Get more sleep

I still don’t know if I’m getting enough sleep but I’m definitely getting more than I used to and it’s helping me to eat more responsibly, enjoy my days more, and be in a better mood. Certainly worth it!

I don’t get this—I’m getting more regular sleep these days but it doesn’t seem to be helping with my energy. I wonder if there’s some other reason that I’m tired all the time…?

At a lecture last night I heard that one particular study has found that more sleep seems to result in greater weight loss when combined with diet and exercise. In fact, people who get 8 hours of sleep as opposed to 6 hours tend to lose twice as much weight over the same period of time!

More incentive!

Going to sleep now?! Sheesh.

Last night I got to sleep by 11pm and the kids let me sleep in until 7:30 this morning. What a difference that made! I’ve been much less cranky and much more clear-headed today. We’ve gotten a lot done and I know my kids are having a lot more fun with me. On top of that, when I do get a little snippy with them, I can step back from it and talk the girls about why I’m feeling stressed. Lately, because I’ve been so overtired, I haven’t been able to do the stepping back part and I’m worried that my kids will think I’m irrational, or worse, that I’m snippy because they’re “bad kids.”

All-in-all, hooray for sleep! ;-)

I feel like there are so many areas of my life that have been out of control for almost two decades and sleep is one of them. It seems like it should be an easy first one to reign in—getting to bed and waking up at regular times. It requires some advance planning, though, to make sure I’m ready⁺ to go to bed on time.

(+ By “ready” I mean both that I’m done with the evening chores and that I feel my day was fulfilling enough that I’m not tempted to go online in the evening.)

This thing has kept me up way, way, way too late! Hopefully after this first flurry of excitement, I can settle down and use it to actually help me accomplish my goals…