You Snooze, You Lose
You hardly got any sleep last night and are exhausted. Instead of making healthy choices all day, you completely sabotage any efforts of healthy eating and exercise. You skip breakfast before heading into work because you just want to hit the snooze button one more time and lay in bed, you eventually roll out of bed and make it into work …just in time. You are starving and grab a donut and coffee for a quick boost of energy, which ends up making you feel worse. And lunch…..that is out of the question. You had no time to pack a healthy lunch, so you go out with co-workers to McD’s and grab another unhealthy meal. Again, feeling bad and wanting a nap after lunch break but not able to take one. It is time to head to the gym after work but it is so easy to just pass right by and go on home. You pick up take out for your family instead of having to cook anything. It is finally 9pm and you cannot think about anything but your bed. However, you are so wound up from the coffee, cokes, unhealthy food, and lack of exercise that you toss and turn all night again! It is a vicious cycle. Lack of sleep is sabotaging your health, sanity, and waistline.
One of the reasons that lack of sleep can cause weight gain is because of the poor food choices and lack of exercise that you will find yourself doing.
On average, an adult needs about 7.5 hours of sleep per night. If you are not even getting close to this number, add some sleep hours to your zzzzz’s and you will start to not only feel better, but also see the scale move in the right direction. Lack of sleep can really mess with our hormones and cause our metabolism to be slower.
A few little things that can help your head hit (and stay there without tossing and turning) the pillow a little easier at night:
Avoid caffeine in the afternoons– Caffeine will keep you from falling asleep and when you do finally fall asleep, you are kept in the lighter stages of sleep.
Exercise– Exercise will help tire your body out and help you sleep better. It is not so important when you exercise, but try not to do it directly before hitting the sack.
Eating before bed– Watch what you eat before going to sleep. Stay away from big rich meals and things like pizza and beer or other heavy foods. The rich foods can cause heartburn and tunny aches. If you are in the good habit of eating dinner early, but are hungry before bed, try eating a small bowl of cereal or drinking 8 oz of skim milk. It will fill you up and help you sleep.
Alcohol– It will not help you sleep better. It might help you pass out quicker, but as far as quality sleep goes, it is not helping you get more/better sleep.
Lack of sleep can:
- lead to increased blood pressure
- increased risk of heart disease
- drive down leptin (hormone) levels, which will cause your body to crave more carbs
- lead to increased risk of type 2 diabetes
- interfere with the body’s ability to metabolize carbs and cause high levels of glucose….which will lead to higher insulin levels and more body fat storage
I know that many of you are already eating healthy and making the effort to exercise more, but if you are not sleeping enough, this could be where the weight gain or lack of weight loss is coming from. In this fast paced world where stress levels run high and everyone needs something done for them RIGHT NOW, you need to take a step back for yourself and get more sleep. Don’t take sleep for granted and think you can function on only a few hours a night. Your brain might say you can, but your body cannot.
Sweet dreams!
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These are excellent facts and true. I work from home, have a schedule where I cannot sleep 7.5 hours a night (6 has been my requirement)and have taken steps to try to help keep me healthy. I exercise regularly now and not only helps me physically, but mentally too.
I have a high profile, stressful job, but not stress causing me to be upset, rather the type of work I do online and using a variety of electronic devices, my primary being a desktop computer and can get intense. I am starting to feel relief and the bonus with all of it a better mind and body.
Print out this page and keep in places (yes more than one place where you reside) and when you are tossing and turning and trying to get some sleep, reach for this page and see if there is anything from your day contributing.