How does sleep (deprivation) affect weight loss?
As a first-year art student, my ass is being worked off... Literally and figuratively. However, the sheer amount of hours my pieces require me to put in to make sure they're A-grade has really been taking a toll on my sleep. Take, for instance, the fact that it is 5:00AM. How is this affecting my ability to lose weight? People always say that a full night's sleep is necessary, but I haven't gotten one of those in.... goodness knows how long.
Fatigue affects weight-loss in a few ways.... When you're fatigued or stressed it affects your insulin and blood-sugar levels making it more likely that you'll reach for sugary, starchy foods in an effort to get an energy boost. Since sugary, starchy foods are usually very high in calories, that will affect your ability to lose weight. High insulin levels affect the way your body stores and burns fat. If you're tired you're unlikely to be getting much exercise which can also affect body-weight.
Short term, it's not going to kill you, of course.... 
I wouldn't try cutting calories just at the moment, however. Aim to get plenty of good, nourishing foods so that you've got enough energy to enable you to keep up with the work. Take a multivitamin with iron as a safety-net. And any chance you get to put the work away and turn in early.... take it. Gentle exercise...e.g. a brisk walk... and some mental down-time is a good way to keep the mind sharp and make your work-rate more efficient when you come back to it.
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i hear ya on this one, and sometimes I wonder if it's possible to lose weight while maintaining a stellar GPA. if anyone has done it, tell me your secrets. ;)
Haha, well, I have recently reached my goal weight over the course of the semester in a healthy way; living in the city, I get to walk EVERYwhere, and my college gives me free access to a toprate gym. However, believing in giving my body what it needs and not what I think it does, I've definitely found that I've had to up my calorie intake from my normal during weeks like these past ones where my workload is so great that I lose entire nights of sleep at a time. I was talking to a fellow art student, and we came to the funny conclusion that we prepare for all-nighters the same way football players and runners do for games and marathons... However, I definitely don't exercise during these weeks because my body is definitely going through all it can right now. I'm waiting till I'm recuperated enough to start up again.
(I'd also like to add that I have an A average and I am very proud of that... it's much better than I ever was in highschool. So's my body!)
Also, thanks to gi-jane for the encouragement and sagely advice! Exactly what I wanted to know.
Original Post by thesuperbex:
i hear ya on this one, and sometimes I wonder if it's possible to lose weight while maintaining a stellar GPA. if anyone has done it, tell me your secrets. ;)
i went on the "depression" diet.... after my dad past i didnt loose a beat... kept my gpa up.... kept on working, and raising my son.... only thing was i forgot to eat.... lost 50lbs in about six months.... since i have gained back 30.....
so follow gi jane's advice!!!!
it's really not feasible!
