My relationship with sleep has always had its ups and downs. I'll go through periods where I feel like I'm sleeping pretty good, and weeks where I'm not sleeping well at all. In high school after spending a night in a sleep lab hooked up to all kinds of wires and monitors, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. Throughout my teenage years up until my mid 20s, it was normal for me to wake myself (and my husband) up gasping for air, and to have my sleep disturbed many times a night. Luckily I haven't woken up gasping for air in awhile, and I think I may have outgrown the condition if possible. I've never been one to fall asleep on planes (red eyes are guaranteed to be a little torturous) and I'm jealous of people that can seemingly pass out in a moment's time. My dad is one of those ... [Read More]
sleep
Infographic: The Importance of Sleep
We all know that getting sleep is crucial to healthy living. Although I know a few people who seem to get by well without much sleep, I am certainly not one of them. When I'm sleep deprived, I feel mentally slow, get distracted, have headaches, and generally just feel off. Sleep is critical to allowing your body to function properly. For instance, our immune systems are weakened when we don't get enough shut eye, which explains why a lot of people get sick when they are lacking the proper amount of sleep. I hate feeling under the weather, so this is a big reason why I try to make sure to sleep enough (the key word here being try, as I'm not too great of a sleeper!). For me, the magic number of optimal sleep is between 7 1/2 - 8 1/2 hours, as it is for most people. Below is an infographic ... [Read More]