I've always loved sleeping, above (almost) everything. I can't remember when I last slept well, though. I suffer from a sore back like a considerable portion of the population, caused by a fall 17 years ago and a bad working posture, or so I thought. Is it because I'm fat? It would appear that being overweight substantially increasing the wear and tear on your bones and joints, so it's certainly not helping! I feel a little like a beached whale, stranded on my back, nestled into my memory foam topper, but it does give me a few hours.
If I can address the back thing, then I can tackle the snoring and the grinding - it's no wonder I'm exhausted in the morning. Being the eternal optimist, I imagine the thinner me (without the sore back) wont snore and grind, as I wont have to sleep on my back, and I will have nothing to worry about when I win the lotto!
There is a slight glitch in my plan........It would appear that the quality and length of sleep affects our chances of weight loss!
The articles I've been reading give us the lowdown.
Sleep Loss Limits Fat Loss
When dieters in the study got a full night's sleep, they lost the same amount of weight as when they slept less. When dieters got adequate sleep, however, more than half of the weight they lost was fat. When they cut back on their sleep, only one-fourth of their weight loss came from fat.
During the two-week, 8.5-hours-in-bed phase, volunteers slept an average of 7 hours and 25 minutes each night. In the 5.5-hour phase, they slept 5 hours and 14 minutes, or more than two hours less. The number of calories they consumed, about 1,450 per day, was kept the same.
The message for people trying to lose weight is clear, Penev said. "For the first time, we have evidence that the amount of sleep makes a big difference on the results of dietary interventions. One should not ignore the way they sleep when going on a diet. Obtaining adequate sleep may enhance the beneficial effects of a diet. Not getting enough sleep could defeat the desired effects."
Read the whole article here
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101004211637.htm
Insufficient Sleep Thwarts Weight Loss Efforts
"Many people today are overweight or obese, and diet-induced weight loss is a widely used strategy to reduce the health risks associated with excess adiposity," write Arlet V.Nedeltcheva, MD, from the University of Chicago, Illinois, and colleagues. "The neuroendocrine changes associated with sleep curtailment in the presence of caloric restriction, however, suggest that lack of sufficient sleep may compromise the efficacy of commonly used dietary interventions in such persons."
"Among other hormonal effects, we found that sleep restriction caused an increase in ghrelin levels in the blood. Ghrelin is a hormone that has been shown to reduce energy expenditure, stimulate hunger and food intake, promote retention of fat, and increase glucose production in the body. This could explain why sleep-deprived participants also reported feeling hungrier during the study," he continued.
The rest is here
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/729995
Well, there we have it. Loss of sleep causes hormonal imbalance, making me hungrier the next day, and, if that wasn't enough, the amount of sleep determines how much fat I lose!
I could use this as another excuse as to why I'm still fat, but that would be a little defeatist, don't you think?
I am wondering, though, if I'm ever going to be able to throw my scales away.
Talk to me........
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