Sleep Challenge 2010: How Late Did You Sleep In This Weekend?

Good morning, folks, and welcome to the start of Week 2 of the Sleep Challenge 2010--Arianna Huffington's and my crusade to encourage women to give themselves a break and actually get enough sleep for once. And major high fives to all of us doing it (thanks for joining, Nia Vardalos and Tory Burch), because as of this morning, we've emerged victorious from what some experts consider the biggest test of American women's sleep habits: that 48-hour health menace known as the weekend.

The fact that the weekend is bad for sleep made no sense to me at first, because in my life, the workweek is the time when I'm powering through on five hours rest a night and coffeecoffeemorecoffee, and the weekend is the time when I get to sleep in and put the pillow over my head whenever anyone tries to talk to me.

But it turns out that when you're trying to put your sleep life in order, the weekend is the time when women's best-laid plans get derailed. I started getting the message when our sleepmeister Michael Breus, Ph.D. emailed me last Friday to warn me. "Watch out for the weekend," he typed menacingly. "This is usually the time that many people stay up late, drink alcohol (I call this the double whammy), and sleep in. Try to keep within 30-60 minutes of your bedtime and wake time; the more regular your schedule the better your sleep."

What? Who are those diabolical people, with their staying up late, their drinking of alcohol and their dawdling in bed weekend mornings? I had a moment of wanting to lie down on the floor and throw a little tantrum when I got Dr. Breus's message. I had signed up to get a good night's sleep every night for a month; it seemed like a pretty easy gig. Now I'm supposed to go out for a 5:30pm dinner on Saturday night? Swear off wine? And then get up at my weekday rise-time (5:30am!) the next morning? How boring am I going to be by the end of this godforsaken month, anyway?

But, at the same time, I figure this stuff's gotta work, so I'll try at least some of it. Dr. Breus's key weekend suggestions, from a health perspective:

* Try to keep close to your weekday sleep schedule on weekends--don't vary by more than an hour.

The idea behind maintaining a similar bedtime/wake-up time on weekends isn't just that you don't want to suffer Sunday night insomnia--it's that a regular sleep schedule actually helps your body reap more health benefits from the sleep it gets. Plus, if you're doing the Sleep Challenge, you're trying to find out how many hours you actually need, and being somewhat consistent helps during that initial figure-it-out stage.

I have to admit, going to bed at 11pm this Saturday night and then getting up at 6:30am the next morning made me feel a little like a third-grader. Plus, I felt irrationally annoyed at my husband, who got to loll in bed until all hours (well, OK, 9:00). But guess what? All day long, I felt awesome. And on Sunday afternoon, when he was falling asleep in front of the Patriots game, I felt so energetic I willingly went for a run. Did this pan out for any of you, too? I'm dying to hear.

* Keep up your regular dinner schedule...meaning, no eating at 10pm.

This is a hard one for me; I've always believed that most food tastes better after nine at night. (My favorite family Thanksgiving tradition is the microwaved plate of leftover sweet potatoes at midnight.) But since sleep experts say your body rests better when it's not still digesting, this weekend I planned early dinners both nights: 7pm instead of the far-later I'd have chosen otherwise.

Nice bonus of living this way: It'll apparently make you slimmer. According to Dr. Breus, "most food after 10pm goes straight to fat." (I'm pretty sure midnight sweet potatoes are an exception to this rule; if they're not, I don't want to hear it.)

* Try to stick to your usual caffeine-and-alcohol rules on the weekend.

Meaning no more than a glass or two of alcohol (even though it makes you
sleepy, it keeps your body from fully resting, and you'll feel blech-ier the next day), and no caffeine after 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I did OK here, even though friends brought over some really yummy Italian red it was painful to turn down seconds of.

I'm under no illusions that I could keep up this usual virtuous routine year-in and year-out, but I have to admit: One weekend in, I feel good. This week will be a bear, sleepwise: I have back-to-back work commitments/evening events/kids' school stuff, plus late nights reading stories for the issue we're closing...oh, and I told friends I'd go to a play Wednesday night...oh, and my trainer's back from vacation, so there's that...but nevermind. I'm determined to do the seven-and-a-half hour thing regardless.

What about all of you? How late do you sleep in on weekends? And when you hear someone suggesting that you forgo sleeping in even on mornings when you can, do you think, "good idea" or "go away, you humorless health nut!"?

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Comments

[peskime]

06:12 PM on 01/12/2010

I have a five year old kid, how much do you think I sleep in on weekends?

It's been about five years since that happened

[lynninny]

09:09 PM on 01/12/2010

I hear you. I have five year old twins. It's been so long since I've gotten to sleep in, I don't even remember it. Every once in a while, I think I would empty out my meager checking account to be able to sleep until 11 some Saturday. But I love them, they are awesome, what are you going to do?

[olita]

11:18 PM on 01/11/2010

Taking up surfing at the advanced age of 39 completely changed my sleep cycle. I used to be the typical weekend bed slug sleeping until noon all through my twenties and thirties. After being bitten by the surf bug my entire orientation changed and all I wanted was to rise at dawn and rested enough to surf early morning glass. Surfing is the best habit I ever had.

[jgarma]

07:20 PM on 01/11/2010

In my experience -- and I've had thousands of iterations -- this sleep thing is a hard nut to crack. We get so wound-up during the day, and then want to turn it all off, like a light switch when we go to bed.

As a mini-mediator (meaning, ten minutes morning and night -- yawn), and (sometimes) yoga practitioner, I thought myself to be immune from restless non-sleep. But au contrare!

Recently, some anxious stuff in my life has refused to go to bed when I do, so it's been a few nights of tossing and turning.

Besides, exercise, and relaxation techniques, you can turn to the medicine cabinet. BUT before you do, consider trying some effective, natural supplements:

http://bit.ly/RejuvinatingSleep

See ya in dreamland.

Jgarma
www.GarmaOnHealth.com

[twohearts]

05:36 PM on 01/11/2010

I tend to get about 10 hours of sleep, but if left to my own devices, I can sleep 12 hours or a little more. I think I have some kind of exhausting medical problem, but not sure what it is. I try to get in bed by 9:00, but that's hard to adhere to.

2h

[AudJ]

04:42 PM on 01/11/2010

Can someone tell me the origin of the expression "sleep IN". When did it replace the usual "sleep late"?

Aud

[Natalee]

05:22 PM on 01/11/2010

...I recall everyone using it at college in the early 1980s!

[LegalMomma]

03:55 PM on 01/11/2010

I find this all very interesting because I am one of those people who requires a huge amount of sleep. Given the opportunity (quiet, darkness and no alarm), I sleep for 10 to 12 hours every night. Of course modern life does not provide many of these opportunities and that means that I live a seriously sleep deprived life if I only get 8 hours. Despite what is said, I seriously believe that I can only function well when I waste my weekends sleeping to catch up from the work week. I have seen doctors about this and all they can say is 'Some people just need that much sleep.' I consider it a disability although obviously it is not one that gets much sympathy from people. I don't Want to have to sleep so much but it is not something I can control, despite many years of trying. The only good things I can say about it is that it gives at least one positive aspect to unemployment and its nice to have peple remark on how well rested I look.

[evjem]

03:38 PM on 01/11/2010

I always sleep very late on the weekends. It's the only time I get a good night's sleep (usually 7 - 8.5 hours.) On the weekends I get up about 4 hours later than I do dduring the week.

I've always been nocturnal. Sleeping much later on the weekends has never caused a problem. And getting enough sleep is something I really look forward to.

I need 8.5 and only get 6 (or less) during the week. I work long hours and earn very little. I don't have the luxury of buying prepared food/ drink and I walk everywhere. It all takes time and sleep is the only thing I can cut. So there's no way I'd be willing to cheat myself out of my much needed weekend sleep.

[Bearangaria]

03:06 PM on 01/11/2010

I work at night. 8pm-5am
I come from a family of non-sleepers
so it was easy to take on this pattern.
Yet all of us, who work this mode, desire sleep more than
any aphrodisiac.
As the sun begins to rise I begin to fade.
I am not in tune with the world nor is it in tune with me.
I don't know what that would be like.
I love my work.
But I SO want some Zzzz's.
Dream vacation?
Somewhere pretty where all I do is sleep.
Wake.
Look at view.
Go back to sleep.
And yes, my thyroid is fine.

[hereinlou]

01:04 PM on 01/11/2010

I get it... but people are not robots. There needs to be some variation to one's schedule... it's called living. If I were to walk around keeping every day scheduled exactly the same... and make sure you stick to a 'limited' diet (as we are told to do in order to maintain a healthy weight)... the monotony would kill me. I have met people who do this... and they are the type of people who will drop off mid-conversation because 'this is the time they do crafting with the kids'. I DO think that we could all stand to get a bit more sleep... but if I have to operate like a drone to get it, count me out.

[Bearangaria]

02:01 PM on 01/14/2010

Keeping these hours is a requirement of international
work. Drones cannot apply.

[JuniperSunshine]

01:02 PM on 01/11/2010

Erm, I have kids. So sleeping in isn't really an option. That being said, I think that sticking to your usual weekday sleep schedule on the weekends is a good idea.

[Elizabeth Burke]

12:45 PM on 01/11/2010

I have no kids or husband so Sat and Sun woke up at 10:30am. I am not naturally an early riser and find it very difficult to get up at 8:00am on workdays. ( my alarm is set to snooze 2x) So when I can sleep in, I do. I feel so much more awake thru the day than I do during the work week. I'm usually very sleepy after work and when I can sleep in, I have so much more energy all day and into the evening.

I think it's an interesting idea, but for those of us with a mid-morning natural wake time, it may not work.

[karamichelkirby]

11:55 AM on 01/11/2010

This is surprising! And very helpful! It seems like it would be painful at first...I wouldn't want to keep waking up early on weekends as well...or be able to go out late..sounds like most of my weekend is shot. Most weekends I can sleep in anywhere from 9-12:30, and I usually stay up pretty late. During the week I have to get up around 6:30-6:45 and the idea of doing that every single day INCLUDING weekends sounds like torture.

[bmonaghan]

11:18 AM on 01/11/2010

Ah... to be 16 again. I have been sharingthis link with people as it seems to have helped many. So - here it is again.

http://www.prlog.org/10370276-two-clinical-studies-discover-natural-sleep-sedative-more-powerful-than-drugs.html

[awa611]

09:49 AM on 01/11/2010

I sleep in every chance I get. Sometimes too much. In fact, I sometimes wish I could wake up really early on my days off so I can enjoy that part of the day without having to rush off to work. But, my sleep personality is too strong and usually wins.