Lose Weight Successfully: Get Enough Sleep, Be Less Hungry

This is part 2 of a series on the effect not getting enough sleep has on our efforts to lose weight successfully.

There is increasing evidence that insufficient sleep is directly linked to obesity and ailments such as diabetes. There has also been a lot of publicity about the direct relationship between obesity and diabetes, so even though I don't directly talk about diabetes much it is an important reason for us to achieve a healthy weight. Type 2 diabetes (formerly known as "adult onset diabetes") is much more common in people who are carrying too much body fat--no matter their age--then people in the "normal" weight range.

In addition to the diabetes connection, lack of sleep is also connected to heart disease, stroke and cardio-vascular issues. Bottom line is we have got to get enough sleep to be healthy! I know it seems obvious, but we tend to push ourselves thinking that giving up on sleep is our only option...that if we just get a little less sleep we will get more done, provide a better life for our families, make more money, etc. Truth is, if we become ill we will be LESS benefit to our family, COST them money and we will have LESS TIME with them--certainly less QUALITY time and possibly be LOST TO THEM FOREVER.

If that isn't enough, how about this: lack of sleep makes us hungrier!

Sleeping is actually a way for our body to regulate our appetite via hormones. When we don't get enough sleep the hormone that helps us feel satiated (leptin) is depressed. At the same time the hormone that stimulates our appetite (ghrelin) is increased.

Missing an hour or two once in a while is probably not going to make you obese. But chronically shorting yourself on sleep can. What's even scarier to me is that just 2 nights of shorting yourself of sleep can have this effect. I remember pulling all-nighters (often) and getting 4-5 hours of sleep a night for years, punctuated with nights of 10-12 hours sleep, but those short nights set me up for major health problems. Of course I didn't know that at the time, I felt I had to get the project done--whether it was for school or work--and feeling a bit tired was a small price to pay for the rewards I would receive.

Boy, was I wrong! I don't think anyone ever built a monument to someone because they missed sleep to get a project done on time.

A third hormone is also at play--adiponectin also helps regulate our body fat. When this hormone level falls (which happens with sleep deprivation, especially in Caucasian women) our blood sugar gets out of whack, our metabolism slows, and our cholesterol and blood pressure levels get out of balance.

Finally, the hormone melatonin is also affected by lack of sleep. This is especially important to those of us on a weight loss journey since studies have already demonstrated that healthy melatonin levels help us maintain a healthy weight.

Numerous studies are now showing that getting ample sleep on a regular basis is essential for our reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.

Truth is, sleep is something that benefits our brains, our bodies and our emotions. When we are exhausted we don't feel good, we are less apt to believe we can positively impact our lives. Because our body's chemistry is out of whack it is harder for us to maintain the positive mental attitude we need to lose weight and we will reach for foods and drinks that give us artificial energy. Unfortunately that backfires on us in the long-run and we feel even more tired, so we grab more stimulants in the form of sugar or caffeine which just gets us even more out of balance and more prone to being overweight.

So put your health first and get some sleep.

If you aren't getting restorative sleep because of some other issues like insomnia or sleep apnea, if you feel tired even though you regularly are "asleep" for 8 or more hours a night--see your doctor. There are therapies that can help. Sometimes a medical condition can keep us from sleeping and that condition may be made worse by being overweight--or may be actually cured by losing weight, but we may need some help to break the cycle enough to get the sleep we need so we can have healthy hormone levels and body and brain chemistry that will aide us in getting a positive mindset about losing weight.

Eat Fat to Lose Weight and Beat the Blues

Do you eat because you feel depressed?

Even having lost 125 pounds and fought off the demon of depression, I still have strong urges to grab a pint of comfort when stressed or depressed...in my case the pint is usually Ben & Jerry's.

I know from personal experience that eating all that sugar only temporarily helps the feeling of depression.

Well a study done in Spain indicates we can actually eat foods to help prevent depression in the first place!

The famous "Mediterranean diet" appears to be the answer--eating an abundance of fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats is olive oil, nuts and fish.

It may be the fats that have the biggest benefit--olive oil has oleic acid, and omega-3 fatty acids from fish give our serotonin levels a boost. Serotonin is the feel-good hormone, and is what many anti-depressants target.

This is another important reason why we shouldn't just eliminate or drastically cut back on all fats. Keeping some good, healthy fats in our diet is important for our moods, our mental abilities...and it also helps your insides stay regulated and your skin feeling smooth.

Eat healthy fats as part of your plan for losing or maintaining weight. It is a healthy part of any successful, permanent weight loss program.

I'll Thank You to Keep Your Sugar Levels Even

When we allow ourselves to eat excessive sugar--especially the pure stuff...white sugar, corn syrups, etc--we are setting ourselves up for a roller coaster ride.

Not only is this ride not fun for us...well, the highs might be, but the crash down sucks!...Truth is, it is no picnic for our friends, family and co-workers either. And the folks at the next table at the restaurant...or your neighbors...you get the picture.

Rather than "solving" the problem by rushing to get even more sugar, grab some more natural sugar in the form of fruits and vegetables. These complex carbohydrates still break down into sugar in your blood stream...and many taste sweet...but the sugar that is produced by our bodies affects us at a slower, more consistent rate.

So we can have the sweet tastes without the roller coaster ride. I am personally convinced that a large number of people are on antidepressants when what they really need to do is get OFF sugar!

I say that because I was one of them! When you are depressed you grab anything that helps boost your feelings...and sugar will artificially do that...for a while. But it is like any other drug...you end up needing more and more, and more frequently.

Look, I still love sweets as much as the next person...probably more...but I hate how they make me feel. So I make the effort to keep my sugar levels balanced out as much as possible.

By doing that, by taking control of my food, I have not only lost 120lbs, I am completely off anti-depressants and have been for over a year! And that is something to celebrate!

Sugar Cravings: Twinkies and Depression

Continuing on with Dr. Oz's thoughts on what causes sugar cravings...if you missed yesterday's post "Feed Me Now or I Will Kill You" be sure to check it out if you get, um, grumpy before meal time!

You know what it is like...you want something sweet, but you aren't really sure what you want...so you find yourself going through the cupboards for something sweet. Dr. Oz refers to this as "I'd really like a Twinkie".

He points out that, although there isn't a lot of evidence yet, that holistic doctors claim this could be due to too much yeast in the gut. One treatment is to take probiotics (which are the "good guys" of bacteria...think of them as wearing tiny white hats!) So while the evidence may not be there the probiotics have worked enough for Dr. Oz to suggest them.

Dr. Oz then moves on to the period cravings...when it is time for our period we will have low levels of serotonin and so we feel more depressed than usual.

To break the period sugar cravings eat dark chocolate--about 1 ounce. That small amount of chocolate will provide a natural antidepressant as well as some carbs.

Finally Dr. Oz points out that frequently we think we want to eat something...even when we aren't really hungry...because we have neglected other needs...including exercise, sleep, sex or water.

So...try taking a walk or a nap... or a "nap" (wink wink) and drink lots of water!

I will again recommend Dr John Gray's Mars Venus Wellness Solution. I found my moods were much more stable throughout my cycle...that and consistently exercising really helps keep my hormones balanced.

But taking a "nap" sounds good, too!