Sleeping as a stallbreaker

obscuremusicreference

I was talking to my friend about how I've only lost half a pound in almost two weeks (I'm fine with this because I get that weight loss isn't linear, I've eaten near maintenance three days, and I've lost inches during this time) and she suggested that I sleep more, because that helped her break a plateau.

So I ask this: Is that a common experience? Did anyone else shift more weight after changing their sleeping habits? I read a little bit about how sleep affects weight loss, but I'd like to hear anecdotes.

DebTavares

Hmm. Well I've read that if you don't get enough sleep your body craves carbs and you end up overeating. Not sure how valid that is. I do know that if I don't sleep enough it makes it much harder to get some exercise in.

Holla4mom

Are you getting very little sleep? I am a chronic insomniac. I only get 5-6 hours on search.

obscuremusicreference

Holla4mom wrote: »

Are you getting very little sleep? I am a chronic insomniac. I only get 5-6 hours on search.

I'm getting about 5-6 hours, with a couple of interruptions in the night. This hasn't hindered me to date, but when she said that, it made me wonder.

cheshirecatastrophe

I, for one, tend to eat more when I'm awake.

(YMMV with Ambien.)

obscuremusicreference

cheshirecatastrophe wrote: »

I, for one, tend to eat more when I'm awake.

(YMMV with Ambien.)

hahahaha

Dragn77

The major thing that helps me when I sleep more, is that I can't eat when I'm unconscious lol! Well, sounds funny, but its true.

I do know that during sleep is when the body works on repairing itself..less sleep, less time for the body to do its daily maintenance for overall well being, which can affect weight. So yeah, it's two fold.

I have insomnia..meds dont work at all for me (I get anxious waiting for them to work, and end up not getting any sleep at all) but meditation works like a charm for me. I do them throughout the day though, not just at night. That way Im way more relaxed by evening, and I get a deeper sleep too. The most I get is 6 hours, but thats actually huge progress over where I started from.

Oh almost forgot to answer your question...indeed.. when I was at my worst (going days without sleep, only able to sleep 3 or 4 hrs at a time) is when I put on all this weight. And now that Im seriously focused on losing the weight, I do notice..when I am up all night or barely sleep, my weight does not shift at all, and usually goes up. But when I do get my sleep, my weight goes down, even if by a few ounces. (I weigh everyday btw).

Holla4mom

obscuremusicreference wrote: »

Holla4mom wrote: »

Are you getting very little sleep? I am a chronic insomniac. I only get 5-6 hours on search.

I'm getting about 5-6 hours, with a couple of interruptions in the night. This hasn't hindered me to date, but when she said that, it made me wonder.

Do you lie down and rest for longer than that though? I lie down for 7-8 hours like a normal person, but unfortunately I'm just not sleep all that time. I do take something to help me sleep (not a sleeping pill but it helps). It wouldn't hurt to try to get more sleep if you can. If there's a physical reason you can't then see your doctor.

SideSteel

This is actually an interesting topic.

Sleep isn't going to just suddenly start causing you to lose fat, however I find with myself and the majority of my clients, that building better sleep habits tends to have a cumulative effect on progress.

Lacking sleep, you MAY find your cravings to increase, and you'll very likely have a diminished ability to exert willpower. This can be a nasty double-whammy so to speak because now you're in a position where you might be craving that bag of potato chips or that brownie and you'll be more likely to say screw it and eat the brownie rather than not. (Note for clarity -- I'm not saying you can never have brownies).


Then on top of this you'll probably have much less productive workouts and you're probably not going to feel good about yourself specifically because of lack of sleep.

So a bunch of things happen that make things tougher and then you also have more negative feelings about those things and about yourself.

I'm rambling.

obscuremusicreference

Holla4mom wrote: »

obscuremusicreference wrote: »

Holla4mom wrote: »

Are you getting very little sleep? I am a chronic insomniac. I only get 5-6 hours on search.

I'm getting about 5-6 hours, with a couple of interruptions in the night. This hasn't hindered me to date, but when she said that, it made me wonder.

Do you lie down and rest for longer than that though? I lie down for 7-8 hours like a normal person, but unfortunately I'm just not sleep all that time. I do take something to help me sleep (not a sleeping pill but it helps). It wouldn't hurt to try to get more sleep if you can. If there's a physical reason you can't then see your doctor.

I really don't get in bed unless I'm ready to drop. I'm not especially concerned about my lack of sleep, so much as wondering if other people noticed a change in their rate of loss after they started sleeping more.

obscuremusicreference

SideSteel wrote: »

This is actually an interesting topic.

Sleep isn't going to just suddenly start causing you to lose fat, however I find with myself and the majority of my clients, that building better sleep habits tends to have a cumulative effect on progress.

Lacking sleep, you MAY find your cravings to increase, and you'll very likely have a diminished ability to exert willpower. This can be a nasty double-whammy so to speak because now you're in a position where you might be craving that bag of potato chips or that brownie and you'll be more likely to say screw it and eat the brownie rather than not. (Note for clarity -- I'm not saying you can never have brownies).


Then on top of this you'll probably have much less productive workouts and you're probably not going to feel good about yourself specifically because of lack of sleep.

So a bunch of things happen that make things tougher and then you also have more negative feelings about those things and about yourself.

I'm rambling.

No, I think you're right--when I sleep less than I usually do, all of those things happen! And it does make sense that better sleep would have a cumulative effect, but my friend acted like it was a sudden change that led to her losing weight again (I would assume a woosh if that happened to me, but I'm grasping at straws here.)

SideSteel

Going way out on a limb, cortisol can do funky things with water retention and you might be able to make some sort of an argument about lowering stress causing a drop in water weight but I'd bet that it's not some sort of magic fat-loss solution.

That being said I do think sleep is important for what I wrote earlier.

TheLittleFangs

I have insomnia that even medication doesn't touch and frequently am awake for stretches of 48 hours plus when I do sleep it is typically under 3 hours. My weight is fairly consistent, I lose but slowly. My sleep is linked to another condition but I found your stories interesting. I hope you get rest all of you

obscuremusicreference

TheLittleFangs wrote: »

I have insomnia that even medication doesn't touch and frequently am awake for stretches of 48 hours plus when I do sleep it is typically under 3 hours. My weight is fairly consistent, I lose but slowly. My sleep is linked to another condition but I found your stories interesting. I hope you get rest all of you

Oooh, I feel for you. I hope you're able to get rest soon!

SideSteel--that's might have been what happened to her, no real way to tell at this point. And then it's possible that she simply tightened up on her diet. I had never heard of it helping with weight loss in the way she described so I wanted to see if it was a thing.