That's Fit

Are you envious of your bed partner, who drifts off to sleep quickly while you toss and turn? Do you find yourself lying awake at night, despite your best efforts to fall asleep? You aren't alone. Insomnia is a common condition that steals precious sleep from those who need it, and a lack of sleep can have a serious impact on your health, including weight gain.

The first step in treating insomnia is identifying the cause. Forbes has an excellent gallery to help you do just that. Their 14 reasons you aren't sleeping covers topics like:

• relationship trouble
• co-sleeping with children
• pregnancy
• being a woman
• medications
• sleep disorders
• stress
• poor sleeping habits or environment
• worry
• age
• heart disease
• depression
  

If this sounds like you, you might already be on your road to recovery. Try and make some lifestyle or environmental adjustments, and if that doesn't work, speak to your doctor to see if your health may be part of the cause. While you're at it, visit AOL Health to see what they're saying about sleep.

Before my father was retired he had to wake up at 3 a.m. for work. After retirement, his early morning habit proved hard to break. Subsequently, the afternoons would inevitably find him snoozing on his recliner. Without fail, as soon as he'd hit a deep sleep he'd let out a massive snort, wake himself up, and grumble at my mom and I for "waking him up."
My dad's afternoon snoring puts him in the company of many others. How about you? Do you snore, too? Revolution Health offers some tips on snoring. Snoring is caused by a narrowing of the throat due to congestion, enlarged tonsils, or other issues. Conditions like asthma and obesity can also cause or exacerbate snoring. Contrary to what some might believe, snoring doesn't necessarily mean you have sleep apnea. But if you feel your snoring is excessive, it's a good idea to check with your doctor.

You can minimize your snoring by changing up some of your sleep routines. Try sleeping on your side and avoiding alcohol and smoking before bedtime. Also, if you have some weight to lose, dropping excess pounds will likely help your snoring. You can also see your doctor for other possible solutions such as a mouthpiece designed to minimize snoring.

Want to learn more? Chris tells us how excessive snoring may signal a health risk.

From herbal remedies to eating tips, AOL Health has over a dozen tips to help you overcome your sleeping problems. I am one of the lucky ones, with very few sleeping troubles, and when I read this article I found out why: I drink a lot of water (that helps!), I exercise before bed (tiring myself to sleep), and I don't keep any electronic distractions in my room. Find out more better sleep tips here. Plus, share your favorite trick that always helps you fall asleep.

What works for you? Share your sleep advice in a comment below.

I struggle with bouts of insomnia. Right now I'm in a phase where, as exhausted as I am, I'm up through all hours of the night. Then, after I finally catch a few hours of sleep I wake up and walk through the day like a zombie. It's a crossroads of sorts; I'm either going to snap out of it and get back to my normal sleep pattern or I'm going to go into what I call "full-fledged insomnia" and get to the point where I'm not tired at all and can stay up all day and night. It's a frustrating and unhealthy disorder that seeps into all corners of your life. Several years ago my doctor prescribed sleep meds for me, but I had an unusual and uncomfortable reaction. Though my doctor assures me there are other medications that would work better for me, I've been scared of trying them. I choose to manage my insomnia by environment, exercise, and diet. Usually it works, though like right now my insomnia still can rear its ugly head from time to time.

Many celebrities have fessed up to having insomnia, too. With their fast-paced and high-stress lives, it's no wonder. Most recently, Heath Ledger died from an accidental overdose of a combination of sleep meds, an antihistamine, and two pain relievers. In the weeks prior to his death he had openly discussed how desperate he was for sleep.

Sleep studies are undoubtedly uncomfortable. Dozens of wires attached to multiple locations across the head, face, neck, and body; a strange bed in a strange room with new environmental sounds; the knowledge that a technician is watching you sleep -- it's enough to give anyone temporary insomnia.

Those aren't exactly the reasons that Medicare is pushing at-home testing for sleep apnea. Instead, they cite the fact that lab testing is expensive and sometimes inaccessible. Home testing is around $500, compared to $1500 in a sleep clinic, and patients get to sleep in their own beds.

But the idea has its critics. At-home testing for sleep apnea can diagnose severe cases of the condition, but can't give patients the reassurance of a clean bill of health, because it doesn't test for any other sleep disorders. Sleep experts acknowledge that home testing may have its place for certain patients, but are reluctant to recommend it for everyone. Still, if you think you might have sleep apnea and don't have access to a sleep clinic evaluation, it might be worth mentioning to your doc.

Wouldn't you love it if there was some sort of pill you could take before bed that would make you lose weight while you slept? Well, keep hoping -- there's nothing that will help you effectively burn fat while you sleep, but the act of sleep itself might have a big impact on your waistline. eDiets has found evidence that that chronic sleep deprivation might be making people fat.

In short, the findings found this: The less sleep the subject got, the higher the BMI. It's also been noticed that since the 1960s, people on average are getting less sleep than 50 years ago -- by two hours a night. So maybe it's not coincidence that people are heavier today than they were in the 1960s.

But here's what I think: It's been shown that overweight people who aren't active are more prone to sleep problems, like insomnia and sleep apnea. So is poor sleep the cause or effect of body weight? What do you think?

As fabulous as we at That's Fit think this blog is, the truth is there are hundreds of wonderful blogs on healthy living to be seen all over the blogosphere. So in this feature, Fit Links, we'll introduce you to some that have caught our eye.

Sleep is one of the basic necessities for survival, yet many people struggle with sleep disorders for months and even years without addressing the issue.

If you're not getting adequate, quality sleep you should seek professional help. While online reading shouldn't take the place of a doctor, it can educate you about your options. There are dozens if not hundreds of blogs devoted to dealing with sleep disorders. Here's a few of my favorites:

Snoozester is a general sleep blog written in a reader-friendly, non-medical tone.

WebMDblog: Sleep Disorders is written by Dr. Michael Breus and offers professional advice about common sleep problems and a doctor's opinion on new sleep-related news and treatments.

Sleep Disorders Guide is another good source of sleep-related news and helpful ideas to get better rest. It's not quite as "pretty" as the other two I've listed here, but it really goes into depth with some helpful suggestions for common sleep problems, so it's still worth a look.