Pardon me, I just have to rant about this. When People Magazine asked Heather Graham, “How do you stay so young-looking and beautiful?” Heather replied, “I try to get 11 or 12 hours of sleep a night. It sounds excessive but that’s really what I need. It does the trick.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Yes, Heather looks good, and she could easily pass for more than a decade younger than her real age (she’s 41 years old!). But seriously, 11 or 12 hours of SLEEP? Every night?!? That means that Heather has literally been asleep for HALF of her life.
So here’s my rant: I’ve been a person who struggles with getting enough sleep for a very long time. It started when I was a teenager, it got really bad in college, and I still struggle with weeks and months of intermediate insomnia to this day. Drinking helps, honestly. If I have a cocktail before bed, I can get a decent night’s sleep. But I haven’t been drinking lately, and so my sleep pattern has been all out of wack. When someone like Heather just tosses off “oh, I sleep 12 hours a day” my mind is boggled. How can you do that? Really, I want to know! My body’s internal clock starts screaming “GET UP SLUT” around six a.m., no matter if I’ve just gone to bed at two a.m. Maybe it’s because I’m neurotic? I lay in bed and think about all of the crap I have to do. Maybe Heather doesn’t have that problem. Because she rarely works, and thus, she rarely has anxiety.
I don’t even remember the last time I got more than eight hours of sleep, honestly. Must be nice. I would love to have that kind of rest occasionally.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I think she’s pretty but that top pick doesn’t really make her look too well rested…On the insomnia try yoga especially Bikram I had insomnia for about a year and I started taking Bikram yoga 2 or 3 times a week and I slept like a baby. Now that I have haven’t been doing as much Bikram I am back to having insomnia although it’s not as bad.
Same here. I get maybe 4-5 hours of sleep on a good day, hate it. Heather doesn’t work AND sleeps like a baby, that’s why she looks so young.
BTW that outfit is atrocious.
She needs to be able to put herself into a coma 12 hours a day when you make movies like “Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer”.
For self-preservation
Not having any kids probably helps a whole lot!!!
Not having kids does mean having enough sleep after all…lol
@Oenix: ha ha – true!
Me too. It’s even worse now that Summer is basically here. The birds get up at about 4:15am and I start to wake up then, too. I cannot imagine sleeping for 11 or 12 hours a day. My body just cannot stay asleep for that long. I’d love to get at least 8 hours, but I always get a ‘second wind’ late at night and I rarely get to sleep before 1am.
Must be nice, Heather.
@Oenix – exactly! I could easily sleep 9-10 hours a night if I was childless but as it stands, my ass is up and taking care of a toddler at 5:50 SHARP (on a good day). And going to bed before 10 isn’t really an option if laundry, dusting, dishes, etc. are to be done!
First wth is she wearing on last pictures?! Second, Kaiser preach! I hate it when I’m lying there in the bed with my bf and, I am wide awake since forever and he is carelessly pushing me and sleeping like a baby lamb.
i’ve got the sleep battle too. 🙁
she needs some eye drops.
I couldn’t imagine sleeping for 11-12 hours a day…maybe she was asleep when she said it.
Different people need different levels of sleep. I remember a friend in college who was fine on 5 or 6 hours a night. I feel best at 8 or 8 and a half – if I start getting under 7 I get flu like symptoms. If I have one night sleeping poorly I’ll take a tylenol pm.
Haha
She’s a funny lady.
Yeah, sleep helps her stay young alright… if sleep came in a date with the doc, labelled under “botox.”
I understand her. If I can, I often sleep 10-11 hours and I’m totally unhappy and miserable etc. when I have less than 7 hours
I think it depends – my boyfriend can sleep only 3-4 hours and for him it’s ok
@Malachais–ITA!!!
Celebs look so young because no part of their job is TRULY straining…It’s SUCH a cushy job compared to the other careers available….
I sleep an average of twelve to thirteen hours a night. Sixteen on bad days. And I do this because of clinical depression.
Unless you are ill, or utterly exhausted from overwork, anything more than nine hours or so raises a bit of a red flag…
I suffer from the so called “Delayed sleep phase syndrome” and although I tried everything to re-establish a decent sleep-wake rhythm nothing seems to work. Add to that that it’s more the time I spend waking up than the time I actually spend sleeping. As a result I always feel tired. It doesn’t surprise me that a long and restful sleep can do wonders for preserving the youth and beauty.
Lucky bitch.
Talking of sleep issue reminds me of Jonathan Coe’s novel “The house of sleep”, the sadness (LOL).
I can totally sleep for a good 10 or 11 hours, but when I wake up, it’s so much harder. I went to bed at 9 the other night and tried to wake up at 7, it was practically impossible.
I’ve been dealing with Insomnia for years. it sucks.
After coming off just five hours, I’m sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo in awe. And it certainly does “the trick,” as she says. She looks INCREDIBLE. A friend who lives here in Santa Monica, CA, said she saw her once at yoga and said she looked 14 years old. She has insane genes.
Hey Alexis Bledel also looks much younger than her actual age w/c is soon to be a big 30… yet she could still rockin’ to look like around a 19-21 yr old imho…
That’s a lot of sleep! the only time I got that much sleep was the summer before college, I pulled a 20 hour shift went home slept 4 hours, went back to work a few hours later for 3 hours, came and slept from 11:30 pm until 1 the next afternoon.
Luckily for me I have a good toddler who sleeps once she’s down for the night. She sleeps from 8:30pm- 8:30am. Unfortunately I’m now a light sleeper and some what neurotic so I don’t settle in until 1:30 am
wow! Im hung up over the fact that shes over 35!!!! Those are some amazing genetics shes got there! LIKE SERIOUSLY AMAZING!
I can do that too, although I am not allowed anymore since I have an 8 month old. Do not suffer from depression or anything else. To be fair I used to smoke pot like my life depended on it (more than 3 years ago), so I think it is still backed up in my system (not really I have carried a baby and passed drug tests). I can sleep that long if I was given the opportunity though. It does make me feel sleepy all day though. 7 hours seems perfect for me. Hard to wake up but I feel good all day.
She probably sleeps to stay away from eating any kind of food..
I get at least 8 but would prefer 9, 9 1/2. If only Rachel Maddow were on at 7 instead of 9.
@Kaiser, have you tried melatonin? That stuff has worked like a charm for me in the past.
I have trouble falling asleep, but I’m one of those people who sleeps a lot, and who naturally needs a lot of sleep. One summer in college I did summer school and a tutoring job on the side, easiest time I’ve ever spent, didn’t need to get up early, etc., etc., and I still slept nine hours a night.
If I don’t get nine hours each night, I may sleep 7 or 8 during the week, but then on weekends I can easily sleep 12. But if I dont’ HAVE to get up early, 9-10 hours, even up to eleven if I’ve done anything tiring, is completely normal for me.
And yes, everyone I’ve ever lived with thinks it’s nuts.
Note: I do have clinical depression, but the above description is of my normal sleep patterns. My sleep when I’m depressed is completely different–insomnia, waking up periodically when I do sleep, restlessness, days without being able to sleep then crashing for a ridiculous amount of hours (21 was the longest; freaked me the hell out); no regularity whatsoever.
My body won’t go past 8 and I swear to GOD some mornings I am like…please just let me sleep in late…pleeeeeease but no.
Ok, I could care less about all this, but, I had to share with Kaiser. I’ve been waiting on a story about Gerry all week, but there hasn’t been one. Anyhoodles, we went to Petit Jean mountain on the ol motorycylce this weekend and look who we ran in to! My husband wasn’t very subtle taking these pictures, as you can see, lol.
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h45/samigirl20/gerardbutler2.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h45/samigirl20/gerardbutler.jpg
I also suffer from insomnia. Not even sleeping pills or antianxiety pills have worked out for me. And to make things worse — or better, depending on the point of view — I don’t drink alcohol and I don’t smoke pot (or anything else for that matter).
Sometimes it’s just f*cking dramatic, like I spend the whole night awake, then I try to spend the day awake too (in order to get tired enough to sleep properly the following night) but then I fall asleep for 2 or 3 hours in the morning which completely ruins everything. The little sleep I can get sometimes is disturbed by the smallest things: the dog barking at every little thing she sees or my 12 lbs cat Bartholomew jumping on my belly (ok, this may not be that small). Sometimes when I’m finally falling asleep, it’s already 4:30 a.m., the time Bartholomew wants to go out to do his bird watch morning routine, so he starts throwing things on the floor in order to wake me up.
I’ll try to get back on track with regular exercising, I’ve been told that’s one of the best things to do.
@mln…I miss bikram yoga! It is the best thing that ever happened to me. I have to get back to it. It will definitely help your sleep. When I first started doing it, it felt like i was floating on clouds I night. It was the best sleep ever. My skin cleared up, I slimmed down within a week. Gotta get back.
Everybody needs a different amount of sleep to remain functional. I need 10 hours to feel rested. My BF needs 4.
To each their own..
Sami – OMG!!!!!! Thank you so much!!! He’s so adorable.
Well, every time I see him out, I’m too shy to take a picture, so my husband was like “give me the $*$%&$# camera” Anyhoodles, you’re welcome. He was really kind. Asked us how we were doing, where we were from, said how much he loved Shreveport. A really genuinely nice guy. I didn’t have the guts to ask him to take a pic with me though. Maybe next movie 😉
For what it’s worth for anyone who can’t sleep — here’s what has finally helped me with a snoring, tossing and turning mate and my own brain-that-will-not-shut-down. Even with wretched menopause.
1) Complete darkness. Cover all the led lights, get a blackout shade on the window. Keep your room cool as is comfortable/possible.
2) Go to an audiologist and have custom-fitted ear plugs made. It’s about $60-70 per ear and WORTH IT! Foam earplugs are crap.
3) Melatonin an hour before you want to sleep.
I’ve had three weeks of sound sleep after over 4 decades of not enough.
I’m only 18, so I’m at the age where you can pretty much sleep whenever. Both my parents say that they can’t even remember the last time they slept through the night so I know what I have to look forward too though haha.
I get anywhere between 4 and 11 hours in a night. I try and balance it out.. I guess usually I am at 6 or 7? It must be nice….
KAISER I CAN HELP YOU!!!
Try 5-htp by Nature’s Way. It is an over the counter amino acid that I buy at Whole Foods. If you can’t find the 5-htp by Nature’s Way, then just make sure that you take vitamin b6 with the 5-htp.
My husband and I each take 100mg of 5-htp per day. It really helps. Start off with taking it in the morning, then after you get used to it, you can take it before bedtime. The first week or two you will have bizarre dreams. After a few weeks, you get used to it.
But don’t take 5-htp if you are on anti-depressants, cause it will create some type of deadly catastrophe in your brain.
Also, keep a spray bottle of melatonin on your night stand, and if you wake up in the middle of the night, take a hit of melatonin. But don’t take melatonin if you don’t have at least 3 hours left to sleep cause it could interfere with your ability to wake up on time.
Don’t drink caffeine after 6 pm. Keep your bedroom as cool and as dark as possible.
KAISER buy this immediately:
http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Way-5-HTP-60-Tablets/dp/B0009ET9S6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307037910&sr=8-1
@kaiser
“My body’s internal clock starts screaming “GET UP SLUT” around six a.m.”
when i wake up at 7am to twinkle, my internal clock starts screaming “GO BACK TO BED WHORE”
i remember a few years ago, penelope cruz said that she slept for 12 hours as well.
there’s been times when i’ve slept for 11-12 hours. then there are times when i stay awake throughout the night without the aid of caffeine. it doesn’t make much of a difference to me. I know it’s probably because i’m still young, and in the future my sleepless nights will take more a toll. i’ve always been a night owl, since i was little, so i always go the bed late. but i also have the ability to sleep through anything, so sometimes on the weekends, i won’t get up until the afternoon.
She probably forgot to mention the sleeping pills she takes to get that 11-12 hrs. Or maybe she runs 4 hours a day too and collapses from exhaustion. I can’t sleep more than 4-5 hrs and that’s after hours of *trying* to fall asleep. I wish I could sleep even 7 hrs straight.
I’ve got a sleep disorder related to some other medical stuff. So, I dunno–
Keep in mind that I’m single, live alone and have some serious health issues that allows me a bit of flex time where my responsibilities are concerned. I say that as a disclaimer to anyone who would call me some kind of mother hater or directionless two-bit punk, as not everyone can realistically apply what I’ve been told to their own lives. Honestly, I can’t either a lot of the time.
-No alcohol before bed
-Dark, cool room
=Do not look at your clock. it’ll bug you
-Stop exercize 4-6 hours before bedtime
-If you can’t sleep, get up and do something else for 10-15 minutes. And don’t wait until four hours has gone by, if you aren’t feeling it, go get some water before the sun comes up again.
-If you are a caffeine person, stop ingesting it as early in the day as possible.
-if it’s a chronic disorder, don’t bother with sleeping pills, they *sigh* they just don’t help.
-do not, do NOT let yourself have cat naps. Have a bed time, wake time and nothing else. If all goes to plan, your body will eventually give you a break. This is just what doctors have told me, if you manage to pull it off, kudos.
-dairy, nuts (like almonds) poultry, bananas et. al are helpful a couple of hours before bed. By the same token, lay off the spices in the same manner. Sitcoms don’t lie, that stuff is no good for your nights.
That’s all I remember off the cuff short of dwelling in underground melatonin mines. Oh, read excerpts of the Domesday Book, a frigging census will put you to sleep…ugh. Okay, I’m just going to leave my body, that was a long time ago.
This is the advice of a woman who has nothing else to do.
Seriously, if I slept for 11-12 hours a night, I would go to bed as soon as I got home from work and get up in time to go to work the next day. I would not eat dinner. I would not speak to my husband or do more than hug BabyNonymous once on my way from the door to my bed. I would have no idea what’s on TV. I would literally work, sleep, and commute.
@ Jo ‘Mama’ Besser:
do not, do NOT let yourself have cat naps.
I have cat naps with my cats. It’s delish! Also I love when I wake up with that furry paw right on my face :).
I’ve read about what you just said and I have tried to follow the advice, I failed miserably in at least three of them. I’ll try to stop ingesting caffeine sooner than I usually do (I already know I can’t give it up).
P.S.: I’ll keep sniffing my cats’s furr though. Seriously, I need that to survive.
She might take something, she has no kids, and everybody is different. Looking at her sleep needs won’t really edify anybody else unless you just plain go to bed late and get up early and that’s what’s making you sleepy. Also, you never know – she might be depressed and has no reason to get up.
Anyway, she is so damn cute!
i can manage 10 or 11 hours on weekends, but i try not to cause it’ll just ruin my internal clock for monday. i notice when i go beyond my usual 7+ hours, i can end up sleeping an hour later each night and waking an hour later next day, ZOMIGOD, next thing i know, i’m waking at noon on a monday.
in regard to #stop exercising 4-6hours before bedtime, that’s one thing that doesn’t work for me. i can fall into a dead sleep just 2 hours after.
i do have chronic insomnia, in the sense, my mind tends to get rather active at night, which puts me off sleep, and once my internal clock is upset, its very hard for me to throw it off. this happens more often than i like. up until now, sleeping pills are really my best friend.
Guess I’m the odd one out. I also need 10-12 hrs of sleep to really be fully refreshed. Always on the higher end of the spectrum while pregnant (like now). I can function on 7 if I had a late night and have to work in the morning, but I feel it all through the day. I’ve always been like that.
Wow, must be nice to have that kind of time! No doubt in my mind she takes something, too, to sleep that long.
I used to have insomnia, but I don’t anymore. I don’t know why, I think I just got less anxious with age. But when I did have it, the only cure for me was what whybenice said: total darkness, earplugs, and melatonin. Glad those days are behind me!
I can sleep all day, so I understand her. Lol I’m sorry for you.
I can sleep for that long, easily, maybe even more, but I can function on almost any amount of sleep. I’m also a light sleeper, and I hate it ’cause any little sound can (and does) wake me up.
I’ve had sleeping issues for 15+ years, as well as depression and anxiety, but after I got on an antidepressant/antianxiety drug (Lexapro) my sleep patterns have changed and become more normal. No more insomnia, no more waking in the middle of the night, no longer a light sleeper; even better, I wake up in the morning more easily, and feel refreshed for most of the day. If your sleeping issues are related in any way to anxiety, I suggest asking a doctor about this medication. It’s made a world of difference to me, and is better than taking sleeping pills or something that will make you feel weird.
DO NOT TAKE SLEEPING PILLS or Tylenol PM! I used to take these and became addicted and now I have to drink vodka at night or I can’t sleep.
I’m calling bullshit on the keeping young bit. It sounds like a great way to excuse the fact she doesn’t like to get out of bed before 10am.
She is right… the long sleeps do help.. works for me!
good rest gives your body and cells time to repair and regenerate..
Seriously – you can only get this much sleep every night if you have no dependents – kids or pets (or high-maintenance partners, LOL!)!
I love my zzzs and need at least 7-8 hours to function normally, otherwise (as another poster has shared) I get flu-like symptoms and look and act like the waking dead. It used to be worse when I had really bad sinus problems – only then would I need 11-12 hours every night, but that sometimes made things worse sleeping that long, that much.
I’m high maintenance with the sleep as well. Sleep is way too important to me – I do love my naps. So do my cats. 🙂 Oh and something else that ppl do that keeps them young? The steam room…. or hot yoga. Crazy young looking Ryan Phillipe claims to do the steam room lots. Also urine therapy. Yup, drinking your own urine. And putting it on your face. Google it. It’s a cure all.
Hi guys!
I wanted to respond with something that I did recently that really helped me. If you go to the following link, there are some assessments you can take that tell you the proper amount you need, and WHEN you should be sleeping. I noticed a couple of you had a hard time getting to sleep and it might just be that you’re natually inclined to start later in the day. If anything, its fun. I also had my BF do it, and it was really accurate – we are about 2 hours apart.
There are a couple of different quizzes on there related to mood (including SAD). Have fun and happy sleeping!
http://www.cet.org/eng/Index_ENG.html
Ahem, Celeste, that’s just called liking to drink. 😉
Dang. She’s got some serious pinned pupils. Hmmm, what causes that..
I’m on bipolar medications, so usually I never have trouble sleeping. However, when my mood starts to get elevated, I either stay up for a few hours or I wake up early in the morning. But normally I usually get 10 hours of sleep (if I go to bed at a reasonable time).
I think Heather Graham is pretty but she kind of always has a crazy look in her eyes. A crazy look of a pyschotic bitch.
I can’t fall asleep unless I’m dog tired or Benadryled. After I do get to sleep, it takes 11-12 hours for me to be functional. I’ve been like this since puberty and also deal with OCD/depression. Kinda frustrating, cause I don’t want to sleep away half my life.
@Eve: I absolutely empathise. I’ve been working at the schedule on and off for about two years and I haven’t got the hang of it yet. I don’t know if this is the case for you, but if I were to snap my fingers, I’d be a late to bed, late to rise person. I’ve always been that way, and in a world that favours the opposite, you really have to make that much more of an effort to be able to give the world the best of yourself when your own peak time coincides with their REM periods. I love kitties, but allergies bar me from ever owning any: so it goes.
@Cherry Rose: I’m in the same boat as you regarding medications. Before the pills, when I would get manic is was…it was a symphony of 14-karat fuckery because I just would not sleep. Not a wink. It’s funny to me now but I (somewhat) remember an episode that followed almost five full days of sleeplessness when I was about 22. Hallucination City, and a lot of frantic phone calls from me. Ha! They must’ve thought I was on meth. I guess it was a ‘bad trip’ equivalent, but I do remember wondering what kinds of people would do this voluntarily. I can’t say I don’t find it funny now that I managed to get people to leave what they were doing to do something about the sting ray lurking under the carpet. Oh my days, I probably sound like a freaking loon. Sleep is important. Of course, contrast this with the 16 or 17 hours a day I would get when feeling down. Beds are for sleeping, not comas.
All you lucky people who don’t have sleep difficulties, I ain’t at ya, but I do hate you. Turn, turn, turn…
Oh, I remember something, make sure you’re getting proper support from your pillow that isn’t so old that it’s become an allergen bank, and sleep on a firm mattress. You don’t want to roll into some ass groove in the middle of the night.
I have a child with special needs. He used to have at least four seizures a night while in his sleep. Needless to say…I did not get much sleep! He sleeps on a hospital bed in the living room…and I sleep on a sofa. Last year…the neurologist prescribed Zonegran for his over-night seizures…and it worked!!! So now…I get at least six hours of uniterrupted sleep! Bless the makers of Zonegran!!!
Firefly- I thought I was the only one who noticed. I have never noticed any celebs pupils pinned that tiny. What would cause that- if it’s what I was thinking she does have some killer genes.
I feel sorry for you Kaiser, that you have such trouble sleeping!
Honestly, sometimes I feel horrible for sleeping my life away but I can easily sleep for 12 hours a night. Usually can’t do it when I have to work though…too much to do during the day. On my days off it’s ON!
My toddler sleeps easily as much. But kids need their sleep. I’m pregnant right now and I have to wake up 5-6 times during the night to use the restroom, but I pretty much sleep walk.
I’ve been depressed before and have been known to sleep 15 to 17 hours a day. And I can’t eat…but that’s another story.
Samigirl- Petit Jean is a little ways away from Shreveport…are you sure you’re not stalking him?!?! Haha.
Heather G must not have kids. Before I had kids I slept about 10 hours a night….and I even had a high stress sales AE job. I looked fabulous. Now I’m lucky to sleep 4- 5 hour straight. And I have bags under eye . My kids wake up frequently, especially my 11 month old. Sleep, I miss you dearly.
Now wonder she hasn’t been in anything lately. 11 or 12 hours? Half a day? What is she? A cat?
optical illusion, perhaps? maybe they’re normal-sized, her baby blues are HUGE, in comparison.
I always go to sleep at half 9 and get up at half 7! I try to do as much as I can during the day, and go to the gym, so I’m really exhausted. It does the trick!!
drinking really helps falling asleep….sigh. thats not a good thing, i know, but i´m glad you lay it low recently, kaiser. it should not be a constant fix for insomnia (even though it REALLY helps)
i wish i could practice what i preach…
seems like bitchiness and insomnia are related…..
I met her on a cruise back in the eighties. We were around 17. She was there with some Christian group. She was nice. She looks amazing. Sleep is part of it, but so are good genes and Botox. And she probably doesnt smoke. And i second the no kids comment. Kids take years off of your sleep.
HAHAHA@Isa. My hubs proposed to me there 🙂 We just celebrated our one month anniversary, so we took our motorcycles up there for a nice weekend. I’m too shy to stalk lol
She has a point-enough sleep does make you look better/fresher. However 11 hours of sleep a night is not good. No way I could sleep this month it would make my back ache! I say aim for the recomended daily amount which is 8. Natalie Wood was a firm believer in getting her 8 hours as a way to stay beautiful and young looking
Well, I guess if you don’t have school or have to work, you don’t have kids, and you don’t have to worry about money then sleeping 10-12 hours a day is pretty easy.
@Eve: Try keeping the animals out of your room at night. It’s been well established that animals on the bed/in the room disturb sleep, whether the sleeper actually completely wakes up or not. Also, some white noise such as a fan, or ear plugs to block out noise will help.
AND 11-12 vials of botox & filler injected into my face a month.
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