Everyday Systems

Does anyone else really feel the affects on their weight of being stressed out or of not getting enough sleep? When my life is like that, then my weight loss is slow or I even gain weight (despite watching what I'm eating)...I'm pretty sure it's not my imagination (nor sneaky snacking! LOL)...

I do.

I have to get my sleep

I don't know how else it affects me but if I do not sleep, I always wind up eating to stay awake!

I go to bed earlier on NO S and I like the rested feeling in the morning when I get up.

Blueskighs

I read an article that actually made the statement that lack of sleep can be a cause for weight gain. Not losing is one thing -- but gaining?

I'm not sure how true it is, but I know when I'm without sleep, my body seems to want to eat more, especially foods high in carbs - sweets, pastries, etc. I look at it also like, if I'm sleeping, I'm not eating.

Funny, I was going to start a thread on this.

Lastnight I was up nearly all night as my youngest daughter had a stomach bug. Today, I fell off the No S wagon big time. I totally think it had to do with lack of sleep.

Also, I was going to start walking today, but I was too tired. I started Shovelglove yesterday and did OK, but today I could only last about half the time I did yesterday.

So considering this, it's not difficult to believe that not getting enough sleep can cause weight gain. Not only that, but for years I worked the night shift and I seemed that I spent my life back then feeling tired even though I may have gotten 8 hours of sleep...it just doesn't seem to be as restful as when you get 8 hours sleeping at night.

Hmm, I didn't think I was imagining it...I found this article about sleeplessness being linked to obesity:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=305906&page=1

Obviously, its not an excuse to give up on healthy eating and exercise, but it makes it clear to me that it's also part of the equation to get adequate sleep! Not always easy to do. I've found that I don't sleep as well anyway now that I'm menopausal. I've read sleeplessness can be one of the symptoms of menopause.

Interestingly, I went back and had a look at my habitcal over the last 8 months. I know that you are most likely to lose weight when you first start on any diet, but I found the following observation interesting. When I started NoS I was basically moving into 3 months of mixed work and holidays but not teaching (ie, a period of a more controlled and lighter workload) - and that's when I lost the most weight. The last 3.5 months have been flatchat and stressy and I haven't lost as much weight. At the same time, the habitcal clearly shows that I had no red days in Feb and didn't take that many S days in the first 3.5 months, but I have had lots of red days and s days since...and I've had more blowouts on S days (permasnacking weekends) ... It's obviously harder for me to keep on track when I'm working at full throttle and not taking enough care of my sleep habits. It's a good thing to know.

I do know that after the birth of my second child, I had a lot of sleepless nights. By mid-afternoon, I was so desperate for some energy, I would have killed for a cookie and a coke. As it was, I just ate them. And yes, I did gain weight. I don't think this is a myth.

Have a great day! and a great night's sleep!