Determined To Succeed

I don’t know what it is these days. I just can’t seem to get out of bed. I fully admit there are times my sleep is thrown off because I am stupid (OK, maybe not stupid), like when I fall asleep for a couple of hours in front of the TV after eating. But mostly it’s because bed feels good and warm and I don’t wanna crawl out of it (wow, did that sound whiny or what?!). So, after convincing myself that the cinnamon and brown sugar oatmeal was a great reason to get out of bed, I finally did it and am now planted firmly in front my computer.

Yawn…

I can usually operate on a few hours sleep. Remember me telling you about my year of hell (working three jobs and getting four hours sleep a night for a year)? While those days are long gone I do find that getting good sleep does help. It doesn’t have to be 8-10 hours but it does. The interesting thing is that sleep is also important in losing weight…and lack of it might make you gain weight.

Think about it: If you’re feeling sleepy at work and are running on low energy, you may be tempted to reach for a cup of coffee (or several cups or really big ones like me – extra crunchy with sugar) and a doughnut (mmmmmmm, doughnuts)  for a quick shot of energy. Later you may skip the gym and pick up takeout on your way home because you are too tired and/or have no time to cook. When you finally find yourself back in your bed, you are too wound up to sleep.

What does this all mean? You may be able to fight off sleepiness, particularly at work, however the ultimate result is unwanted pounds from poor food choices coupled with lack of exercise. This sets the stage for obesity and further sleep loss. Think about it more: Sleep debt is like credit card debt. If you keep accumulating credit card debt, you will pay high interest rates or your account will be shut down until you pay it all off. If you accumulate too much sleep debt, your body will crash.

Exactly how lack of sleep affects our ability to lose weight has a lot to do with our nightly hormones.

The two hormones that are key in this process are ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin is the “go” hormone that tells you when to eat. When you are sleep-deprived, you have more ghrelin. Leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating. So when you are sleep deprived, you have less leptin. In other words, more ghrelin plus less leptin equals weight gain. You are eating more, plus your metabolism is slower when you are sleep-deprived.

Yawn…stretch….

So what can you do about sleep deprivation?

For starters, avoid any caffeine in the afternoon because it will keep you in the lighter stages of sleep — which are associated with poor sleep — at night.  Exercise also helps improve sleep quality (which is awesome for me since today is martial arts training – yea!). Watch what you eat before bedtime and don’t eat a big meal too close to bed time. Heavy, rich meals before bed can also increase risk of heartburn (which will certainly keep you up all night – remember the “IN-DE-GESSSSSSSTION commercials).

Ah, now I am awake. I know I’m gonna have more cool stories about today’s martial arts lesson (and the soreness I will surely feel) but it’s all good. I have eaten my oatmeal to jumpstart my metabolism. I will be working out today. It’s a good day, indeed.

Now if only I could do all this waking up and being energized earlier…