I don't know how Michael Phelps is feeling, but I'm exhausted.

The live drama at the pool and in the gym during these Summer Olympic Games has kept me up later than my days as a college student (or at least since those foggy nights breastfeeding my daughter).

Olympic viewers on the East Coast have taken the brunt of it. I live in the Midwest and stayed up well past midnight watching Phelps swim to victory (some of his races didn't get underway until after 10 p.m. Central, 11 p.m. Eastern). Then, there were the nights I forced myself to stay awake to watch the gymnastics competition. It was well worth the effort, but as a mom, who on most nights falls asleep reading bedtime stories to her preschooler, staying up past 8 p.m. is an Olympic feat unto itself.

And I know I am not alone. NBC hasn't been shy about touting its monstrous ratings. According to the peacock network, record numbers of us up have staying up until the wee hours of the night watching Olympic history being made... live.

If you've spent the last week pulling Olympic all-nighters then your daily workouts might be suffering because of it. After all, who wants to run, walk or bike when they are dog tired?

But lack of energy is not the only thing being compromised when you pull an all-nighter. According to Washington, D.C.-based National Sleep Foundation, if you lose an hour or two of sleep each night for the duration of the Olympics, you stand to lose much more than just motivation to work out.

Sleep experts say that for every 1.7 hours of sleep you lose a night, your overall productivity and alertness decreases substantially the following day. One night staying up past your bedtime is not bad, but experts warn that after two or three nights you are putting your health at risk.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, Americans sleep an average of 6.9 hours per night, so if you subtract 1.5 hours of Olympic viewing you are only getting about 5.4 hours of sleep per night and experts say very few of us can function on that amount of shut eye.

Parents with young children may argue that point, but there's no debating the fact that none of us would want to be sharing the highway with a sleep deprived driver, who can't keep his eyes open because he stayed up watching Phelps add to his medal count the night before.

Have you been pulling Olympic all-nighters?

Swimming is over, but track and field is just getting underway... are you primed for more sleepless nights?

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Unofficial polls show that the Summer Games in China have inspired at least a few people to get up and get moving--even if it's just to leave the couch to grab a soda from the fridge.

In all seriousness, the athleticism illustrated by Phelps, 41-year-old swimmer Dara Torres and Romania's 38-year-old Constantina Tomescu-Dita, who recently raced to gold in the women's marathon, is utterly amazing. Their physical feats are an inspiration to couch potatoes across the country, and it's no surprise that some people who haven't exercised in years are suddenly feeling motivated to start moving.

Studies show regular physical activity can help you feel better and it doesn't take much to reap the benefits. Just 20 minutes of moderate activity has been proven to boost energy, improve self-image, increase resistance to fatigue, and counter anxiety and depression. Regular exercise also helps you relax, improves your ability to fall asleep, and provides a way to share an activity with family and friends.

So what is "moderate activity" and how can you get in on the action?

The following list provides some good examples of "moderate activity" that even the most die-hard couch potatoes can use to help increase physical activity, improve cardiovascular health and encourage weight loss. It may not win you a gold medal, but you'll likely feel like a champ when you are done.

Walking 2 miles in 30 minutes (15 min/mile)

Stair-climbing for 15 minutes

Washing and waxing a car for 45-60 minutes

Washing windows or floors for 45-60 minutes

Gardening for 30-45 minutes

Pushing stroller 1.5 miles in 30 minutes

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A.) Michael Phelps is an American swimmer.

B.) Michael Phelps has won more gold medals in these games than most other countries have since the inception of the modern day Olympics.

C.) Michael Phelps ingests 12,000 calories per day to fuel his daily swims.

The latter fact is the one that has sparked the most attention by regular folks who try to maintain their weight (or if they are lucky, lose a few pounds) with daily workouts. While Phelps' diet is far from thoughtless gorging it certainly has some wondering where he puts it all.

After all, not every world-class athlete gets the opportunity to splurge like Phelps does. For example, the average Olympic discus thrower weighs more than twice as much as Phelps. They're huge; yet most only take in about 3,000 calories per day.

On the other end of the spectrum are the female gymnasts. American tumblers such 16-year-old Shawn Johnson, who stands a mere 4'9" tall, monitors her caloric intake very closely. According to dieticians, female gymnasts like Johnson have to be extra strict with their diets because size matters. Pound for pound, women burn fewer calories then men. What's more, female gymnasts who are shorter and lighter typically perform more effectively than those who are taller and heavier. Gymnasts also work in short bursts of energy, so they have the challenge of packing daily nutritional needs into fewer calories.

Olympic dieticians say while size is an important factor in the types and amount of foods athletes eat gender plays an even larger role. Studies show that if a 140-pound female athlete and a 140-pound male athlete ran side by side at exactly the same speed, expending the same amount of energy, the female athlete would still burn 8 to 10 percent fewer calories.

Food for thought as you prepare your next pre-workout bagel.

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If you needed incentive to get your body in shape then the Summer Olympics came just in time. Good gracious, have you seen the killer bods these elite athletes are sporting? Seriously, U.S. swimmer Dara Torres could have ignited the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony via spontaneous combustion had she simply marched into the stadium wearing her bikini. Her body is so ripped I try to block out the fact that she gave birth just two years ago.

Michael Phelps is cut like a rack of lamb, as is the entire U.S. men's gymnastics team (or all the gymnasts for that matter). The cyclists are shredded, the track and field stars are buff beyond belief, heck, even the Chinese women, who are just on hand to present the medals were chosen based on their measurements (all must be between 5'6" and 5'8" and weigh no more than 115 pounds).

The Olympic Games are likely doing one of two things to people these days. They are either inspiring individuals to get moving or they are adding to people's depression and motivating them to drown their sorrows (regarding their poor body image) in gallons of ice cream. Hopefully, you fall into the former category rather than the latter.

Smoking hot bodies abound in Beijing right now, but in some cases the exposure has been a bit much for Chinese officials.

A few days ago Olympic gold medalist swimmer Amanda Beard was forced to launch her naked, anti-fur campaign poster outside the Athletes' Village just hours after Chinese authorities canceled a planned unveiling at a local hotel.

According to reports, Chinese security managers visited the hotel where the official news conference had been scheduled and simply shut down the event without going into specifics as to why they decided to do so.

Beard's poster for the animal rights group PETA features the reigning 200-meter breaststroke champion in the buff standing in front of the U.S. flag and the slogan "Be comfortable in your own skin. Don't wear fur."

The 26-year-old four-time Olympian has posed nude in men's magazines before and said she decided to participate in the PETA campaign because she loves animals and was horrified to see how fur was produced for fashion in some places.

In the end Beard and her hot body refused to let Chinese officials silence her. She arranged the unveiling outside the Athletes' Village and police and security didn't interfere with her presentation.

Some reports say Chinese officials classified the ad as "too sexy." Beard agreed that the ad was really designed for the U.S. market, but said she was still surprised that she was made to find another venue to unveil it.

Earth to Amanda Beard--this is a country that eats dogs and prides itself on the conservative appearances of its residents. Did you really think they would embrace a PETA ad featuring a sizzling hot naked woman standing in front of an American flag?

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Two down and six to go for U.S. swimming sensation Michael Phelps.

Since the Summer Olympics got underway two days ago the swimming phenom demolished his own world record in the 400-meter individual medley to win the first of what he hopes will be an unprecedented eight golds in a single Olympics and then less than 24 hours later he swam the leadoff leg on the victorious U.S. 400 freestyle relay and collected gold yet again.

No question the 23-year-old Maryland native defies nature, but it's not his mastery of cutting through the water at record breaking speeds that inspired me to write this piece. Rather, I want to turn your attention back to the night (morning in China) that Phelps won his first gold in the 400-meter individual medley.

After he touched the wall of the pool Phelps looked up at the large video screen that sits on the opposite side of the Water Cube venue and his eyes widened in amazement when he saw that he shaved an incredible 1.41 seconds off the world record time he set at the Olympic trials last month in Nebraska. Then, without missing a beat he immediately scanned the stands to see his mother Debbie Phelps and two sisters jumping up and down wiping away tears of joy.

I cannot imagine what that woman must have been feeling. Sure, she's seen her only son compete in the Olympics before, but I doubt the dozens of medals, trophies, and ribbons Michael had accumulated in the past mattered to her in that moment.

After all, Debbie is a single mother of three children who raised Michael and his two sisters primarily on her own (she and her husband divorced when Michael was in elementary school). She was the one who shuttled the boy to and from early morning swim practices even while she was attending school to become a school administrator. Then on top of cooking, cleaning, cutting her kids' hair and teaching them about responsibility, accountability, and humility, Debbie had to contend with the non-stop trips to the doctor's office to address Michael's diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In an interview she did with a local Maryland TV station prior to leaving for China Debbie described her upcoming trip to Beijing as "grueling" because she says, "every parent who is sitting in those stands wants their child to do their best. Every coach wants their child to do their best. So, you literally take every stroke, every breath until the race is over and they touch that wall... it's exhausting."

So when mother and son locked eyes after he scored his first gold a couple of nights ago you have to believe that the gesture spoke volumes for what they have endured together. Her pride in him, his gratitude for all that she sacrificed for him... are there really any words for that?

The morning after Phelps took home his first medal of these games NBC's Tom Brokaw, who is apparently a friend of the swimmer's family, told "Today" show viewers that no matter how many medals Michael brings home none of the accumulated hardware or accolades means more to him than the bond he shares with his mom and sisters.

If you witnessed the look mother and son shared in the moments following his first race I think you would agree that Brokaw's comment goes without saying.

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