Do you get enough sleep each night?  It’s something I am always striving for, so I’m really working hard on being consistent in my sleep rituals.  I know how important adequate sleep is for me to perform at my best and be as productive as possible, but it’s still sometimes difficult to get to bed on time when tasks on the to-do lists aren’t crossed through.

Why do we parents have such a difficult time putting our own self-care first?

I can feel it all day long when I don’t get enough sleep because I’m short-tempered, foggy, unproductive, and extra hungry.  “Mom brain” is real on days like that and I don’t have enough patience to parent my kids the way they deserve.  The old saying, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” is so misguided, especially if I want to be my best, most healthy, happy self.

Research shows that, in general, people need 7-9 hours of sleep.  But did you know that 35% of adults report getting less than 7 hours of sleep regularly?  That means that so many of us are chronically sleep deprived, and I bet busy moms are at the top of that list.

Sleep deprivation causes irritability, fatigue, and inability to concentrate, making it impossible for us to function at optimal levels.  And even scarier, chronic sleep deprivation is associated with a host of serious health issues like increased risk of heart disease, mood disturbance, decline in cognition, and an increased risk of death.  Sleep deprivation also impairs our insulin sensitivity, making it more difficult for us to metabolize carbohydrates properly.

Also concerning, sleep deprivation increases obesity and poor metabolism.  In fact, those who get less than 4 hours of sleep are 73% more likely to be obese.  Just one night of sleep deprivation increases grehlin, which is the hormone that makes you hungry.  Likewise, sleep deprivation decreases leptin, which is the hormone that makes you feel satiated.  When these two hormones are unbalanced, cravings for salty and sweet foods are significantly increased and we’re more likely to make those “hangry” impulse decisions throughout the day.

Additionally, sleep deprivation increases cortisol, the stress hormone, which increases fat storage. Especially belly fat.  High stress levels also decrease immune function, interfere with sleep (creating a vicious cycle), increase appetite, and increase fatty liver.  Higher cortisol levels are also associated with decreased memory and increased possibility of Alzheimer’s.  Likewise, higher stress levels can interfere with proper hormone function, which affects so many of our bodily functions, including … you guessed it … sleep!

We certainly can’t tackle all of our parenting and life responsibilities very well when we’re fighting the side effects of not-enough-sleep.

Intriguingly, a University of Chicago study revealed that people who get 8.5 hours of sleep experience 55% more body fat loss compared to those who get 5.5 hours of sleep.  In the study, participants ate the same exact food – the only variation was the amount of sleep they got each night!  How many of us would love to take advantage of extra fat loss simply by sleeping more?  What an easy way to optimize our wellness and waist lines!

During sleep, we release melatonin, which is a powerful fat burning hormone and circadian rhythm regulator.  It’s also a major cancer-fighter.  Melatonin increases mobilization of brown adipose tissue, which increases metabolism, which increases mithochondrial function, which makes our bodies more metabolically active and therefore more able to burn fat.  Likewise, proper sleep helps our bodies balance blood sugar optimally, a positive effect from which just about all Americans can benefit.

Proper sleep rhythms also help our blood pressures regulate to take strain off of our hearts, as well as give our brains the time they need to rest and repair, which helps to reduce our chances of cognitive decline as we get older.  We secrete growth hormone during sleep, which helps our muscles recover and contributes to the general cell repair and recovery needed each day.  Sleep also reduces inflammation and boosts optimal immune system functioning.  This is so powerful – how often do we catch a cold after pushing ourselves too hard with too little sleep?

Ultimately, sleep is the time that our bodies require to heal the damage done during the day.

So how the heck do we optimize our sleep habits to effectively tackle our parenting and life responsibilities?  Simply put, we need to make sleep a priority in our lives.  Even if it means that we literally schedule it into our planners, sleep must be an essential part of our self-care rituals.  It’s too important to ignore.

Timing is everything, too.  Getting to bed before the critical 10pm-2am window ensures we’re maximizing our deep, regenerative sleep to support our vitality and longevity.  After that time period, our sleep is more superficial and not as restorative.  So if we’re chronically missing that chunk of sleep, it’s quite likely we’ll feel chronically fatigued and drained.

In order to feel vital and energized throughout the day, put the to-do list aside and aim to be in bed by 10pm.  For me, I have a goal of starting my bedtime ritual at about 9:30pm.  It doesn’t happen every night, but being aware of how critical sleep is has made me so much more conscious of making it a priority.  A good, consistent sleep ritual is one of the best ways I can practice self-care.  After all, the to-do list will still be there tomorrow.