Skip to main content

To Be, To Sleep, To Balance

Knowledge is just information,
unless it is paired with action, at which point,
we may call it Wisdom.
Did you know that proper rest and sleep are absolutely necessary for weight loss? We all know that under-nourishing our bodies (aka - not eating enough) will cause our bodies to go into survival mode, storing fat for nourishment, uncertain as to when it will receive more of the necessary nutrients to keep it going (if you didn't, then there you are). Anyway, when we deplete our energies and deny our body sufficient time to fuel up from rest, it does the same. Storing up nutrition for energy reserves until it is able to relax after a decent amount of sleep.

Now, I am by no means a medical or nutritional professional. So, please feel free to take my thoughts with a grain of salt, I am merely forwarding my experiences and recalling information from my college nutrition class. However, let me share my week with you.

After several weeks of operating on an average high of 6 hours and overall average of 5.5hours of sleep every night, I spent a couple of days struggling with over-indulgence. Mind you, this doesn't mean that I spent several days bingeing on ice cream and sweets, or bingeing at all. For me, it has meant increased grazing, lack of tracking, increased sweet content and returning to artificial and high dairy ingredients*. The result? Nausea, headaches, upset stomach, and fatigue.

*Disclaimer: I still eat dairy and some processed foods. But since beginning my journey 7 months ago, these items have gone lower and lower in my consumption. Failing to balance sleep and rest time with my increasing fitness have led to failed planning and apathetic attitudes.

After 2 nights of 9 hours of sleep, a day of rest without heavy burdens and intense workout sessions, I woke up refreshed and stepped on the scale with a 5 pound loss! I am not endorsing the scale's numbers as a defining tool in my journey, just a tool in general that gives me an idea of where I'm at. It informed me that I need to go back to the drawing board of my time management and figure out what my weeks need to look like (i.e. more sleep and consistent meal planning) as opposed to what I think they should look like (i.e. over-exercising and pushing through fatigue to keep my house tidy).

Too. Many. Goals.

I have yet to sit down and evaluate my goals and prioritize my needs from my wants. To recognize my shoulds from my whys. I cannot wait to share what comes from these evaluations with you all, but at the same time, I am nervous about what I might find. As much as I love to write and journal, sitting down and doing self-reflections is difficult to consider. Inasmuch as we all love to have the "who-has-it-tougher" showdowns to vent about our life's frustrations, we know that it means we have to sit down and have the "tough talk" with ourselves about where we need to purge.

Don't get me wrong, I actually LOVE to purge. I throw out clutter all of the time. By no means am I a physical hoarder. No, but I am an emotional hoarder. It might be worse. I refuse to let go of those things that make me feel just a little bit more important. To clear my schedule that is full of things that enrich my life. Yeah, when I type it, I sound ridiculous.

To cleanse or not to cleanse? That is the question. Yes, I know the answer. The question is when will I take the time to STOP?! Ask me about it next time you see me ;)

"To sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there's the rub..." -William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Plateaus

I would like to take a moment to talk about plateaus. Most of us begin to feel frustrated when we hit them (and we all hit them). I have decided to take the time to enjoy the maintenance aspect. I was initially taking a maintenance break, now I have began lowering my calorie intake again in order to lose. However, I am still maintaining, and that is okay. Here is why: I am healthy, I have no physical ailments that I cannot deal with which might be impeding on the norms of my life. I am strong, I can carry both of my 25# toddlers in my arms up 3 flights of stairs and into their bedroom (or down and into the car) without pausing several times up/down the steps; I can also carry all of my groceries from several stores up and down the stairs without being too winded to put them away after I bring them up. That is a sufficient amount of strength for my current employment ;) I enjoy my workouts! Many people dread the gym or have to force themselves to get their workout in because th...

So Much to Take On

There is an unspoken pressure in our society to have it all together and know how we want to contribute to the world. Here's a little secret: nobody has it all together and and it's actually quite challenging to know what you want out of life and how that life is going to contribute to the rest of the world. When did all the things  become something more than simple? Two of my favorite books that I plan to go back to this Fall are Grace Not Perfection and The Simplified Life  by Emily Ley. She breaks down what it is to truly make room in your life and home for the most important things. The funny part is, those things  aren't "things" at all, they are people. People, family, friends, relationships... those are the most important things  in life. So, when my work, my menu, my workout schedule, my chore list all get in the way of my kids, my husband, my family time, my fellowship at church, my friends... That is a problem.  When I was a kid and people a...

Semi-Quarantined and Semi-Healthy

We're now in July and just as it seemed our lives were working themselves back into normal, businesses were ordered to close up again (with the exception of outdoor seating and to-go options in restaurants), with no sight upon salons and the like being able to re-open.  Though life outside has continued to fluctuate, we have been able to continue with schedule adjustments and family time. Praise God we don't have outside commitments, besides church and hubby's work. We have been able to keep life pretty constant here and the ability to continue to fellowship and gather together at church has been such a blessing!  That being said, I am joyful in the ability to create consistency in my fitness and health regimen. Everything I have learned from several sources has given me the ability to continue in a downward weight trend and keep up healthy habits that support the goals I have for becoming healthier and stronger.  That's not to say that I haven't had a lot of strugg...