Friday Fit Tips: O Sweet Sleep

This week we have had a lot of early mornings thanks to daylight savings. With this fact on my tired mind, here are the fit tips that I shared with the Kailo Class today:

Mom Tip: I remember my exercise physiology professor at college saying, "No wonder new moms have a hard time losing weight--they are sleep deprived!" He continued to tell us how lack of sleep hinders metabolism and throws off hormones. In an article by WebMD, they also add that being tired makes you desire comfort food and can lead to weight gain. Just like eating healthy and exercising should be habits for you, try to make it a habit to get 7.5 hours each night.

Baby Tip: While we are on the topic of sleep, your baby needs enough sleep to keep his/her immune system strong through the cold and flu months! Here is what parents.com says:

If your child is tired all the time, her immune system may be too sluggish to fight off bad bugs. Unfortunately, a third of all kids don't get as much sleep as they should. Ideally, babies need up to 18 hours a day, toddlers and preschoolers need 12 to 14 hours, and grade-schoolers should get 10 to 11 hours. It's probably not practical for your child to wake up later, so if she's not hitting these numbers, make her bedtime earlier.

This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it. Why? Because this was taken by me on the day we arrived home from the hospital with Noah. Everyone got to sleep but me, the one who actually pushed a baby out and was up the whole night before. Don't you think something is wrong with this picture?