age and quality of sleep affect weight loss ?

ipodmama
ipodmama Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
HI, I am going to be 35 in june, and I work night shift. I don't always get a good 8 hours of sleep on days that I work. I usually get around maybe 5 or 6 if lucky. I am trying to lose weight and wondering if maybe I need to do something else now that I am getting older nutrition wise ? and also would my sleep pattern be affecting my weight loss ?
thanks in advance.

Replies

  • JuliaHaleFitness
    JuliaHaleFitness Posts: 56 Member
    Hi there! Sleep absolutely has an affect on weight loss ... for multiple reasons.
    1) Sleep = recovery mode for your body. And rest is absolutely imperative (especially if you work out).
    2) Your body will produce more stress hormones if it doesn't get sleep (aka is stressed out) and stress hormones impede fat loss.
    3) Your body produces HGH (human growth hormone) at optimum levels for adults only when you sleep. HGH is definitely important for weight loss.

    As you get older your metabolism tends to slow down so you will have to adjust what you eat. But 35 is still young so it's not a super worry and you definitely have time to rev it up and make it healthier for when you are older! I don't know what your meals look like now so I can't recommend changing anything but in general, balance it key!
  • 85Cardinals
    85Cardinals Posts: 733 Member
    edited May 2016
    35 you're still pretty golden there, wait till you're 50. Definitely bad sleep can slow you down.
  • lilwhitedove11
    lilwhitedove11 Posts: 5 Member
    thank you juliahalefitness
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    I'll be 35 in September. I had no trouble losing when I was on track. But yes, sleep can play a factor in weight loss.
  • pstegman888
    pstegman888 Posts: 286 Member
    I'm 62 and due to pain issues, rarely sleep more than 5-6 hours - mostly in 1-2 hour increments. I've managed to lose about 35 pounds in a slow but steady progress over almost 10 months. Key for me was to have healthy low-cal snacks planned and prepared so that when I became fatigued, I didn't reach for something sugary or high-carb like donuts or chips to give me a quick boost. Do what you can to improve the quality or quantity of sleep, because it is better for your overall health - but if you stick to your calorie deficit, that will be the main factor in whether you lose or not.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    As one ages metabolism does tend to slow down. From the age of 20 onwards we can lose between 50-100 cals per decade depending on weight and gender.
    We tend to reduce activity as we age, and lose muscle. The two are interrelated so the more active you are the more muscle you retain as you age and the higher your metabolism will stay.

    Test it in your profile or a TDEE calculator. Put your stats in and your age 10 years older and 10 years younger. ( I lost 6 cals in my last birthday in MFP.)

    Get as much sleep as you need. Some people need 6 hr, some 9hr.
    Aa stated above too little can affect your weight loss.

    Cheers, h.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,616 Member
    edited May 2016
    I was 48 in 2015, the year I lost my weight. I thought age might slow the process, but it didn't.

    As for sleep, I work full-time, go to uni part-time, and thus only get an average of about 6 hours of sleep/night during the week (on Friday and Saturday nights, I might get 9 hours), with some weeks, like this one, averaging about 5 hours. And yet, I lost weight ... 26 kg in 8 months. Even last night ... I got 3 hours of sleep, weighed myself this morning and I've dropped 400 grams. :)

    For me, having a set diet which I know is within my calorie limit takes the pressure off. I just eat what I've planned to eat and I know I'm getting enough calories but not too many. Then I can focus on other things.

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