rested, you'll have better workouts. When you have good workouts, maybe you'll sleep better. Round and round :)
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