There is freedom in that and I certainly enjoyed doing that for a while after I first retired. It was after the PT with the surgeries that I finally got into a normal sleep rhythm again, and that felt so good, I just kept on sleeping! I was actually getting between 9 - 10 hrs. of sleep a night!
Do you know most of my working life, especially the child rearing years, I didn't get the recommended amount of sleep? And sometimes it wasn't very restful sleep with all the worries and stresses of life. Here is what they say about sleep:
Sleep and weight loss
So by getting 9 - 10 hrs. of sleep a night, I will be a size 2 by Christmas! Not really of course, but it might explain why I had such a hard time losing weight during the "busy" years.
In truth older adults need slightly less sleep than when younger, according to the National Sleep Foundation. The difficulty with older people is that our aches and pains can keep us from getting comfortable, continuous deep sleep. Sigh!
Sleep needs by age
But there can be too much of a good thing ....
So I enjoyed sleeping for a few months and even tried napping. Napping is not for me, never has been. Johnnie has mastered the "power nap" and can dose off instantly for 45 min. or so and be refreshed for the rest of the day. Not me.
After a while, I started feeling like a slug -- slow and un-energetic. The days sort of drifted by without anything to show for my time. So I started setting some goals for each day, and making sure I was up and dressed and going by a decent hour. (That time will vary based on your own circadian rhythm but I guarantee it is NOT the 3:00 am I was doing when working!)
Then I just reset to 8 - 9 hrs. a night, but I still like to sit in my robe and slippers and sip my coffee for the first couple hours each morning. I may wake up at 6:30am, being a natural morning person, but I don't need to hop out of bed and start running! Enough of that in the last 45 years!
Advice to my about-to-be-retired friends
- Let is go! There are no rules so you don't have to feel guilty about sleeping in.
- Eventually we all do better when on some kind of schedule and we feel like we are accomplishing more
- Indulge in nice pajamas, robes and slippers -- you deserve it!
