Kinda OT: How much sleep do you need??? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

ElizabethG · 09-24-2010, 11:14 AM

I know this is the Calorie counting board but since I post here the most so I wanted to post here but I can move this post if I need to.

Anyway, I was just curious how much sleep everyone gets/needs to be their 'best'? I know the standard is 7-8 hours and that's what I usually get but lately I've been noticing something. Last month I had to come in an hour early for work so despite my best efforts I wasn't going to bed any earlier so I was getting more like between 6 and 7 instead of between 7 and 8 and guess what? I was MORE awake then! Then last night my husband's back was really hurting and he couldn't sleep so i got up and did the massager on him and I ended up staying up til almost midnight. I thought surely I would not be able to drag myself out of bed at 630 but suprisingly I was MORE awake! Growing up I always got at least 8 hours of sleep and I have ALWAYS not been a morning person because I'm always SOOO tired when I get up despite the amount of sleep. But getting just 6-6.5 hours of sleep seems to make me wake up easier and be more alert and awake in the mornings.

Not sure what the long term effects of it are because I only did it for a week before (i could have continued to come in early but i can rarely leave early so that just meant extra long days).

I was just wondering if anyone else did better on LESS than the 7-8 hours. I may experiment and try this for a few weeks, either staying up later or getting up early to exercise or something.

Thanks for any comments!

MariaS · 09-24-2010, 11:29 AM

I need 8 hours of sleep, I'm a real creature of habit. Fall asleep by 11 and I will wake up by 7am, every time.

Rochester · 09-24-2010, 11:37 AM

Sleep has stages - from light sleep to deep sleep. The whole time you are asleep, you are cycling through these stages. How you feel when you wake up depends on what stage of sleep you are in at that moment.

If after 8 hours, you were always attempting to wake from a deep sleep, you would feel groggy and not well rested. But if after 6 1/2 hours of sleep, you are in a light stage of sleep when you awaken, you're going to feel better despite having gotten less sleep.

(There's quite a bit of info available about this, but I don't have time atm to look it up!)

ElizabethG · 09-24-2010, 11:42 AM

Rochester-that makes sense. I sometimes wake up earlier, look at the clock and I'm like 'ah i have x hours/minutes left' and go back to sleep, I just wouldn't imagine going back into a deep sleep. But maybe I do.

So with that in mind would it be better to get up when i'm in the light stage or get 'more sleep' and wake up during deep sleep???

SCraver · 09-24-2010, 11:44 AM

I need 8 to 9. I have been only getting about 7 a night this week... and I feel like I could sleep at my desk right now. I have always needed a lot of sleep. LUCKILY, my toddler seems to like his sleep too (TG!)

ElizabethG · 09-24-2010, 11:51 AM

I just looked up that the average sleep cycle is 90 minutes so it would make sense I'm more awake an hour before I get up, so maybe i need to sleep a half hour more??

Ugh I have a hard enough time doing 7-8 hrs. I am in bed for the 8 but my hubby snores so it usually takes me at least an hour to fall asleep. However last night i was so exhausted i was out in a few minutes when i stayed up late.

Thanks for all the replies so far!

4star · 09-24-2010, 12:12 PM

I need 6 hours to feel human. I like to get 7-9 hours if I can but actually feel less sluggish if I wake up around the 6 hour mark rather than waking around 8 hours.

Rochester · 09-24-2010, 01:49 PM

This article explains the sleep cycle (and was one of the first things I read on the subject when researching several years ago).

This article explains how to calculate your sleep cycle.

ElizabethG · 09-24-2010, 02:10 PM

Rochester-Thanks for the links! I think I will try calculating my sleep cycle this weekend and adjust next week and see if that helps!

ebenz315 · 09-24-2010, 02:29 PM

Thanks for the great article, Rochester, and ElizabethG congrats, you're almost to onederland!

4star · 09-24-2010, 02:53 PM

Awesome! Thanks for the links!

ElizabethG · 09-24-2010, 05:03 PM

Thanks ebenz! I'm losing about a half pound a week so it still might be a bit. Slow and steady hopefully that will mean LONG term!

Bac0s · 09-24-2010, 05:38 PM

If I have to, I can survive one day with six hours of sleep.

I prefer 7 to feel human-ish. I feel best at 8 and live for the days I can get 9.

8675309 · 09-25-2010, 01:27 AM

I need 9-10 hours, which technically is above the recommend number but my daily life is very active so I just figure that I need more time to recoup.

I can live with 5-6 hours, and feel like crap, for a couple days if I can get in a 12 hour rest on the weekend (I know scientifically you can't make up sleep, but my body seems to believe otherwise :P).

ElizabethG · 09-25-2010, 12:07 PM

Well last night I went to bed at 12 and up at 9 so that means 6 cycles of 90 minutes. I also woke up at 530 and 7. However, i was still really groggy first thing and probably could have gone back to sleep yet again but thought I'd better get up.

With this information going to bed at 11 and getting up at 630 *should* be optimum if i want 7.5 hrs of sleep, but that's what i normally do and i'm exhausted. So I don't know.

I've done some reading and LESS than 6 hours is really bad for you and 7+ is best. I think I may try 6 hours next week just to see how i do. I know I only got 6 hours thursday night and Friday I was super productive at work and home and didn't go to bed until midnight because I just wasn't tired yet where usually i'm ready for bed way earlier than that.