For people living with type 2, managing your weight is often times of great importance. Caloric intake is sometimes measured as closely as glucose levels, with healthy weight loss being the goal. Well, it turns out that part of the solution can be found not on on a running track or inside World Gym, but instead in a soft, warm bed.

Sleep. As midnight nears, I'm already looking forward to it -- laying my head to the pillow and drifting off, only to wake-up tomorrow revived and alert. And, based on a great deal of research, healthier, too. Not only has a lack of sleep been shown to affect the body's ability to properly process glucose, but it has also been linked to weight gain/loss. Scientists from the University of Michigan studied the relationship between sleeping and eating, creating a formula to calculate how many calories a person can cut from their diet by sleeping 8 hours a night instead of 7. It was discovered through the use of their formula that replacing a mere one hour of idle activity with sleep can result in a calorie reduction of 6 percent. Why is this? Because people tend to eat when they are bored, plain and simple. So, if someone's hanging around the house, maybe watching a late-night broadcast of Flash Gordon or An Uzi at the Alamo ;), chances are, they will reach for a bag of this or a bowl of that. By instead putting head to pillow a little earlier, you can save yourself some unwanted calories -- and even burn some more while you sleep.

By the way, I know a 6 percent reduction in calorie consumption may not seem like a lot. But, over year's time, that means losing about 12 pounds!!