Time to lose an hour of sleep with Daylight Saving

Daylight Saving Time starts tomorrow. (And yes, that's the way you spell it. No "S" on the end of saving.) At 2 a.m., clocks skip straight to 3. Seems like a small bother, an hour lost in the middle of the night.

That mere 60 minutes, though, can disrupt entire body rhythms for days on end. Say you go to bed as normal tonight, maybe catch a little "Saturday Night Live." Get up when the new time on the clock says you should on Sunday. Take a nap in the middle of the afternoon to compensate. Go to bed late because of the nap. By Monday morning, it's a rings-under-the-eyes day.

Yawns aside, sleep deprivation is serious business. A study published last October in the New England Journal of Medicine showed a slight increase in the risk of heart attack for a few days after the clocks push forward in the spring. The risk decreases slightly when daylight saving time ends in the fall.

Less sleep is bad news for lots of folks - from new parents who need every second of shut-eye they can get, to mentally ill people who rely on a routine to function.

Luckily, there are some easy things everyone can do today and tomorrow to adjust. The tips are courtesy of the National Sleep Foundation, which conveniently brought us the National Sleep Awareness Week that will end on time-change Sunday.

Start the cycle by trying to go to bed a little earlier tonight. Avoid napping today, and eat an early, not-too-heavy dinner. Set the TiVo to record SNL. Make sure the bed is fixed up for a nice, comfortable rest. Turn off the lights and TV in time to get a solid eight-hour block of sleep, or seven hours if you have chronic problems falling asleep at night. Oh, and reset the clock.

Wake up at what the dial says is a normal time on Sunday.

Try to avoid a nap Sunday afternoon.

Exercise as usual. But don't do anything vigorous within a couple hours of bedtime, even though the extra daylight and a forecast calling for warm weather will be tempting. Take a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood, do some yoga on the lawn or read a good book on the porch swing instead.

The great outdoors will make you hungry and thirsty. But don't eat a heavy, late dinner. And forget the adult beverages for a day or two. Food and alcohol can disrupt sleep.

Retire, again, early enough to get a full night's rest.

Rejoice on Monday when you've got pep in your step and can enjoy the entire long day.