Day 6:  Bank Some Sleep 

Sleep is the first thing to go during the holiday season. We stay up late this time of year…

  • Burning the midnight oil to meet last-minute work deadlines
  • Wrapping presents when kids or loved ones are asleep
  • Waiting for Santa or loved ones to arrive
  • Or by taking red-eye flights to save a few bucks

Have you ever noticed that even when you get 8 hours of sleep or allow yourself to sleep in after a late night, you just don’t seem to wake up feeling as rested?

Our body is on an internal time clock according to the sun cycles. Based on this internal timer, our body has specific times when it does critical functions to help keep our hormones balanced.

From 10 pm-2 am, the body releases human growth hormone to repair damaged tissues or cells and create new cells. This is also when cortisol levels are at their lowest and melatonin hormone peaks to support restful sleep. And from 2 am-4 am, the liver and gallbladder get to work detoxifying to release toxins.

If we miss these sleep windows, our body does not shift its internal clock, we miss out on these important functions, and our hormones take a hit. Constantly staying up late can completely flip cortisol rhythm, mess with melatonin production, and disrupt the rest of your hormones.

Obviously, there are some fun-filled and valid reasons to miss some shut-eye this time of year, but you can make up for it by banking sleep on the days you can get to bed at a more reasonable hour.

Every 1 hour of sleep before midnight is worth 2 hours of rest!

When you don’t have holiday obligations, be in bed by 10 pm or earlier to bank sleep for late nights ahead or make up for the ones already had.

Getting good quality sleep at the optimal times will help you wake up feeling rested and make it through the holidays without your hormones being completely out of whack.

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