Sleep and weight loss
Anyone else notice that if they don't get a good amount of sleep they don't lose any weight?
I'm a college student at a very work intensive school and so I usually have to pull several all nighters every week and if I'm not pulling an all nighter I only get a few hours of sleep. Anyway, I noticed when I don't sleep I don't lose weight, but then like on the weekend when I get a full nights rest is when I will see a change in the scale. I've read things about how people eat more if they don't sleep, but that's not the case; I always stay at around 1300cals.
Its not really a problem, but I find it interesting and wondered if I'm the only one.
How many hours of sleep is actually needed...i wake up every hour on the hour having to pee water out so how do i get some much needed sleep if im peeing all night and day, any thoughts?
I have insomnia. Since age 11 I've struggled with it. It does effect your weight. In my case I tend to eat more when I don't sleep, but on the other hand, even when I don't over eat the scale moves slower than when I do sleep. Frustrating. I retain fluid when I don't sleep too. If you get answers please share them.
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/lo se-weight-while-sleeping
I found this link really interesting! You;re right, there is a relationship between weight and sleep.
You are absolutely correct. If you're not getting good nights' worth of sleep, you will not likely lose much weight. The reason for this is that most of your fat burning (burning stored fat) occurs at night, when you are asleep. This is the regenerative phase of your 24-hour daily cycle. I recommend that you learn more about this by reading the books, either "The Leptin Diet" or "Mastering Leptin," by Byron Richards. "The Leptin Diet" is a quick read, designed for laypersons. "Mastering Leptin" is a much longer, more detailed book that contains hundreds of scientific study citations.
Richards is a board certified nutrition specialist, and he writes extensively on the energy management hormone Leptin. Leptin, discovered relatively recently (1994) is the "master" hormone in our bodies that manages the intake and expenditure of energy. Understanding leptin and how it works is a complete game changer in the fight against obesity and weight gain. This book has changed my life, and since following Richards' guidelines ("The Five Rules of Leptin," as he calls them), I have lost inches and weight, without cutting any calories. If you eat in harmony with your natural leptin cycles, as Richards explains, your metabolism will go up through the night by 30% - the equivalent of running 2-3 miles every night while you're sleeping. It's true. It works. I do it every night. Each morning I wake up thinner than the day before. It's not a hoax. It's just good science.
To summarize, the Five Rules of Leptin are:
1. Eat three meals a day, waiting 5-6 hours between each meal.
2. Do NOT snack -- this stops the leptin cycle and makes it start over, so you never get to fat burning. Of particular importance is not to eat after dinner. You need a fast of 11-12 hours between dinner and breakfast the next day in order to get this 30% increase in metabolism at night while you're sleeping.
3. Do not eat large meals. Don't overeat. Eat until you are just shy of full. Eat slowly - leptin will tell your brain when it's time to stop eating, but leptin lags about 10-20 minutes behind your stomach, so give leptin time to tell your brain to stop the eating.
4. Try not to eat too many carbs. And when you do eat carbs, make sure you eat fiber with it. Fiber is the antidote to carbs.
5. Make sure you eat plenty of protein with your breakfast. This will set you up for success throughout the entire day.
There's more to it than this, but you need to read the book(s). Insulin is involved, as are some other hormones, and of course the liver is always involved in metabolism. It's fascinating reading, and it works exactly the way Richards says it does. I've been so happy with my results. Additional benefits are a super increase in energy, super increase in happiness (ie., positive outlook), and no more hunger cravings between meals. Yeah!
It is true, stress stimulates cortisol -- endogenous steroids, and the same kind of stuff that give people cushingoid weight gain when taken exogenously. High stress can slow one's metabolism some (or, at least it has been posited that it may do so). Still, any change would likely be negligible, and not noticeable day-to-day. My guess is, it is likely because when you are up all night, even if you don't snack, you likely take in coffee and (diet) soda and water, and when you weight yourself in the AM, you're weighing those fluids, too. Whereas when you sleep for 8 hours and then weight yourself, you are weighing on empty.
swearl, you should not be urinating every hour on the hour. That certainly is very disruptive to your sleep. Are you drinking too many fluids? It is possible and harmful to overdo it. The hydration calculator at http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercal culator.htm will help you determine how much to drink. The climate part should take into account the indoor climate as well. When either the furnace or the A/C is running a lot, the air is drier. A 150# person who is exercising 30 minutes/day in a dry climate should drink about 86 oz, or about 2&1/2 qts, of ALL fluids that day. Unless you eat a LOT of veggies, fruits, or soup, you don't need to worry much about the water they contain, but remember that they DO contain some.
I am concerned because frequent thirst and urination are classic signs of diabetes, and urge you to consider this and get checked out ASAP - preferably TODAY.
Thanks for the information. I'm ordering the book today. Everything you wrote makes so much sense. If I could sleep, my weight problem would disappear. I've had this problem my whole life and during the few times in my life that I did sleep well I maintained 110 lbs without dieting. Again, thanks so much.
Original Post by swlear:
How many hours of sleep is actually needed...i wake up every hour on the hour having to pee water out so how do i get some much needed sleep if im peeing all night and day, any thoughts?
I recommend drinking all that excess water in the morning/day. I drink 120 oz of water between 8am and 5pm. From 5-10pm (bedtime) I drink only about 20-30 oz. I learned to do this after experiencing the same problem you are discussing. Now I only get up once or twice a night to pee.
I encourage you to talk to your doctor if you're peeing that often, to rule out any possible health issues. Getting up once in a night to pee is one thing; getting up every hour on the hour is entirely another. That's not normal.
I was working more than thirty hours weekly and going to school full-time so all-nighters were a stable part of my weekly schedule. I always found that I lost weight during these times, but I think it had more to do with a continuous consumption of 0 kcal Monster energy drinks and low appetite, as well as being too busy - or perceiving myself as too busy - to eat. However, I have suffered from insomnia separate from these induced periods of sleeplessness and I notice with my normal insomnia that grants me from 4-6hrs/night of sleep, I am typically intensely snacky during the day, suffering from increased appetite. I have worked around this by setting guidelines for when and what I eat and being mindful of my body's cues, as well as using decaf coffee/tea/light beer to reduce some of the artificial go-go-go that comes with sleep deprivation and help curb appetite. These are also diuretics and help with expelling retained water.
