I’m late posting today. I had a big project to do (taxes) which isn’t even nearly done, though after a long day I made some big dents in it. Recent move and such just left files and receipts and paperwork unsorted, accumulated in several bins. Tedious work but now that part’s done, anyway.

But the day leaves me feeling kind of pooped. I did manage to get out for my workout, and even did a nicely balanced, intense one — a good set of lower bod weights and then 45 minutes on the elliptical, and I did that much better than yesterday. But by now, the energy is a bit low.

Which brings to mind an important topic: rest and weight loss. This is one of those places where the “Puritan” hard-work values that many of us carry around in our heads can actually be a little bit dangerous.

There are two main reasons for making sure you balance all your self-control, diet, and exercise, with both rest and even just the occasional “day off.” They both have some pretty sound science behind them.

First, the matter of sleep. It turns out that if we don’t get adequate sleep, it can have many negative health effects. The main one, from our point of view as weight-losers, is that we are more likely to put on the pounds. Two hormones, ghrelin and leptin, appear to help control appetite, and both of these can be knocked out of balance by sleep deprivation, resulting in weight gain.

The second reason for getting adequate rest has to do with your ability to maintain self-control. This makes sense and probably fits with your experience — when you’re tired or stressed out, all your best-laid plans to exercise, floss, or keep up to date on your blogging may tend to fall by the wayside. Researchers have also confirmed that we seem to have a finite amount of “self-control” — if you are working hard to not overeat, for instance, you may find it very difficult to also quit smoking or cut back on your spending or video game hobby. But one of the best ways to recharge your self-control “batteries” is simple: get some rest. When you’re fresh and energized, it’s much easier to get back to your preferred routines.

With that, I’ll stop for now and go put my feet up. See ya tomorrow.