Sleep.....zzzzzzzzzzz

I've been thinking a lot about sleep lately.  Maybe thinking isn't the right word.  Dreaming is probably more accurate;)

Samuel is 9 months old now.  He's an absolute joy.  He's a beautiful boy and has added so much to our family. My only complaint is that he doesn't seem to need much sleep.  This is causing me to dream of the day when I will get to sleep again. This is a switch for me.  My other children all slept through the night by the time they were 3 months old so I'm confused by my 5th child deciding to sleep for no more than a couple of hours at time.

This has caused me to evaluate just how much sleep or lack of sleep makes a difference in my life.  I haven't had a full night's sleep in over 9 months so I am a bit tired.  Do you think this could affect my weight loss?  I'm realizing that indeed it can.

It's interesting that I have heard that lack of sleep can negatively affect your weight loss efforts but haven't really heard much in the Weight Watchers meeting rooms discussing this.  So I decided to do a little research of my own.  I checked out the Weight Watchers website.  They have a ton of articles that are based on research.  I found one on sleep that reinforced my thoughts.

It mentioned that fact that we don't make good choices when we are tired.  When we are tired we are often stressed and distracted so that makes it harder for us to pay attention to our food choices.  It also makes it hard for us to get a good workout when we are too tired to put in a good effort.

I have noticed over the years that when I don't get enough sleep I often "feel hungry".  I don't think that this is true hunger but it sure feels like it.  I have to be REALLY aware of my choices because I am feeling so hungry. Since I have this confusion due to my tiredness I have decided that asking myself if this is truly hunger may not really matter.  Just because I am "hungry" doesn't mean I need to eat.  Instead I have realized that I need to eat only what I am budgeted for the day and pay close attention to my Good Health Guidelines.  If I am getting all of my Points in for the day as well as meeting my GHG's I need to ignore that hunger and get over it.

I don't know when Samuel is going to allow me to get 8 hours of sleep again (I would be happy with even 6), but I do know that while I am waiting for him to be ready I am not going to let my weight loss efforts blow away.

Hope you are sleeping well.

Corinna

"I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety." -Psalm 4:8