Sunday 25 December 2011
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Some people who have pulled a week’s worth of all-nighters may come back looking saggy and thinner, and they would knowingly tell you that it was the lack of sleep that made them lose weight. But does lack of sleep indeed cause weight loss? Or could it have been simply the stress involved in these people’s lifestyles that caused them to lose weight?
Studies show that lack of sleep actually does nothing to help in your weight loss efforts; if anything, it actually hinders it! Why? The following are main reasons why depriving yourself of sleep will be more likely cause you to gain weight rather than lose it:
1. When you are sleepy, coffee or sweet food items are more difficult to say no to, and exercise is easier to skip. The temptation will be particularly strong if you are feeling drowsy at work, as you cannot very well just nod off in a nap. The most common answer? A cup—or two—of coffee, or perhaps a doughnut or two, too, for that sugar energy boost. Getting off from work, you will likely feel too tired to go to the gym, and also feel too tired to cook up a meal from scratch, so buying takeout—fast food nonetheless—seems to be the way to go. Potato chips and other comfort food are also known to be the number one thing that sleepy people reach for.
2. Sleep is necessary for one’s metabolism to function properly. It seems that during sleep, the body not only fixes broken down cells, but it also regulates your metabolism. It does this by sending out two hormones: ghrelin is the hormone that regulates appetite and hunger, while leptin is the hormone in charge of getting a person to stop eating. Lack of sleep results in more ghrelin released and less leptin. This means that your appetite will increase, and you will have lesser propensity to stop eating. Unfortunately, the appetite increase will hardly ever be a craving for healthy fruits and vegetables; instead, this almost always causes the person to crave high-sugar, high-fat, and high-calorie items, such as cake, ice cream, or chips.
3. Staying up late almost always results in at least another meal’s worth of calories taken in. Think about it: when you go to bed at nine, chances are, the dinner you had at 6 or 7 in the evening will be enough to tide you over. But how about if you have dinner at 7, and yet stay up past midnight? Chances are, by the time midnight comes ringing, your stomach will also be growling. If you are out, you will likely be able to hit a coffee shop and get a dose of a sugar-laden cake; if you are home, the easiest things to wolf down will surely also be high-calorie items like chips, cookies, or other desserts.
But does this mean that getting more sleep will mean losing weight? Not necessarily, say the experts. What this means technically is that a person who lacks sleep might lose weight once he achieves the optimum hours of sleep he needs each night. For example, an adult typically requires 7-8 hours of sleep per night. If you are currently only clocking in 5 hours a night, moving it up to about 7 or 7-1/2 hours will possibly help improve the balance of hormones related to metabolism, resulting in a greater control of your appetite, which also will consequently result in weight loss. Of course, this is taking everything else constant; it would not be fair to compare results when you wound up eating so much more after getting more sleep in confidence that you will lose weight anyway!
So if you are currently sleep-deprived, there are ways to make sure you get more sleep. First off, cut back on the caffeine, at least from noon onwards. Adding exercise will also help, as well as you don’t do so just before bedtime. Also avoid eating heavy meals just before bedtime, such as pizza or beer. Of course, the issue that many people have with sleep deprivation is not necessarily food-related, but may be work or mindset-related. Once you understand the importance of getting enough sleep, even just for the sake of getting the leaner and fitter body you want, you may learn to say no to some “pressing” responsibilities that can actually be pushed off for the next day.
How Sleep Affects Weight
Studies show that lack of sleep actually does nothing to help in your weight loss efforts; if anything, it actually hinders it! Why? The following are main reasons why depriving yourself of sleep will be more likely cause you to gain weight rather than lose it:
1. When you are sleepy, coffee or sweet food items are more difficult to say no to, and exercise is easier to skip. The temptation will be particularly strong if you are feeling drowsy at work, as you cannot very well just nod off in a nap. The most common answer? A cup—or two—of coffee, or perhaps a doughnut or two, too, for that sugar energy boost. Getting off from work, you will likely feel too tired to go to the gym, and also feel too tired to cook up a meal from scratch, so buying takeout—fast food nonetheless—seems to be the way to go. Potato chips and other comfort food are also known to be the number one thing that sleepy people reach for.
2. Sleep is necessary for one’s metabolism to function properly. It seems that during sleep, the body not only fixes broken down cells, but it also regulates your metabolism. It does this by sending out two hormones: ghrelin is the hormone that regulates appetite and hunger, while leptin is the hormone in charge of getting a person to stop eating. Lack of sleep results in more ghrelin released and less leptin. This means that your appetite will increase, and you will have lesser propensity to stop eating. Unfortunately, the appetite increase will hardly ever be a craving for healthy fruits and vegetables; instead, this almost always causes the person to crave high-sugar, high-fat, and high-calorie items, such as cake, ice cream, or chips.
3. Staying up late almost always results in at least another meal’s worth of calories taken in. Think about it: when you go to bed at nine, chances are, the dinner you had at 6 or 7 in the evening will be enough to tide you over. But how about if you have dinner at 7, and yet stay up past midnight? Chances are, by the time midnight comes ringing, your stomach will also be growling. If you are out, you will likely be able to hit a coffee shop and get a dose of a sugar-laden cake; if you are home, the easiest things to wolf down will surely also be high-calorie items like chips, cookies, or other desserts.
But does this mean that getting more sleep will mean losing weight? Not necessarily, say the experts. What this means technically is that a person who lacks sleep might lose weight once he achieves the optimum hours of sleep he needs each night. For example, an adult typically requires 7-8 hours of sleep per night. If you are currently only clocking in 5 hours a night, moving it up to about 7 or 7-1/2 hours will possibly help improve the balance of hormones related to metabolism, resulting in a greater control of your appetite, which also will consequently result in weight loss. Of course, this is taking everything else constant; it would not be fair to compare results when you wound up eating so much more after getting more sleep in confidence that you will lose weight anyway!
So if you are currently sleep-deprived, there are ways to make sure you get more sleep. First off, cut back on the caffeine, at least from noon onwards. Adding exercise will also help, as well as you don’t do so just before bedtime. Also avoid eating heavy meals just before bedtime, such as pizza or beer. Of course, the issue that many people have with sleep deprivation is not necessarily food-related, but may be work or mindset-related. Once you understand the importance of getting enough sleep, even just for the sake of getting the leaner and fitter body you want, you may learn to say no to some “pressing” responsibilities that can actually be pushed off for the next day.
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