Weekly Tips for Your Peak Fitness and Wellness

This Week's Tip: Don’t Underestimate a Great Night’s Sleep

It’s kind of ironic, but at Outside In Fitness, we take getting our rest as seriously as we take getting in motion. Just like nutritious food and adequate exercise, sleep is also fuel for your brain and body; running near empty can affect your memory, concentration, mood, ability to handle stress, energy, safety, and according to recent studies, even your weight loss efforts since sleep loss can affect hunger hormones. So getting a good night’s rest on a regular basis should be part of your wellness plan.

The first week in March is National Sleep Awareness Week. For the next 7 days, we challenge you to do whatever you need to do to get your full sleep quota--that’s 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night for most adults, and 8 to 10 hours for school-aged kids and teens. You may think you function just fine on 5 or 6 hours, but for just one week, try upping the ante and see what effect it has on your quality of life. Cut back on your caffeine, move up your dinner time, set an egg timer to force you off the computer at night, maybe even buy a new mattress (take the mattress quiz at www.bettersleep.org). And have a good night!