You snooze, you win!

© Jacquelyn Johnston, M.Ed.

When I asked my former high school students what they planned to do on my next Professional Development Day, there was a chorus of “SLEEP!” When I asked friends who worked in an office, the response was “SLEEP!” My friend the night-duty nurse? “SLEEP!” My commercial pilot neighbor? “SLEEP!” Guess what my friend with twin baby boys wants for Christmas—no, not two front teeth, but a Two-Ton Sleep!

Is there anyone who doesn’t want to sleep in tomorrow, or have one of those dream offices (no pun intended) in Japan where they actually have a sleep room that employees can retreat to for a twenty-minute respite from the pressures of the computer screen? Ah-ha! Is that lost company time? What’s your take? It may well be one of the most enlightened ways of improving the ROI, not to mention of providing a more humane workplace.

We used to talk about eight hours of sleep per night, but in today’s conditions most working people count themselves lucky if they can get six, with seven being the height of luxury. Let’s say you do get six: are they hours of restorative sleep, or an hour wherein you wind down, four of fretful tossing and turning, and another hour in the half-conscious awareness (dread) of all you’ll have to accomplish in the day ahead? What have your hours of sleep done for you when you roll out of bed? Assuming, of course, that you haven’t been waken up by that rattling door, that light you suddenly remembered leaving on in the garage.

We have a tendency to eat more if we haven’t had a good night’s sleep. It’s just the body’s way of reaching out for some means of repair that sleep hasn’t given us. And so the dominos go: sleep deprivation leads to more food, often of the high-glycemic variety, more sugary stop-gaps lead to sluggishness; this often gives way to food choices that fill but do not nourish, vegetables and fruit go out the window, caffeine intervenes to keep us awake, and often interferes with sleep when we actually get into bed that night.

Oh dear! What does all that do for weight management? Well if you don’t get enough sleep your body has trouble managing the sugars you ingest. This produces cravings for all the wrong things. The liver does not get the nightly vacation it needs to get your food sorted out, the kidneys are totally confused, and your blood sugar soars. Your muscles lose their firmness, something made worse by a lack of exercise, and you eat just to keep those eyes open. Hmmm, I wonder f that has anything to do with the increasing incidence of diabetes and obesity we have in North America? Does this remind you of the lifestyle of anyone you know? Do you know what Diabesity can do to you, your family and your friends?

I invite you to find out by downloading the free report on my website. Then add comment to this blog. I’d love to hear your views on this.

Meanwhile, sweet dreams!