Sleep?
 

Hey has anyone noticed that if say they don"t get enough sleep that it effects their weightloss? There was a night this week that I got maybe 5 hours of sleep and my next morning weigh in sucked. I still lost like .something but nothing like I had expected then the next night I got a good 8-9 hours of sleep and the next morning weight was a huge drop. Is that cause my body doesn"t have toime to repair itself and process the weight so to speak. Just a thought floating through my head today. I'm trying to make sure I get enough sleep, but sometimes its hard with DH working overnights basically and me home with the kids all night by myself. gotta run. catch ya later.

Oh yes, definitely. My hubs works the night shift too, and when I'm tired/stressed, I retain water and I crave starchy junk because my energy's low. Didn't sleep last night myself with all the storms coming through here.

I remember reading some research that stated that anything less than 7 hours a night does impede weight loss. Whether it is a direct enough relation for any one night to make a difference, I don't know, but over the long haul, shorting yourself in that department isn't doing you any favors on the scale. I know I need to get to 7 hours more regularly.

I am not sleeping well at all and it has been an ongoing problem for me for months now. I don't have sleep apnea, my problem is stress-related. I've tried everything from acupuncture to herbal teas to hot baths, nothing has worked for me. After weeks of eating 1400-1600 calories per day plus exercising 5-6 times per week, I have lost a whopping 1.6 pounds. It is incredibly frustrating, to say the least.

I can fall asleep just fine but I only sleep for about 5 or 6 hours and then I wake up and there is no falling back asleep. My doctor says that this is definitely the reason I am not losing weight. I finally agreed to take some sleeping pills but they aren't helping yet - it's been 5 days.

Like Cassie said, sleeping less than 7 hours is not good for weight loss. Basically your body goes into crisis mode and hangs on to the weight for dear life.

This is my issue as well. My baby is not sleeping though the night, so I don't get much more than 4 hours in a row. Usually 6 hours tops, but never consecutive.

I sleep 4-5 hours a day and I've never had trouble losing weight. I can say I've noticed very little gains while weight lifting though. I think sleep deprivation affects everyone differently.

Interesting article for those interested in the speculated science behind it: How Sleep Affects Your Weight

Thanks for the timely replies everyone. It's good to know and feel that I'm not alone. I'm gonna try to get more sleep but we"ll see how it goes.

I have a lot of trouble with sleep. It used to be work-stress related, but now it is mostly menopause. (Hot flashes and night sweats have a way of sneaking up on you.)

My best trick for both stress related and hormonal insomnia is to go with it. If after 30 or 40 minutes of tossing and turning I still can't get back to sleep, I get up fix a cup of sleepytime and read for a while. Usually within an hour I am ready to go back to bed. If I stay in bed and try to "force" myself back to sleep I will just get more and more upset and stressed and less and less likely to fall back asleep

Every once in a while I give up all together and just begin my day at 3:30. But that doesn't happen too often.

In any event, lack of sleep definitly affects my weight, but stressing about it probably affect my weight even more.

Very informative article, Cassie! Thanks for sharing.

I am still not sleeping well, despite sleeping pills. I sort of suspected they wouldn't help me much because my problem is not falling asleep it is staying asleep. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night because I was startled by a noise outside. I drifted back to sleep but was up by 5am with the sun, worried my alarm clock didn't work and I was late for work, which was not the case of course.

I am so fed up with all this stressful erratic behavior when I am supposed to be sleeping. I guess I just have to be patient and eventually my mind will go back to normal so that I can relax enough to get a good night's sleep. I get discouraged sometimes because I am doing so much exercise and eating so healthy and just not getting the results on the scale. I won't let myself give up though! I am pushing ahead and eventually the scale will cooperate! I'm determined.

Yes I have also heard this and find it to be true – If I don’t get enough sleep I have a harder time recovering after a hard workout and the next day I suffer. My husband also works the night shift and I have a hard time being at home alone and find that I don’t sleep as well. I would usually resort to leaving the TV on until I would fall asleep which I found really messes up my sleep because I will wake up several times during the night to the sound of it. About a month ago, I started using our sound machine and it has worked wonders for me. It fills that void that I have because I don’t like it completely quiet, but it doesn’t wake me up in the middle of the night as well. I am getting such a good nights sleept aht I am now finding myself waking up naturally BEFORE my alarm goes off (imagine that!).

I have never been a very good sleeper, it's a family condition. Neither of my parents sleeps through the night and I have several other relatives that are the same. First I might recommend that you get rid of any caffeine that you use. It affects everyone differently, but once it's in your system it stays there for a while and can peak later in the day and even overnight. The other thing I would recommend is that instead of sleeping pills you ask your doctor for a muscle relaxant and see if that is better for you.

Sometimes when I'm having trouble sleeping I can fool myself by pretending that I can't stay awake. I know it sounds silly, but here are three ways I do that: 1) I imagine myself watching a boring movie where I just want to rest my eyes for a minute; 2) imitate a baby when it's eyes seem to be rolling back and it can't stay awake; 3) pretend I'm on stage acting like someone asleep . . . if I can convince the audience I can convince myself.:)

Almeeker, thanks for those tips! I appreciate it.

Alice, I just might try your "acting" techniques tonight!

I've read this, too. I understand that sleep is very important, but is it the lack of sleep itself that impedes weight loss, or is it that the lack of sleep makes us more tired and stressed which makes us eat more (or make worse food choices)?