Sleep It Off!

My first tip for weight loss was about water.  Now we're going to talk about sleep.  Everyone knows sleep is important, but I didn't really understand that it could help me lose weight as well.  Here are the things I personally have learned and have helped me relating to sleep.  I will also include words of advice from experts and laymen in the field.

1.  Sleep!  Make sure you get enough sleep.  One week I was exercising, drinking water, eating right, not eating too much, but I was still staying about 2 pounds higher than where I started the week.  Finally, my husband took over for me so I could take a long 4-hour nap, then a full night's rest.  In the morning I'd lost ALL the extra weight.

2.  Drink water before you go to bed and when you wake up.  If you don't like the "full bladder" feeling while sleeping, don't drink too much, but keep in mind how much you dehydrate during the night.  That's a long time your body is going without water, and it's doing a whole lot of building and metabolizing over that time, which all requires water.

3.  Eat no later than 3 hours before going to sleep, and try to avoid carbs up to 6 hours before going to bed.  Your metabolism slows down at the end of the day, so it doesn't need as many calories.  You want to try to basically be done digesting the food by the time you go to sleep.  If you get hungry during those three hours, drink some water--it's a good time to get about 1/3 of your daily intake of water in.    An over-full tummy also leads to worse sleep, and makes you fuller in the morning when you should be starting your metabolism back up with a healthy breakfast.  If you are hungry in the morning, it will help you set your meal schedule where it should be.

4.  Lift weights!  Increased muscle mass will help you burn more while you sleep.  Also, although there are mixed opinions about it, I find that a workout an hour or two before I go to bed revs my metabolism just that much more and helps me weigh less the next day. Might be something to try on Thursday nights. . .

Here are several other studies and opinions about sleep:

A full night of undisturbed sleep not only leaves you feeling energized for a new day, but it helps your body metabolize your food much more efficiently. When your body is in the resting state during sleep, it actually works much harder to process energy and burn calories than if you were to sit on the sofa watching the television.

This is because your bodies repair and renew our depleted muscles, joints and other body parts in your sleep. This renewing process needs fuel to regenerate lean muscle mass and the body tissues. In a smooth and successful repairing process, certain amount of fat stores will be burn to run this process. In other words, this repairing process will burn calories.

So, how many calories do you burn in your sleep? Well, an average person can burn off over 50 calories while sleeping. And, you can accelerate this calories burning process significantly by taking some simple steps and training your body to burn fat while you sleep.

(reference: Susie, 2loseweightfast.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-many-calories-burn-while-sleeping.html)

Step 1

To burn more calories while sleeping, take up weight lifting during the day. One pound of muscle burns on average about 50 calories per one day and night, while one pound of fat burns only nine calories. By starting a weight lifting program and increasing muscle mass, you will be sure to burn more calories in your sleep.

Step 2

Burn more calories at night by turning down the heater. Our bodies use more energy to keep warm. By turning down your heater at night, you will be turning up your body's metabolic rate, which will burn more calories to keep you warm.

Step 3

Avoid carbohydrates for at least six hours before bed. When the body is low on carbohydrates, it starts using calories to burn fat for energy. If there are no carbohydrates in your system before bedtime, your body will burn more calories to burn fat for energy.

Step 4

Sleep for more than seven hours to burn more calories at night. Getting more sleep will not only help you burn more calories at night, it will also help keep your metabolic rate higher during the day burning even more calories.

Step 5

Make sure to meditate and relax before going to sleep. Relaxing causes cortisol levels to drop, which will in turn help your body burn more calories.

(reference: CM Herold, http://www.ehow.com/how_4938219_burn-calories-sleeping.html)
A lack of zzzzs can affect your ability to lose weight.
By Michael Breus, PhD
Thursday, May 08, 2003

To lose weight seems to be the number one resolution each new year. However, nearly 90% of these resolutions meet with either little or no success. Some people even gain weight instead. Most people never know there may be a very simple reason why: They don't sleep well.

Studies published in The Journal of the American Medical Association and The Lancet suggest that sleep loss may increase hunger and affect the body's metabolism, which may make it more difficult to maintain or lose weight.

Sleep loss:

-Makes you feel hungry even if you are full. Sleep loss has been shown to affect the secretion of cortisol, a hormone that regulates appetite. As a result, individuals who lose sleep may continue to feel hungry despite adequate food intake (Note: could have been [Tommy] Dorsey's problem since he was known to overeat and suffer from insomnia).

-Increases fat storage. Sleep loss may interfere with the body's ability to metabolize carbohydrates, which leads to high levels of blood sugar.

-Excess blood sugar promotes the overproduction of insulin, which can lead to the storage of body fat and insulin resistance, a critical step into the development of diabetes.

It is also important to realize that the quality of sleep (that is, getting the right amount of "deep sleep") is just as important as the quantity of sleep. For example, decreased amounts of restorative deep or slow-wave sleep have been associated with significantly reduced levels of growth hormone, a protein that helps regulate the body's proportions of fat and muscle during adulthood.

Sleep Tips to Help You Shape Up

Specialists recommend that people who vow to lose weight should adjust their sleep habits as well as their eating habits. The following are useful tips to help shape up.

***-Don't go to bed feeling hungry, but don't eat a big meal right before bedtime.***

-Exercise regularly, but no sooner than three hours before bedtime.
-Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol in the late afternoon and evening.
-If you have trouble sleeping for more than a few weeks, or if sleep problems interfere with daily functioning, speak with your doctor.