Festival Of Sleep Day

I love reading and always seem to come across some interesting little tidbits related to health and fitness and I like to pass on the ones I think have some merit.

This is Thor, my son's cat, asleep on a down comforter...guess he got tired playing with the pink lacrosse ball!

I understand today (January 3) is Festival of Sleep Day !

All joking aside, sleep is vital to maintaining a healthy body weight, and to  build lean mass, in addition to proper functioning of every cell in your body.

I am miserable when I haven't had my sleep. I cannot think, I don't make sense, I am not productive at work and worst of all, I cannot lift heavy weights when I haven't had a good, long sleep! I need more than I get, but as it is, I go to bed by 9:00 pm usually, it would be really hard for me to fit in anything after work if I went to bed much earlier.

Scientist now know that sleep is essential to memory- your brain uses those hours to arrange memories so you can better recall key emotional moments. (To me, this is almost like running a de-frag on my computer!)

Other good reasons to put in the pillow time: People who skimp on sleep show elevated levels of inflammation (a risk factor for heart disease and stroke) and crave higher-calorie foods because of hormone imbalances.

"Good sleep equals good health" says Dr. Stuart Quan of Harvard Medical School's Division of Sleep Medicine.

So stop watching TV, have a hot cup of chamomile tea, some ZMA to help promote natural growth hormone and go to bed early!