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27 Jul 2007 08:34 AM

Fitness Journal - Sleeplessness and Exercise

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

The more you sleep, the better you feel - that sounds reasonable, right? Sometimes though, you can sleep too much. If you are low on energy and you don't eat well, chances are you sleep long hours and you sleep very hard. In today's fitness journal, I want to share a story with you. Years ago, I had a friend who rarely if ever ate very well. Her diet often consisted of Dr. Pepper and fast food. On the rare occasions she ate 'meals' she did not eat vegetables or whole grain products. She was more inclined to eat steaks, burgers and Hamburger Helper than anything else.

Sleeping Too Much

Her diet was so poor that she was often exhausted all the time and could never explain it. I asked her once how much water she drank in a day and she looked at me blankly. More often as not, she needed to sleep a minimum of 12 hours in a day in order to just be functional. Even then, she was sluggish when she woke up and it could take an hour or more for her to even get moving.

Her poor diet combined with her excessive sleep habits created a really bad situation for her in lifestyle and life choices. She lost two jobs. She lost her apartment. She had trouble functioning in group atmospheres and more. Now, before you say chances are she had other problems - sure, she could have. But the point is - that for this whole first year that I knew her, she was really struggling across the board. She always seemed to have a cold, nasty versions that lingered and lingered and it was always a struggle to get better.

During the second year, her diet became healthier. She began eating more balanced meals. She spent more time outside and became more physically active. During that year, she started feeling better about herself, found a job that she really enjoyed and did better overall. I should also mention that her health improved.

With each area of improvement, she became more physically active, she continued to make healthier eating choices and now, more than ten years later, she's graduated college, she's in great shape, she has a good job and she's doing well - and while it's not all due to eating well and being more physically active - these contributed to her success and she would agree.

Be sure to check out Mission Possible.

Related Articles:

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N is for Nutrition

F is for Fitness

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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