Yawn, crunch, slurp!

Have you ever noticed that, when you don’t get a full night’s sleep, your nutrition habits change a little? (And if you are trying to hold down a full-time job or class load, train and be socially active , you are likely to be living that change daily.)

Clearly, you aren’t alone. In fact, the athletes I work with often tell me that they go scrounge for caffeine sources such as coffee and energy shots (which adds calories), as well as sugar-rich foods such as colas, all in desperation to jump-start their day and/or prep for a workout.

To put some data behind this notion, a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that when men get less sleep they do indeed eat more calories.

While the researchers hypothesized that there might be a purposeful biological function — perhaps based on nourishing the body for long-term survival — to me it seems that much of it is related to simply surviving the day!

So keep in mind that good health practices aren’t always about what you do during the waking hours, but during the sleeping hours as well.

Plan to get the deep, uninterrupted sleep your body needs to be more successful in your health and fitness efforts daily.

Cheers!

Rob