Friday 23 March 2012

Sunny days on the way

So I've been struggling with getting a good night's sleep and the time change didn't help. This week, we had a record breaking week of high temperatures: the humidex was at 30C. The sunny days seemed to have perked me up. Coming out of hibernation I guess, ha ha! Although my sleep hasn't improved much, my energy levels throughout the day seem to be improving. Hooray, here comes the sun!

My next hurdles are improving nutrition and getting regular exercise. Foraging for food like a Spring bear? Not me! Looks like I've not been getting enough protein, so it's turkey, tuna, and swiss chard on my shopping list. On the exercise front, I've been so tired in the morning and after work, I've not been pushing myself at all. Dialing it in big time.

I'll try to do better next week.

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Lack of Sleep

I'm starting to think that my sleep troubles are playing a bigger role in the lack of weight loss so far. Or should I say in my overeating. There are a ton of articles and research studies online about how lack of sleep leads to weight gain. And how lack of sleep affects hormone and blood sugar levels, yikes!  I'm averaging about 6 hours a night. I know it should be 7 to 9 hours. I usually "catch up" on the weekends.

Although I've changed a lot of my eating habits, I'm just so hungry at the end of the day, I'm just eating too much. What I haven't yet changed are my sleeping habits. I generally have to get up around 7:15 a.m.   I usually actually fall asleep between 1 and 2 in the morning.  So what is keeping me awake? TV, Internet, stress, brain can't stop thinking, so many reasons.

My bedroom environment is a little chaotic... right now I've been sorting through clothes, so they are piled everywhere. I'll work on the clothes tomorrow. I do have decent curtain on the windows to block out the light from the street lamp. Nice mattress and pillows. Slightly cool room temperature. So according to the articles, my environment is not the problem. Well all I can do is try to get prepared for bed about 10 p.m. and slowly unwind. Hoping this helps!!!