Set a bedtime and wake up time. Many aspects of our lives are competing with our sleep – work, working out, kids – and it can often feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day. It feels easy to pull time from sleep because we aren’t actively doing anything when we’re sleeping, but it is something that has a cost down the line. Sleep tends to operate like a bank, meaning when you get 4 hour of sleep one night, your body is going to need to 10 hours the next. Also, sleep has an affect on the hormones that regulate hunger and our insulin response which can lead to negative affects on our bodyweight.
The sleep recommendation from the national sleep institute is 7-9 hours. The one thing to take away from the 7-9 recommendation is that getting less than 7 hours for an extended period of time is going to have a negative affect on your recovery, how you feel, and how you perform. The best way to start to watch your hours of sleep is to set a bed time and a wake up time each day and don’t be afraid to make changes based on how you feel.