Two things people love: Eating and Sleeping.

December 29, 2008 on 9:57 am | In Muscle Building Articles, Workout Nutrition | No Comments

On Saturday I went to a friend’s house to watch the UFC fights, ate some food, and got home around 1:30 am.  Since I was out all evening I had about a dozen emails to respond to and a few updates to finish so I got to bed around 2:00 am.  I was certainly looking forward to a serious night of sleep, but I felt like I had a weight in my stomach from the unhealthy food so I was restless for awhile before I was able to finally settle in!

 5:15 AM – Beep Beep Beep.  Up again!  Loaded in the car and headed off to Buffalo to watch the Bills vs Patriots game.  We stood in 60-75 mph wind up in the cheap seats to watch a game where neither team could throw (obviously due to the wind).  A piece of the Bills fieldhouse roof blew off into the parking lot.  I had a piece of beef jerky that I was trying to hold out on an extended arm, let go, and have the wind blow it into my mouth.  I thought it would be a good youtube video, but couldn’t quite get it. 

After the game we got home around 10 pm.  It wasn’t as late as usual since both teams just had to run the ball, which runs the clock quicker.  I was excited to get to bed and finally get a good night’s sleep.  But first, I grabbed a sandwich since we hadn’t had a real meal all day.  As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out old.  Unfortunately around 8 am I woke up with an uncomfortable stomach!  Another night’s sleep twharted by bad eating. 

I decided to hit the computer and do some research on the assosiation between overeating and sleeping.  I know that many people who are overweight suffer from sleep apnea.  The result of having sleep apnea is that the patient actually closes off their airway during the night, disabling the ability to get proper breath during sleep.  I’ve seen documentaries on former and current  NFL lineman that often suffer sleep apnea due to the weight of their bodies cutting off their breathing. 

As for overeating and sleeping on an individual basis, I found an article from the National Sleep Foundation.  Take the time to read through it! 

NATIONAL SLEEP FOUNDATION’S ARTICLE ON EATING AND SLEEPING

-J. HASHEY, CSCS-