This may seem like a strange place to start talking about losing weight but sleep is actually VERY important to successfully maintaining or losing weight.
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to stick to your diet and exercise plans when you’re tired? First, you’re dealing with a lack of energy. It’s really difficult to get motivated to work out when you’re fighting to keep your eyes open and all you want to do is go take a nap. So you end up sitting on the sofa with a bowl of ice cream or potato chips (or both!) watching TV.
Leptin and ghrelin levels – hormones that tell your body when it’s full or hungry – often go awry when your body isn’t fully rested.
As if a lack of energy wasn’t bad enough, when we’re tired we also tend to make fewer healthy choices throughout the day and then we end up reaching for the quick-fix energy boost we need, often in the form of sugar-filled and processed snacks.
Ever notice how you crave bad carbs when you’re tired? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve reached for cookies, brownies or a hot, gooey bowl of mac and cheese when I was sleep deprived. I was tired and cranky and the only thing that could make me feel better (besides getting some sleep) was comfort food.
Lack of sleep disrupts circadian rhythms and often leads to inefficient body regulation of energy, metabolism and appetite. Leptin and ghrelin levels – hormones that tell your body when it’s full or hungry – often go awry when your body isn’t fully rested. Research has shown that getting less than the optimal 7-9 hours of sleep every night increases the level of the hunger hormone grehlin, leaving you hungry and craving food all day long. I don’t know about you but I have a tough enough time dealing with the hunger hormones I already have without adding more!
Lack of sleep also causes a stress response in the body. When we’re under stress the body releases the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol causes a rise in blood sugar which causes an associated rise in insulin. Insulin is a fat storage hormone…
Insulin is a fat storage hormone that takes the extra sugar in your blood and stores it as fat if you’re body can’t use it right away. You’re basically gaining weight and you haven’t even eaten anything! Now imagine that you just ate a big bowl of ice cream due to all that stress and you’ve just added even more stored energy to your fat cells. It’s a “no win” situation.
To get more sleep, set a goal of what time you need to be in bed each night to get the 7-9 hours you need. Turn off the technology one hour before your bedtime. Research has shown that the light emitted from your television, laptops and tablets, and even that little bit of light coming from your alarm clock and cable/dvr box, can be disruptive and make it difficult to fall asleep.
Set a goal for yourself to get at least 7-9 hours of sleep every night for one week and see if you notice a difference. Do you feel energized and less groggy during the day or that you have the energy to get through a workout? Do you find that with more sleep you’re better able to control your appetite and not crave those highly processed wheat and sugar based snacks and other bad carbs that seem to control you when you’re tired or stressed? Make this commitment to yourself for just one week and see if you don’t feel better and maybe you’ll lose a few pounds as well.
