How to Lose Weight Series - Habit 5
- Pooja
- Jun 6, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: May 16, 2019
It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning, after the committee of sleep has worked on it.” John Steinbeck
It’s time to sleep oneself to health. Literally!!!
Whenever I am sick, my husband always tell me, eat well & sleep for minimum 8 hours and you should be fine. Majority of the times it works. Thank God it does!!
Can’t imagine having to visit a physician for every tiny little ailment. That itself could exhausting. It’s beautiful to see how the body is designed to fix itself while resting. Even in music, without the note of a “rest”, its difficult to create a magnificent piece.
So, for all my friends there who come in with the philosophy of let me make the most of my life by living each moment rather than sleeping it off. I would like to list down the reasons why “sleep” is such an important function/ activity of the body.
According to Harvard Women’s Health watch, the six reasons to get enough sleep are —
-For better learning and memory
-To regulate our metabolism and weight
-To keep us from committing errors like medical errors, road traffic accidents etc.
-To avoid irritability, impatience, ones ability to concentrate and keep us from being moody.
-To keep us in good cardiovascular health.
-To ensure our immune system is in good condition to fight infection and disease including fighting cancer cells.
How much sleep is adequate for a kid, adult and older person?
As per the panel from National Sleep Foundation, the recommendations for appropriate sleep durations are:
-Newborns (0–3months): Sleep range narrowed to 14–17 hours each day (previously it was 12–18 hours)
-Infants (4–11months): Sleep range widened two hours to 12–15 hours(previously it was 14–15 hours)
-Toddlers (1–2years): Sleep range widened by 1 hour to 11–14 hours (previously it was 12–14 hours).
-Pre-schoolers(3–5 years): Sleep range widened by 1 hour to 10–13 hours(previously it was 11–13 hours).
-School age children (6–13): Sleep range widened by one hour to 9–11 hours (previously it was 10–11)
-Teenagers: Sleep range widened by one hour to 8–10 hours.
-Younger adults(18–25): Sleep range is 7–9 hours.
-Adults (26–64): Sleep range did not change and remains 7–9 hours.
-Older adults (65+): Sleep range is 7–8 hours.
How to Prepare Yourself for Sleeping Well?
Have a routine of what time you go to bed daily.
Try to have your dinner at least 2 hours before you go to bed.
Have an unwinding routine. The last thing you want to sleep with is, after a TV show.
Your unwinding routine, could be anything as long it does not involve active usage of laptop, phone or TV. You could play music, read a book, talk to your family members, write a diary.
If you are angry with your spouse or someone at work, sleeping well may just not be possible. Since there are ample evidences that suggest supporting this theory as well as the opposite, have tried to dig deep into the subject.
Would love to hear your comments on how you manage to lull yourself to rest.
References:
- Importance of Sleep : Six reasons not to scrimp on sleep - Harvard Health A recent survey found that more people are sleeping less than six hours a night, and sleep difficulties visit 75% of us…
- www.health.harvard.edu17 Proven Tips to Sleep Better at Night A good night's sleep is just as important as regular exercise and a healthy diet. Over the past few decades, both sleep…
- www.healthline.comHow Much Sleep Do We Really Need? Ever wondered how much sleep you really need? The National Sleep Foundation has done extensive research and found out…
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