Authors: Travis Stork
The Doctor's Diet: Dr. Travis Stork's STAT Program to Help You Lose Weight & Restore Your Health (51 page)
When you get enough sleep, weight loss becomes easier. Here are some of the reasons why:
You’re revved to move.
It’s easier to be active when you’re well rested. Who wants to go out for a walk, a swim, or a jog when they can barely keep their eyes open?
Your metabolism is fully charged.
In studies where researchers have purposely disrupted the sleep of study participants, they find that after even just a few days, metabolism slows down. Getting enough sleep helps prevent that.
Your appetite hormones work better.
Being exhausted tends to increase your appetite and your calorie intake. That’s because lack of sleep impacts your body’s levels of leptin and ghrelin, hormones that are involved in hunger and satiety. (Ghrelin increases appetite, and leptin tells your body when to stop eating.) When your leptin and ghrelin levels are out of whack, you’re much more likely to overeat, because your out-of-balance hormones are sending you false signals about hunger and satiety. Sleep helps keep them all in balance.
You have less time to overeat.
When people spend more time in bed, research shows that one of the things they spend less time doing is eating. The more awake time you have on your hands, the more you are likely to snack.
You’re less likely to get mixed signals.
Tired people may eat more simply because they confuse feelings of fatigue and hunger. Instead of taking a nap when they feel tired, they gobble up food because they mistake that uncomfortable feeling of exhaustion for hunger.
It’s easier to make healthy choices.
Well-rested people tend to make healthier decisions about what foods to eat. Given the choice of French fries or a salad, you’re more likely to pick the fries if you’re exhausted and the salad if you’re well rested.
I’m happy to tell you that just as lack of sleep and weight gain are connected, so are better sleep and weight loss. Once you start eating right, being active, and losing weight, your sleep should begin to improve. And as it does, you should find it easier to eat right, be active, and lose weight. It’s the vicious sleep-weight cycle in reverse.
Some other ways to improve sleep include making sure your sleep hygiene is up to snuff—that means making sure your bed, bedroom, and schedule are optimized for good sleep. And be sure to leave yourself enough time at night to relax and fall asleep and to get the seven to nine hours you need. You can’t get eight hours of sleep if you’re only in bed for six hours!
Q: HOW MUCH SLEEP DO I REALLY NEED?
A:
Individual sleep needs vary, but in general, most of us do best with seven to nine hours of sleep.
TIPS FOR BETTER SLEEP
Go to bed at the same time each night.
Get up at the same time each morning.
Be sure your bedroom is quiet, dark, and relaxing.
Use earplugs, eye shades, light-blocking window shades, white noise machines, or whatever other tools you need to facilitate good sleep.
Use heaters or air conditioners to make sure the temperature is right for sleeping.
Sleep in a comfortable bed.
Use your bed only for sleeping and having sex (doesn’t sound too bad does it!).
Remove all electronic entertainment devices from your bedroom. Don’t watch TV, listen to music, talk on the phone, read on a tablet, use the computer, work, or do any other activities in bed.
Avoid eating large meals before bed.
Avoid exercising and doing other stimulating activities within a few hours before bed.
Watch caffeine intake during the day; some people are so sensitive to it that a cup of coffee at lunchtime can affect their sleep.
Keep in mind that caffeine sensitivity can change as you get older.
If you’re having trouble sleeping, or if your sleeping partner tells you that you’re snoring, start keeping a sleep journal and discuss your findings with your doctor, who may refer you to a sleep center for further evaluation.