masvida

By Dr. Madelyn Fernstrom For those of you who skimp on sleep because of “too much to do,” this weekend is meant for you. It’s the end of daylight savings time, and we turn our clocks back one hour at 2 a.m. Sunday morning. It’s time to “fall back” and gain an extra hour! While you might be tempted to pack more activity into this extra hour, how about using that time for an extra hour of sleep? Many people tell me they can’t make the time to sleep 7-8 hours every night. With our busy lives, sleep is often at the bottom of the “to do” list. Lack of adequate sleep is increasingly becoming a risk factor for our long term health. Chronic lack of sleep is associated with weight gain, hormonal shifts, mood changes, and lack of work productivity. One extra hour won’t make up for weeks and months of inadequate sleep, but it’s a start. It’s a big step for increasing personal mindfulness of your own sleep schedule. Pleasant dreams!

By Dr. Madelyn Fernstrom The upcoming holidays add a lot of extra activity to our already busy schedules. To make time for all of these add-ons, many people cut back on sleep to get everything done. You might be surprised to know that the best solution for holiday productivity is to make a good night’s sleep a priority. For most people, this means around 7-8 hours each night. Walking around bleary-eyed from lack of sleep slows you down, and limits your ability to multitask or even carry out your daily tasks efficiently. An occasional night of 5 hours of sleep won’t be a problem, but if this is a regular occurrence (be honest with yourself!), it’s time to revisit your sleep patterns. Lack of sleep is also associated with weight gain. People eat more, in the hope that they’ll feel more energized. Mental focus and awareness of mindful eating also decline with fatigue. Some hormones related to hunger and fullness signals are also out of whack, and stress levels can skyrocket with too littl...