JUST SLEEP!

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Doesn't that just sound easy? SLEEP! It requires no energy or thought, so why is it one of the most difficult things for many of us to do? It is because our American culture says we need to work as much as we can so we can be as productive as possible, which leaves little time to take care of our spouses, our kids, our household, and the many other obligations we have in our lives (with exercise and eating healthy on the top of this list of course!!) This is perhaps why Starbucks is coming out with the TRENTA size coffee! 31 oz! Don't even get me started on this...

Not getting enough sleep may be the missing ingredient if you are having trouble hitting your weight loss goals! When you don't sleep enough, your body thinks it is under stress, then it releases cortisol which is your stress hormone which makes it tough to lose fat. Back in the day when your body was under stress, it meant there were hard times and maybe a famine or natural disaster. The body would then release cortisol so you save as much fat as possible to make it through the rough times of hardly any food. However in today's world, stress does not equal lack of food or starvation, food is still readily available and we eat it!

We also crave carbohydrates when we do not sleep enough because our bodies want energy! We didn't rest enough so you need energy from somewhere, and carbohydrates are your quickest source of energy! All Carbohydrates are not bad by any means, but how many of you crave oatmeal and brown rice when you haven't slept enough? It is usually a sugary soda, coffee, chocolate, candy or other refined sugary garbage.

How do you go about getting more sleep? Decide what you need to do to make yourself get into bed at a decent hour. What is it that you can cut out of your day? Try turning off the tv and crawl in bed with a book (not your laptop!) and relax! Can you get your family to help you out with some of the chores so you can get to bed on time? And don't let Facebook, Mafia Wars, Angry Bird, or any other games rob you of your sleep! You may think they are helping you unwind, but your body would benefit much more from the extra sleep!

On that note- it is late and I must get off my computer so I can get to bed early! GOOD NIGHT!