Sleep off your Weight

I noticed a woman’s magazine article today about “6 Reasons You’re Struggling with your Weight”, and the top reason was lack of sleep. It makes perfect sense. Not only does your body feel slow, but you will go for processed and sugary foods/drinks in order to give you a quick hit of energy, even when you aren’t hungry.

In China, I’ve always chuckled at the mid-day “resting” time from about 1-2pm. It always seems like laziness or something for kindergartners. But, when you analyze this habit more closely, you’ll find that it probably is quite helpful; Your brain will be completely recharged, you have time to eat a proper lunch, and you will feel less tired overall. That last one is pretty obvious, but it can reduce your excuse-making for eating sweets and starches.

Can’t get a mid-day nap in your schedule? Try cutting useless tasks out of your day. Three times a day you should ask yourself, “Is this task really necessary to improving my life or job results?” If you start deleting useless tasks from your day, you will find time to get more rest. Don’t let our extremely modern, fast-paced culture force you into useless long-hour days.

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  • Pat

    There may be some truth to this! I’m Chinese-American but grew up in China when I was 3-5. I remember one Winter break home from college, being completely inactive at a tiny apartment and sleeping/napping about 8-10 hours a day. I lost a little weight. There is nothing wrong with keeping your body healthy and all the stress and eating done while awake doesn’t quite keep your weight either. ;)

  • Anonymous

    Hi Pat, it’s definitely a good idea get as much sleep as your body needs. We all figure this out after some years of doing a “real” job or routine work. Of course, when you free up that extra time, it’s a good idea to build in some exercise too. It couldn’t hurt!
    Thanks for visiting Pat!

  • Pat

    When you’re well-rested, you have more energy to do things, like exercise and burn calories! A little extra TLC is good. Thanks for the blog. It makes me miss China.