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By: Darya Katanova

Need a new year’s resolutions? Or even a way to keep the pounds off this holiday season. Get some sleep! Here’s a quick tip on why sleeping well this holiday season should be on your wish-list!

What good are the holidays if you don’t go to any parties, or don’t have any family dinners, or  don’t spend all night wrapping presents. Right? We all support that! But, sometimes you need to stop yourself and ask the following question: How are the holidays affecting my sleep?

Here are a few common ways that holidays play a part in our sleeping patterns:

• Parties! When you think of the holidays you probably think of various parties. Going out with friends, drinking, eating lots of sugary things, and staying up late.
• Family Dinners! They usually go late, you probably leave the house sugar-and-turkey-happy.
• Stress! Sometimes the holidays can be stressful. Lots of gifts to buy for friends and family members. Lots of gifts to wrap, and when it comes to ordering things online planning out the right date so the gift would arrive in time for you to check it, wrap it, and then finally give it.

Don’t know how to tie the two together? Let us help!

• Parties! When it comes to parties, the answer here is simple. You know better than us that staying up late is bad for your sleeping patterns. But what about that alcohol that you drink? What does that do? When you drink alcohol, sure you get that drowsy feeling at the beginning, and you might actually fall asleep. But when the affects of alcohol start wearing off your sleep actually becomes lighter and more interrupted.
  Solution! Try to minimize the amount you drink, and try to drink alcohol a good four hours before going to bed. And try not to overwhelm yourself with parties this holiday season, remember that partying is fun but not when it toys around with your health.
• Family Dinners!Wait, how do these affect your sleeping patterns? They don’t so much affect your sleeping patterns as they provoke binge eating because of unhealthy sleeping patterns. Because the holidays are filled with festive get-togethers we often forget that we need to sleep. So when we arrive at our family get-together sometimes we have the tendency to overeat. Why? Here are two reason. 1. When staying up late with the family we tend to grab that extra slice of cake or turkey to munch on while watching a great holiday movie. Guess what guys and gals, that doesn’t take the pounds off. 2. When you don`t sleep enough, you are obviously tired. The result of fatigue can sometimes lead to overeating, you simply feel hungry, or even less full after a meal so you go and grab more. When you`re tired your body wants to feel more energised, and the best way to do that, is to eat more.
  Solution! Try to control your appetite by getting those eight to ten hours of sleep. Trust us it will pay off in more ways than one.  You will be happier, more energetic and ready to face the holidays head on.
• Stress! Stress is tricky, we often don`t even realise that we are stressed. Because of stress we might be losing sleep. When your stressed your body can release adrenaline the hormone that keeps us feeling jittery, this is what can cause those late nights starring at the ceiling and counting sheep. Sleeping while overcome by worries is hard.
  Solution! If you think you might be stressed, try figuring out the reason and think positively. If you feel your stress is getting out of hand, seek professional help.

Remember, there is a reason for getting your beauty sleep. Stay happy and healthy and take care of your body no matter what time of the year it is!

Sources:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-weight-gain-shockers

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/having-trouble-sleeping