Sleep or Exercise...That is the Question

In the windows between feedings when Ellie's dad is home, I must decide between exercise and sleep. In most cases, I opt to escape to the gym for a little sweat. Exercise gets me out of the house, hugely helps me manage stress and even when I'm feeling exhausted, a little sweat perks up my energy and outlook. However, I know that these extended periods of sleep deprivation are playing with my moods and physiology too! When researchers deprive rats of sleep they die....just think what's happening in the human body...yet mom's all over the world seem to cope! According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep deprivation compromises memory, reaction time, motor skills (that's why I'm tripping on the treadmill!), immunity and increases the risk of diabetes and obesity. Alas...this is why the last ten pounds remain! Yes, I'm burning those extra calories by getting to the gym but the the lack of sleep is causing my bod to hang on to the flab. Oh joy!

Regardless, it feels good to by moving! I'm following a run/walk program so that I'll be ready to take Otis with Ellie in the jogger by the Tim leaves for his course. I'm doing an adaptation of the Sport Med BC's Walk Run Program. Jeff Galloway was the original inventor of the walk/run method as an injury-free method of running a marathon and I'm using it as a means to get back to continuous running. It's been a slow process but I'm now up to 5 minutes running (okay, slow jogging) and 1 minute of walking. I ran for a total of 30 minutes this week and that was a big achievement! I'm still feeling quite a bit of discomfort in my pelvic area but there are no lasting effects so I'm taking that as a go to keep gradually increasing my running time.