Sleep is a big topic of conversation these days. It’s usually the first question I get when someone meets Emerson. “Is she sleeping through the night? Are you getting any sleep?” The short answer is yes, she is a good sleeper and I am doing ok with getting up once (maybe twice) a night to feed her. I feel pretty rested – with the exception of the afternoon slump, but, I am not doing a whole lot else these days. The amount of time and energy I spend working out and training has significantly decreased.
Right now, it’s too much for me to get up at 5am to squeeze in a workout and when I get home at night I want to hang out with Emerson, not workout. However, that needs to change, I need exercise in my life for my own happiness and well being. I have been an athlete my whole life and not getting those endorphins is going to catch up to me…
The first step in gaining more energy to workout is getting enough sleep, which I know is hard with a baby, but it is important. Letting your body rest and recovery not only helps to give you more energy throughout the day, but it will also helps your body heal from pregnancy and delivery (and lord knows I am still working on getting my pre-baby body back!)
The nice people over at Casper sent me this cool Sleep Like A Champion graphic. It shows the benefits of getting enough sleep, and provides tips for making sure you get enough rest. While my days of being a Division 1 athlete are gone, I feel sleep is still so important for me. If I am well rested, I am a much better mom, employee and quite frankly a happier person.
I found the impact of a lack of sleep to the athletes performance staggering. We are not all shooting hoops or football players, but if reaction time can be reduced by 300%, due to lack of sleep, that is something to look into and try to fix. Think about how that would affect you while driving a car or playing with your kid. It is worth trying to finagle a good 8-10 hours of sleep. Get a good mattress, turn off your electronic devices 30 minutes before bed, start to get ready for bed 30 minutes earlier than normal, nap when you can and take time to relax and decompress so your mind doesn’t race while laying in bed.
I am going to try to go to bed earlier, not bring my phone to bed and maybe even read a little so I can relax. Sleep is so important as the above graphic shows, it’s worth taking the time to make it a priority.
Tell me, are you getting enough sleep?
