Word of the week is REST-

Rest, recovery, sleep, down-time...all that jazz. This is a constant struggle for me- constant struggle. Everyone preaches to me that I need more sleep, more rest, more recovery. I agree but have a very hard time getting it all in. I am an addict. I love working out, I love how it makes my body feel, and I love accomplishing a big workout. I get nervous and tense when I don't get to work out so the idea of resting sends shivers in all of my bones. I am learning, I am trying, I am working on it- I know, I know....

Let's hit one topic of this Rest formula- Sleep
Why should you get more sleep:
1. More sleep doesn't effect negatively on training but less sleep can seriously effect training.
2. Leptin decreases
3. Serotonin decreases
4. Cortisol levels raise
5. Ghrelin decreases

One reason some people "do well" on little amount of sleep is because lack of sleep raises natural adrenaline and cortisol levels. This gives you the high feeling however, lack of sleep can also drop those levels quickly making you crash hard.

A study recently published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that women who slept seven or more hours a night were less likely to put on wieght than those who slept less. For those women who slept 6 hours a night were 12% more likely to gain weight. The average was 33 pounds over 16 years. Only hit the pillow for 5 hours? You'll be 32% more likely for that heafty weight gain. Lack of sleep has also been linked to higher BMI.

Again, I'm working on it. Monday night I got in the sheets at 9:30 and woke at 6:45. Points for me on that one, yipee. I am very much a night person also. If I'm up past 11 pm, I am up for a while. I get creative at night and my brain ends up working so I end up staying up. Tuesday was a little less but still just over 8 hours of sleep.

Recently I've started taking Hammer Nutrition Products REM Caps. I really like these and have found them very useful HOWEVER I have to make sure I am able to get the 8 hours of sleep if I take them because they knock me out hard. I feel I get better quality of sleep also. If I dont get the 8 hours, it is very hard for me to pull myself out of the covers and on to the floor.

Due to sickness I got 10 hours of sleep last night and I feel better. This whole week I'm working towards getting more sleep. That was the plan before the sniffles hit and is now more important since my immune system is fighting hard.