We need to be getting enough sleep to be healthy. It’s that simple. If you don’t get enough sleep, you can keep going for a while, but eventually, the body will start breaking down. This breaking down is subtle, so we may not even recognize the correspondence between the lack of sleep and the issue, but the research is in. If you want to get to and maintain a good weight, if you want to have a good mood, etc., you need to get enough sleep.
If you have trouble getting sleep, there are a variety of things to consider. At this point, there are specialists in this field to consult, so I will simply lift up several issues. Are you dealing with allergies (cats, airborne grasses/trees, foods, etc.)? Have you been pushing yourself for so long that you have switched your cortisol rhythms and now are dependent on stimulants to get you through the day? Have you had your hormones checked? Does your sleeping room go dark, really dark, at night, with no little flashing lights from electronic anythings? Is the room (not the bedding) cool to quite cool? Do you finish dealing with electronics a half hour before bed time? All of these things will get in the way of sleep, not to mention being unhappy at work or in your relationships!
You can try tapping for some of these things (allergens, work issues, relationship issues), you can negotiate with your sleeping partner about the temperature of the room, and you can remove the little lights. You can do the sway test to see if your cortisol rhythm has switched, and if so, get some help for that.
You (and/or your bedmate!) can go to a sleep specialist and get tested for sleep apnea. This is one of those circular issues. If you are overweight, you are at higher risk for having sleep apnea. If you are not sleeping well, you will have trouble losing weight. If they tell you that you have a low level of apnea, and you don’t have insurance to cover the rather expensive machine, you may want to see if you can do tapping and use the other tools here and see if you still need it. However, if it is more than a low level, I would suggest that you get the machine to help you get the sleep so that is not getting in the way of your weight loss. Finally, you may have an auto-immune condition. Again, please get to a doctor.
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