Hey Power Girl what I am going to share with you today may surprise you, but its all true and will help you be the best you can be!

Did you know that if you are not getting 7-9 hours of sleep, you are setting yourself up for failure?

That’s right Power Girl, I said failure, and that’s not what I want for you.  It certainly isn’t what you want for you either.  A Power Girl wants to be the best she can be everyday, and make great choices for a healthy body and a healthy life.

So why would a lack of sleep prevent you from achieving success?  I’m sure you know the obvious reason.  If you’re tired you won’t have the energy to think clearly or to do all that you need to do during the day.

BUT… There’s more!

Believe it or not, depriving yourself of enough sleep can cause you GAIN weight!!!

Crazy hey?  But it’s true.

Now I know that you are working out because you are watching my videos – and not just watching them but doing them, right?

I also know that you are eating well because of how much you have liked my nutrition videos and blogs.

Well the crazy news is that getting enough sleep is AS important as eating well and exercising.  That’s right, and because I want you to look and feel your best, I thought it was so important to share with you that you need to get enough sleep.

Let me tell you why, just in case you’re not believing me…

A tired brain makes bad choices.  Really!!!  Your frontal lobe, which is responsible for decision making will be working in slow motion and you won’t be able to make the best possible choices.

You know what good food choices are, but a tired brain won’t have the strength to help you make those good choices.  It takes a lot of willpower to say no to those greasy but yummy french fries and a tired brain will likely tell you it’s ok to eat them.

A tired brain just wants to make you feel happy because it’s groggy, and those french fries just look so good.  Your tired brain wants them in you, but your well-rested Power Girl brain knows better.

Let’s talk about exercise for a second.  Do you think your tired brain will choose to do a Power Girl workout?  Absolutely not!  Another bad choice because of the brain fog of bad sleep.

Research has even proven that sleep-deprived people will be more likely to choose high-carb late-night snacks.  A clear choice for the hungry Power Girl before bed, would be cut up veggies and salsa.  But oh, that’s right, you didn’t get enough sleep, so you are too tired to cut up your veggies.

So this is just a recipe for disaster!  Not only does a groggy brain result in poor self control because you aren’t able to make the best decisions, but research tells us that sleep deprived people actually eat more of the wrong stuff!  This adds up to weight gain! Not ok for you Power Girl!  I want better for you!

If your not convinced, there’s another important piece of information to share with you…

Your body makes hormones to help control hunger. Two are called Leptin and Ghrelin.  Well these get out of whack when you are sleep deprived and stop your body’s natural hunger control cues.

The hormone Ghrelin will actually tell your body you should eat.  Your body produces more of this when you are sleep deprived.  That’s just awful!

So we just learned that we make bad choices when we are tired.  We eat the wrong things late at night when we are tired. Now to make it even worse, we have more of this hormone being produced that tells us to eat more.  Pretty bad recipe here.

The recipe for disaster just gets works though.

The other hunger hormone Leptin, tells us when we shouldn’t eat.  It tells us we don’t need to eat.  Well guess what happens when we don’t get enough sleep?

You guessed it! Our body will produce less of this hormone!

Are you processing this Power Girl?  Your body makes less of the hormone that tell you to eat less or stop eating.

Quick review:

When you don’t sleep enough you make more of the hormone that tells you to eat AND less of the hormone that tells you to stop eating!

Enough said!!!!

I need to go to bed because I need to get my ZZzzzs in.

8 hours of sleep for this Power Girl means better choices for a better life!

Your friend and coach,

Jessy Lipke

Hey Power Girl, I just came back from a ballet competition in Indianapolis for the Youth American Grand Prix. It was an amazing experience however, it would not have been as fantastic if I did not make the time to warm-up and stretch first! Competitions can be extremely stressful and in some cases dancers get […]

Hey Power Girl, Have you been hearing as much as I have about this “new” superfood called kale?  Maybe you’ve been wondering if this is this really a “super food”. Maybe you’re wondering about what the health benefits of kale are?  Have you ever tried kale? What’s the BIG deal with kale? Well, kale is […]

Hey Power Girl! Often times when you are on the go it can be extremely hard to make healthy choices.  Trust me I know and I get tempted too, just like you! The best way to avoid temptation and bad choices is to plan ahead.  So I am going to give you my favourite healthy […]

Hey Power Girl, I hope that you had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year! If you’re like me I know you probably had some more treats and didn’t get to fit in as many workouts. Don’t feel bad because, if you ‘fall off the wagon’ you can always get back on it. So, […]

Hey Power Girl, I know that you are always looking for ways to make better choices with how you eat to build a better body and a better life. One of the most common questions that I get asked about food is how to make healthy carbohydrate choices.  Carbohydrates provide energy and we need to […]

Hey Power Girl, The alarm clock is a brilliant invention for staying on schedule… except for when you hit the snooze button! 10 minutes later that annoying sound goes off again and you feel even more tired then you did before.  So do you hit it again and if you do, then why are you […]

Hey Power Girl, I want to teach you a very important and valuable lesson. Depending on your age you should be having 1100-1300 calories a day. Lets say you have even only one can of soda or a sugary drink every day, there are approximately 189-644 calories right there.  That is quite a big portion […]

Hey Power Girl, Have you ever been stressed?  What was it like? Did it make you feel sick? Well, I know that sometimes being stressed can get the best of you.  So it is very important for you to understand the dangers of stress and how to prevent it or reduce it. Many people are […]

Hey Power Girl, Do you love a sweet treat?  Me too! There are many delicious and tempting desserts however, most of these desserts are not the best for you.  There is now a new and popular dessert, and that is frozen yogurt.  Frozen yogurt is not only delicious but it is healthy too. Benefits of […]