A couple years ago:
I was in my home office. And wondering whether I'd gained any weight.
After all, I'd been sitting at my desk a lot recently... drawing, painting, molding, sculpting, crafting, and what have you... resulting in a not-so-in-shape type of lifestyle that included the sin of not getting enough exercise either.
I pulled out the scale from under my desk.
Stepped on it.
And was shocked.
You know, I'd never actually been overweight before.
But this time, I was dangerously close to crossing the line. And I mean dangerously. If I didn't do anything about it, it would be a nightmare. So it was time to take emergency corrective action.
I started eating less.
I started exercising more. A lot more.
And most importantly...
... I started keeping track of my weight throughout my waking hours, just like your kid at the back of the car checks on you during a long drive (are we there yet?) to the point of you almost having a mental breakdown.
But:
Check as I would...
Days passed. Weeks passed. Months passed.
Still no weight lost.
I mean seriously. This was in spite of less eating, more exercising, and a hundred other things I tried. Well, maybe I did lose weight. Maybe I did lose 100 grams, or some other number too tiny to register on a non-digital scale.
But I was getting frustrated.
Seeing this, my hubby looked at me and said:
"You wanna lose weight?"
I turned to him sheepishly and said:
"Yeah..."
"You sure?" he questioned.
"Uhh... yeah...?" I looked at him blankly in response.
"Alright, here's what you gotta do. Just stop doing everything you're doing. And do this one thing... Turn off your alarm in the morning, and sleep as much as you want," he said.
Uhh???
Ok???
Well, what did I have to lose?
I gave it a shot. I stopped all the less-eating, the more-exercising, and just went back to my normal daily routine.
Except that:
I turned off my alarm in the morning. And started to sleep as much as I wanted to. Or as much as my body needed to anyway. One of the perks of being a work-at-home artist, fortunately. I'm allowed to do stuff like this.
One week later...
... to my shock and surprise...
... I actually lost 8 pounds! :O
Oh. My. Gosh.
I never realized then that... sometimes... the most basic things in life are still the most powerful (and the most important).
Stuff like air... water... sunlight...
And yes...
Sleep.
Just another one of those necessities. But if you think it's just a basic necessity, you would be wrong. Because since then, I've learned that it's so much more...
Everything, from better weight management, to better social relationships, to better art creation, to better finances, to better looks...
It's all affected by how much you sleep.
Some time after my weight loss mis-adventure, my hubby recommended me the book "Why We Sleep" by sleep scientist, Matthew Walker.
In the book, Walker talks about how...
... one day, after one of his lectures on sleep, a performance pianist came up to him.
This pianist happened to attend one of his earlier lectures on the importance of getting more sleep.
For years, the pianist had been having problems with certain songs he had to perform. No matter how much he practiced. No matter how long he practiced. No matter how he practiced. He just couldn't play certain passages right.
And he just couldn't figure out how to fix it.
After listening to Walker's lecture, he decided to just give it a shot. He went home, and got himself more sleep. Several hours more.
The next day:
Lo and behold, he started excelling in all those problem pieces without any extra effort or practice.
Sleeping more makes you better at almost everything.
With way less effort.
It's also the reason why...
... in case you were wondering...
... it's one of the things that makes my art pieces different from everyone else's out there...
... namely that...
... these days, I always make sure to get more than enough sleep before I start creating my artwork (at least 8 to 10 hours a day). If I don't sleep enough, I don't create art. That's just a simple rule I try not to break.
So:
It's the Labor Day weekend!
Even if you have better stuff to do, why not try catching up on some sleep?
These days, almost everyone's sleep deprived. Almost everyone needs more. And almost everyone will benefit from more. Your body and mind will thank you for it later.
With better looks, better health, better income, and better skills too...
Sleep tight!
Sincerely,
Aurelia Nobleia
"The Bunny-Sloth Hybrid"
...
This letter "How I Lost 8 Pounds In 7 Days" was first published on turnip.co
