Weight Loss and Insomnia

rutkowsm

Hello! I'm brand new here, so forgive me if this has already been covered in an earlier post. I'm wondering if anyone has any information/experience/knowledge about a correlation between sleep and weight loss. I know that healthy sleeping habits contribute greatly to a healthy lifestyle, so it would make sense to me if there was some sort of link between sleep and weight loss.

I have insomnia, which cycles in its severity. Recently I've found it very difficult to fall asleep (often I'm not able to sleep until 4 or 5AM), so I've been sleeping in until about 11. I feel like this is throwing off my eating for the rest of the day, because I have fewer active hours. I've been tracking my calories for a few weeks now, and I'm usually well under my calorie goal for the day. I stop eating around 10PM. After reading some of the information available on this site, I'm now concerned that I might be "under eating," but by the end of the day, I'm just not that hungry.

I'm just wondering if this kind of skewed schedule could be negatively impacting my weight loss. I'd be grateful for any info or suggestions!

DannyMussels

Depending on your exercise routine, you want ample time for your body to recover. I'd say 6+ hours is a good start. Anything under and youll be short-changing your workouts in the days to come.

RunLiftEat

How many kcals are you taking in per day? Have you tried exercising on a regular basis to help with your insomnia?

rutkowsm

My calorie goal for the day is 1560, but I typically end up eating between 1100 and 1400 (on a good day). I'm currently exercising three times a week (trying to increase that number). There's not usually much of a difference in my sleeping patterns though. But increasing the rigorousness of my work outs might help.

servilia

Interestingly my fastest weight loss happened when I took loooong naps during the day. Some of my friends called them sleeps, not naps, because they'd be 3-4 hours long. I'd literally wake up a lb lighter lol now of course water plays into that but the loss would stick.
Sleep is a great time for your body to recover and heal itself.
There are several links between sleep and weight. One is cortisol. Elevated cortisol is associated with greater difficulty losing weight, especially around the midsection. Stress elevates cortisol production and sleep deprivation results in physiological stress for most people.
Have you seen a doctor about this?

rutkowsm

I did see a doctor about this issue a few years ago. After some blood tests, he concluded that my insomnia was probably due to the fact that my cortisol levels didn't drop throughout the day as they're supposed to. The problem wasn't so severe that he recommended medication or anything like that (I'm not even sure if there is a medication for that particular issue), but he though losing some weight would help and sent me on my merry way.

servilia

hmmm I'm sorry, he seemed a bit dismissive. I did a quick search on google on cortisol and sleep and weight. There is lots of info out there. Sleep, cortisol, weight, insulin and many other hormones (including thyroid stimulating hormone) are all connected. If it's an issue you wish to pursue I would ask to see an endocronologist.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=53304
http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/991202/sleep.shtml

These are just two articles but there is a lot of info out there.

Good luck to you.

lacroyx

I'm just wondering if this kind of skewed schedule could be negatively impacting my weight loss. I'd be grateful for any info or suggestions!

no, I don't think so. I work graveyard hours. I have a very whacked out sechdule when it comes to eating and sleeping. I excercise @ 2am b/c it's what works for me. I get a minimum 6 hrs. of solid sleep every day. all of my weight loss has come while I have been on this sechdule. if you are awake and can't sleep, excercise! I found at times tiring myself out with excercise then taking a nice shower and hitting the bed I got some of my best sleep ever!

rutkowsm

Thanks to everyone for their input. I've not even been on this site for a week, and already I can see that members are incredibly helpful and supportive to one another. I am hugely appreciative for the advice.

I've read the articles servilia posted (and thank you for taking the time to read and post them!), and it looks like the consensus is that exercise is the best method of reducing cortisol levels. It's nice to know that there's something I can actually do about this issue that will assist my weight loss.

Raf702

Hello! I'm brand new here, so forgive me if this has already been covered in an earlier post. I'm wondering if anyone has any information/experience/knowledge about a correlation between sleep and weight loss. I know that healthy sleeping habits contribute greatly to a healthy lifestyle, so it would make sense to me if there was some sort of link between sleep and weight loss.

I have insomnia, which cycles in its severity. Recently I've found it very difficult to fall asleep (often I'm not able to sleep until 4 or 5AM), so I've been sleeping in until about 11. I feel like this is throwing off my eating for the rest of the day, because I have fewer active hours. I've been tracking my calories for a few weeks now, and I'm usually well under my calorie goal for the day. I stop eating around 10PM. After reading some of the information available on this site, I'm now concerned that I might be "under eating," but by the end of the day, I'm just not that hungry.

I'm just wondering if this kind of skewed schedule could be negatively impacting my weight loss. I'd be grateful for any info or suggestions!

If your still consistent with calorie intake and coming in under your daily allowance. Then your not doing any harm to your weight loss. The fact you sleep late or have minimal sleep is hindering any recovery your body needs from any exercises you may have done in the day. How many hours of sleep are you having? Research will say 6+ hours minimum for the average person. But for a person whose moderately to very active I'd say at least 7-8hours of rest, to help rejuvenate the body and recover. As sleep is where recovery takes place, regardless if it's light exercising or even heavy lifting.