Sleep Number

I've been wondering if there is such a thing as too much sleep. According to today's e-mail from Jillian Michaels, there is such a thing. Check it out!

Are you one of those people who likes to brag that you get by on very little sleep? Or do you love to sleep the day away? I've told you before that too little sleep can mess up your weigh-loss efforts, but did you also know that when you sleep too much, your metabolism can also be negatively affected too?

If you sleep 10 hours a night, you might face some of the same hormonal risks as those who sleep too little. A recent Canadian study found that people who sleep fewer than seven hours or more than nine hours weigh an average of four more pounds (and had wider waists) than people who sleep eight hours every night. Researchers believe that having too much or too little sleep interferes with your ability to control your appetite, because it simultaneously increases hunger hormone ghrelin while it decreases satisfaction hormone leptin.

Want to be sure you are getting all the benefits of a good night sleep? Get your rest! Shoot for a consistent eight hours of sleep and stick with the same bed time and wake-up time each day — even on the weekends!

I can definitely tell that I have a harder time waking up once I pass that 9 hour mark on the sleeping - whether I just let myself sleep in or accidentally hit that snooze button too many times and it shuts off. My energy level is also in the gutter on those days. Jillian's outlook on sleep is interesting. What do you think? Do you notice any differences when you sleep longer than nine hours?

Until tomorrow!

Court