Respect Your Body:
Sleep and Vices

SLEEP IS IMPORTANT

You can't scrimp on sleep for too long.  Many women are familiar with sleep deprivation.  If you have ever had a baby, went to college, or just partied late into the night you're familiar with how your body feels after not having had enough sleep.  You may drag around a bit the next day, but you can recover relatively nicely as long as you're able to catch up on the sleep over the next couple of days.  Your body isn't designed to not get sufficient sleep over a long period of time, though.  If you consistently scrimp on sleep - whether out of necessity or from your own choice - you will notice that you are more prone to illness, you can't think as well, and you may also find that you encounter mood swings a lot more than you would have if you had sufficient sleep.  Simply put, your body needs sleep. 

If you deprive your body of the rest it needs, then your body will not operate at its best.  Even if you are able to take the time to rest without sleeping that's only going to tide you over for so long.  For example, if you work two jobs that force you to work long hours you might scrimp on your sleep because you have no other choice, but as the days go on you will undoubtedly notice that you are unable to function as well as you were able to before you started missing out on sleep.  Even if you have the entire weekend to sleep, you still need consistent sleep in order to function at your best. 

What is the optimum amount of sleep that you should get? Most people say that eight hours is the ideal amount of sleep to get every night, but some people need more while others need less.  The trick is to not deviate from the amount of sleep that you know you need in order to function.  If you find that seven hours has always been sufficient then make that your goal…to get seven hours of consistent sleep every night.  If you have found that eight hours just doesn't cut it, and you're a wreck without ten hours every night then aim for that.  You need to pay attention to your body when it comes to sleeping because sleep deprivation and good health simply do not go hand in hand.

Your body panics when deprived of sleep.  Sleep deprivation studies show that people's moods start to swing wildly when they are deprived of sleep.  People can actually hallucinate when they haven't slept, and some people have likened sleep deprivation to being on a drug.  In less dramatic instances, sleep deprivation can make you less aware of your surroundings.  You might not react to things as quickly as you normally would (such as when driving) and you might also find that you get a lot more grumpy than you would have been if you had enjoyed a full night's sleep. 

Some studies have shown that being perpetually sleep-deprived can make it harder to lose weight.  It boils down to this: your body needs sleep, and if you don't get the sleep you need then your body will definitely react.  Your body uses sleep as a way to rejuvenate and to repair anything that needs to be repaired while also warding off any viruses or germs that might be floating around in your body.  It's no wonder your body starts to panic when deprived of sleep.

Women get deprived of sleep a lot.  As a woman you probably get the least amount of sleep in your household (if there are people living with you).  There is an old joke that when a woman says she's going to sleep she then heads off and does various chores that last for about an hour and a half before collapsing into bed whereas the man of the household says he's going to sleep and then he just goes to sleep.  Women who are in families generally try to make sure that the children in the household are getting enough sleep, but when it comes to their own sleep they figure that they can get away with less.  A common problem is that the only time many women get to themselves is late at night when everyone else has gone to bed, so women will sacrifice sleep in order to get an hour or two of peace and quiet (or time to get things done, in some instances). 

Women who have had babies know that no matter how equal the marriage may be, it's usually the woman who is up with the baby especially if the woman is breastfeeding the baby and not utilizing bottles at all.  In this instance there's simply no getting around sleep deprivation.  Temporary periods of time fraught with sleep deprivation are one thing, but it's when it becomes a chronic habit is when you need to worry about the effect it is having on your body.  Take into consideration the fact that you're making it even harder for your body to function than it already is, and then decide if maybe your two hours of peace and quiet might be condensed to half an hour so you can get some decent sleep.  Your body will thank you.

NIX THE VICES

Do you smoke? Why, oh why, would anyone smoke nowadays with all the proof that it can dramatically increase your chances for cancer and all sorts of other nasty elements? The answer is because some people begin smoking at an early age - when they think they're invincible - and then quickly become addicted and dependent upon the nicotine and other substances found in cigarettes.  Other women feel as though there is a distinct advantage to smoking because it suppresses their appetite, and therefore they feel as though the risk of cancers and other illnesses is a fair trade off for a svelte figure. 

Whatever your reasoning for smoking cigarettes (or whatever else it is you might smoke) you should know that it can also increase your risk of serious medical problems when your smoking is in conjunction with certain medications.  For example, if you smoke cigarettes while using certain types of birth control pills you are increasing your chances of all sorts of big problems.  The best solution to this whole problem is simple: quit smoking.  It's a seemingly simple solution, but quitting isn't really all that easy for most women.  With cigarettes, you become not only physically dependent but you can also become habitually addicted to them.  So you may not have big problems with getting over the nicotine addiction, but if you have always smoked a cigarette after dinner you might find that you have a hard time not smoking after a big meal. 

There are plenty of options for quitting smoking, and many women find that consulting a doctor is a great idea when making the decision to quit because there are some helpful methods that doctors can give you.  If you're wondering when the best time to quit smoking is, then the answer is this: What are you waiting for? Quitting smoking is one of the biggest things you can do in order to improve your health in addition to improving the health of the people who surround you.  Your spouse, your kids, and even your pets will benefit from your quitting smoking, so use this as the motivation you need to quit.

Do you drink alcohol? It's pretty annoying how you can hear a conflicting medical view regarding alcohol consumption because you never really know who to trust.  Is a glass of red wine after dinner okay? Will a weekend of indulging in beer and martinis increase the odds of your losing a couple years off your lifespan? Most doctors will agree that the consumption of alcohol - as long as it is not excessive and is not a daily habit - is nothing to be too concerned about. 

Remember that alcohol often has a high amount of calories, so you may want to take care at how much you drink from a diet perspective.  Also, you should pay attention to make sure you don't find yourself becoming dependent on alcohol in order to loosen up or even get through the day.  Alcohol consumption can be a slippery slope…what starts out as an occasional drink in social situations might eventually evolve into something more dangerous.  Some experts believe that there is actually an alcoholism trait that some parents pass on to their children through genetic makeup, and this is something you should be concerned about if either one of your parents or grandparents had problems with alcoholism. 

You need to take a look at the bigger picture and decide if indulging in alcohol is in your best interests with regard to your health, or if maybe it might be best to simply abstain.  If you have questions about what's best for your particular situation then you should speak to your doctor.  Don't just assume that you need to abstain completely from drinking any alcohol because someone in your family has a drinking problem.  You may be able to handle it much better than the other person.

Coffee in excess is bad.  This goes for any caffeinated drink, at least the ones that you drink in abundance throughout the day.  Studies have shown that some caffeine consumption may temporarily boost your cognitive sharpness, allowing you to think quicker and more clearly.  This doesn't last for a long period of time, however, and you may find yourself relying on caffeine more and more in order to wake up in the morning and then to stay awake throughout the day. 

In moderation caffeine isn't really too much of an issue, but when you start relying on caffeine too much then it can have negative health effects as well as an addictive effect.  Your body and mind may start to rely on the caffeine to keep going, and that means you will either wind up steadily increasing your caffeine intake in order to keep up with your body's demands, or instead you will need to quit caffeine to lose your dependency. 

Quitting will come with withdrawal symptoms, just like with any other chemical substance with which you become addicted.  You might experience headaches, moodiness, and any other symptoms characteristic of withdrawals, but it depends largely upon your level of physical dependency and the rate at which you decide to quit.  In other words, quitting "cold turkey" will result in a harder withdrawal period than quitting slowly.  However you choose to limit your caffeine intake - or to quit it entirely - you will probably have to deal with a little bit of discomfort.  The end result will certainly be worth it, however, because you'll no longer need to rely on caffeine to get going. 

When you think of good health as a head-to-toe aspiration you begin to realize that every single part of your body has an influence on the other parts of your body.  You can't just decide that you're going to get your back healthy yet ignore your kidneys, for example.  It doesn't work that way.  Think of your body as an all-inclusive system that can't work at its finest unless everything is working beautifully.  This frame of mind can help you to see that when it comes to your health, all the parts matter.

Next, we will talk about making the best Health Choices For Every Stage of Your Life.