Wishin' I was Zzzzin'

Tired? This morning I was so tired I nearly shampooed my hair with
shaving cream. The only thing that stopped me was that I realized it
wasn't lathering quite like it normally does. So in honor of my sleepy
day I'm posting some information my cousin Mindy sent in her
"Fitspiration" email. (if you'd like to be included on her mailing
list let me know)

If you want to lose weight, experts say you need to get enough sleep.
Specifically, researchers have reported that women who sleep 5 hours
or less per night generally weigh more than women who sleep 7 hours
per night.
Those women who slept 6 hours per night were still 12% more likely to
experience major weight gain, and 6% more likely to become obese,
compared to women who slept 7 hours a night.
This is the largest study to track the effects of sleep habits on
weight gain over time; it included nearly 70,000 middle-aged women.
The women were first monitored in 1986, and they reported their weight
every 2 years for 16 years. At the start of the study, the women who
slept 5 hours or less per night weighed an average of 5.4 pounds more
than those sleeping 7 hours. They also gained an additional 1.6 pounds
more over the next 10 years. While that doesn't sound like a
significant amount, it adds up. That's 16 pounds in 10 years, and 32
pounds over a 20-year period.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, the average woman gets
only six and a half hours of sleep per night. Chronic sleep
deprivation can have a variety of effects on the metabolism and
overall health.
Inadequate sleep:
·    interferes with the body's ability to metabolize carbohydrates
and causes high blood levels of glucose, which leads to higher insulin
levels and greater body-fat storage.
·    drives down leptin levels, which causes the body to crave carbohydrates.
·    reduces levels of growth hormone--a protein that helps regulate
the body's proportions of fat and muscle.
·    can lead to insulin resistance and contribute to increased risk
of diabetes
·    can increase blood pressure
·    can increase the risk of heart disease
Even in young, healthy people, a sleep deficit of three to four hours
a night over the course of a week has a triple-whammy effect on the
body.
It's clear one of the best things you can do for your health (and I'm
not just talking physical here) is to get some more sleep. It is worth
it to prioritize it into your life.

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