Sleep

Do you get enough sleep each night?  Could you possibly be sleep deprived?!  

Getting a bad night’s sleep every now and then has no big, lasting effect.  But chronic lack of sleep can do a doozie on the body!  Maybe you have a newborn.  Or like to go out for late night dinners.  Or maybe you’ve just been binge watching the past five seasons of Downton Abbey!  It doesn’t matter the cause….the effect is the same.  Lack of sleep can lead to type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression.  Take a look at the list below to see if you may need to be getting more sleep!

 

1. You’re always hungry.  When your body doesn’t get the rest and energy it needs from sleep, it will try to get it from food.  Grehlin (the hunger hormone) increases when you are low on rest.
2. You’ve gained weight.  When you are tired you aren’t as conscientious about what you are eating.  You are more likely to choose nutritional poor foods for a quick “pick me up”.
3. You’re more impulsive.  People are more likely to give in to temptation when they are exhausted. 
4. Your memory’s shot.  The brain reorganized and stores memories while you sleep.
5. You’re having trouble making decisions.  Sleep deprivation effects speed and higher level cognitive thinking.  So that means that you may have a hard time with decision making, reaction time and time management if you are tired. 
6. Your emotions are all over the place.  Lack of sleep can make you oversensitive to emotional stimuli.  You may experience sadness, anxiety or anger.  On the flip side, you could also get slap happy or almost delirious with the sillies.
7. You get sick often.  Your immune system can be compromised when you are overtired and your body loses it’s ability to fight off infection.
8. Your skin isn’t looking good.  They call it beauty sleep for a reason.  Your skin renews itself and your body produces more collagen while our are asleep.

 So make sure you are getting good sleep!!!  Have a WONDERFUL weekend!