Insomnia

quietlywinning

They say to get a full nights sleep in order to lose weight - that not getting enough rest piles on weight. Is there research backing this up, or have they just found a correlation between people who don't consistently sleep enough and who weigh too much? Is it that not being rested makes it harder to exercise?

I have insomnia - frequently! I'm afraid that is going to be a big problem for my weight loss efforts. I have noticed that I had a "might as well eat" attitude late at night, but have learned to either save up calories during the day for that and then make healthy choices like watermelon for my late-night snacks, or to ignore the cravings and drink more water. But have any of you lost weight while in a stretch of not being able to sleep much?

AmberBarrios

I suffered from severe insomnia for years. When I started my journey the only time I could find to be able to workout was late at night, like around 8 or 9pm. Amazingly this helped with the insomnia. I used to always have to have the TV on in order to fall asleep because it would drowned out all the sounds that would keep me awake wondering what it was. Now I can't fall asleep if the TV is on.

Some people can't workout at night because they get that rush that keeps them awake, but it works totally opposite for me.

I wish you luck. Insomnia is a horrible thing and unless you have suffered from it you can't understand. Keep pushing on you will figure out how to make it work for you!

milaxx

I've been told this by both my doctor and the naturalpath I see so I believe it is true. Fortunately I'm not a late night snacker and my insomnia has gotten a bit better since I am working out more. (3-4 times a week). Eating watermelon instead of other heavier snacks is good, perhaps you could come up with a few non food related things to do when the insomnia hits.

Also redefine full night's sleep for yourself. My doctor says a minimum of 5 hours sleep allows us to function well. If I can get close to that I am happy. I average between 4 -5 hours uninterrupted sleep a night. I consider anything over 5 hours gravy.

ChantalD75

I have just recently found myself with insomnia... I was told it's because I have started to workout. But then I am tired all day but can't for the life of me fall asleep at night and some nights I am up every hour... I would love a solution to this!!

nananie2

It has to do with serotonine and dopamine secretion...
Here's an article that explains it fairly well :
http://www.nursetogether.com/Life/LifestyleArticles/LifestyleArticle/tabid/100/itemId/1042/Shift-Workers-Sleep-Deprivation-and-Weight-Gain.aspx

I've always been a poor sleeper... It really does have an influence on everything in your life!
It is possible though... I find that the more I exercise, the better I sleep. So it's a win-win situation, really. :-)

quietlywinning

Thank you. I'll try later exercise times.

milaxx

I suffered from severe insomnia for years. When I started my journey the only time I could find to be able to workout was late at night, like around 8 or 9pm. Amazingly this helped with the insomnia. I used to always have to have the TV on in order to fall asleep because it would drowned out all the sounds that would keep me awake wondering what it was. Now I can't fall asleep if the TV is on.

Some people can't workout at night because they get that rush that keeps them awake, but it works totally opposite for me.

I wish you luck. Insomnia is a horrible thing and unless you have suffered from it you can't understand. Keep pushing on you will figure out how to make it work for you!

Wow! Exercise late at night would keep me woke. I always get a second wind around 10pm. Working out would perk me up and I'd never sleep.