In Search of Sleep

Growing up, I had a very strict, self-imposed bed time.  That's right, years after my parents stopped telling us to go to bed, I still went to sleep around 9pm every night.   (I also had a strict "no homework after 8pm" rule which shows you how strict I was about doing homework) The bus came at 7am so there was no room for sleeping in.  I've never been one who can operate on little to no sleep.  It physically makes me ill to be tired and in Middle School and High School years I seemed to understand that.

Now, bed time ranges from 10pm to midnight and waking up ranges anywhere from 6:30 - 8am.  I guess since I now have the luxurious start time of 9 am for work and my Honda moves much faster than that school bus, I let myself be flexible on this whole sleep thing. 

The problem is, I feel like crap.  Every morning and most afternoons my eyes are heavy, my feet drag, and my stomach tells my brain that maybe eating a ton of carbs and sugar will help.  There are so many reasons that this has to stop but the main one is that:

 

Not sleeping means not working out which means even more exhaustion.  We all know how good we feel AFTER we work out.  I don't give my body that because I am too exhausted to get up.  The first week of bootcamp I worked out twice.  TWICE!  I am supposed to be active at least 5 days so I fell hopelessly short of this goal.

Another great aspect of this bootcamp is that we are supposed to make two healthy goals for the week.   Last time, I focused on vitamins and water.  I am pretty consistent with these now, so it was time to really look at what I need to do each week.  I thought of a lot of complicated goals or goals I thought all the other "healthy" people were doing.  But I really need to keep it simple and just get more sleep.  So my goals for the upcoming week are the following:

1.  Go to sleep no later than 10pm

2. Get up no later than 6:30am

In honor of my old High School self, I am adding a third goal:

3.  No "work" after 9pm

I think that one reason why I push my bed time further is that I do "work' (ie blog, update candidate's pages, make schedules, return emails) later and later and then want some time to relax.   If I relax from 9-10 it should be easy to fall into sleep.  

 

I know getting sleep will improve my workout numbers, the food I eat, and what I do for the rest of the day.  It is an easy, simple goal (as long as I turn off Bravo!).  

How do you get enough sleep?  What are your goals for the week?