http://www.tedloofitness.com/

Below is an article from Sunday’s Vancouver Province. It emphasizes the point that when we get busy we usually stop doing the things that keep us healthy and productive. Remember, three key ingredients to a healthy lifestyle are regular exercise, nutrition and recuperation.

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STARBUCKS GENERATION: Workaholics rely on caffeine to keep going
— North Jersey Media Group Inc.

HACKENSACK, N.J. — They’re sleep-deprived and struggling through the day on caffeine and nerves.

Sex? Forget it. Friendships? No time. They forgo sleep, exercise and fun in favour of work. Instead of winding down at night, they’re doing the chores and worrying about tomorrow.

At each stage of life — from youth to old age, through pregnancy, baby care and menopause — women find that getting a good night’s sleep is hard. And it becomes harder, not easier, as they age.

“Sure, guys are exhausted, but they’re not blindsided by their biology,” says Meir Kryger, chairman of the task force that designed this year’s poll for the U.S. National Sleep Foundation. “They don’t have babies. They don’t have menopause.”

The main message, says Kryger: Women don’t give sleep a high enough priority.

To cope, the “Starbucks generation” drinks another cup of joe. Two-thirds of women use caffeine to stay awake, and more than a third drink three or more cups of coffee (or their equivalent) a day, the poll found.

People don’t understand that “sleep is a biological need,” says Dr. Jeffrey Barasch, director of the Valley Hospital Sleep Center in Ridgewood, N.J. “They think it’s a waste of time.”

But without it, he says, “everything deteriorates: your health, your performance, your family life.”

Exhaustion reduces the body’s ability to fight disease. It diminishes mental sharpness, leading to poor judgment and delayed reaction time — critical factors while driving a car or caring for small children.

Some suffer from sleep apnea, or the temporary cessation of breathing while asleep. Oxygen deprivation causes a person to wake up with a start, heart pounding.

That leads to a faster heart rate and higher blood pressure. If breathing stops too long, it can cause a heart attack.

Poor sleep goes hand in hand with poor mood. More than half of women say they’re likely to be in a bad mood when they’re sleepy. Nearly half eat sugary foods to compensate and seven per cent use medication to keep them alert.

When pressed for time, women cut back on healthy activities: Half say they sacrifice sleep and exercise when time is short. And more than a third cut back on time with family and friends, healthy eating and sex with their partner, according to the poll.