If You Don't Sleep, You Won't Lose Weight

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I heard on this morning about another study that found that if you get less than 5 hours of sleep every/most nights, you are at a much greater risk of developing diabetes and gaining weight. Apparently, you require a decent amount of sleep in order to properly develop/balance your insulin levels.

Here is a rather brainy report on various studies.

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/29/3/657.long

Discuss.
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Replies

  • Off10h8ed
    Off10h8ed Posts: 282 Member
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    I generally get about 3-4 hours sleep each night with the occasional nap here and there, during the week.
    On weekends, I generally get about 8-10 hours sleep. Maybe mine is averaging out. I don't sleep much during the week. I don't have the time!


    BTW... I have been doing this for years and get my sugar levels checked every year and I am at a normal level.
    My thyroid on the other hand... well... I messed that up years ago.

    Edited to add to. :)
  • Off10h8ed
    Off10h8ed Posts: 282 Member
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    From what I am understanding from the article... Only 7-8 hours is the correct amount.
    Anything more or less increases your chances for diabetes. That is pretty restrictive. I would think that since everybody is different and out bodies act and react differently that each individual would be different. :/
  • x_JT_x
    x_JT_x Posts: 364
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    I haven't read the article but I have found in the past that lack of sleep definitely affects my weight loss. As Robert Ludlum was fond of saying "Sleep is a weapon."
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    I generally get about 3-4 hours sleep each night with the occasional nap here and there, during the week.
    On weekends, I generally get about 8-10 hours sleep. Maybe mine is averaging out. I don't sleep much during the week. I don't have the time!


    BTW... I have been doing this for years and get my sugar levels checked every year and I am at a normal level.
    My thyroid on the other hand... well... I messed that up years ago.

    Edited to add to. :)

    It's not set in stone that you will get diabetes, simply from not getting enough sleep every night, but I believe the study meant *every* night, so a good, long night on weekends may make up for bad weekday nights. It simply linked lack of sleep with diabetes. What will happen to one person won't necessarily happen to someone else.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    From what I am understanding from the article... Only 7-8 hours is the correct amount.
    Anything more or less increases your chances for diabetes. That is pretty restrictive. I would think that since everybody is different and out bodies act and react differently that each individual would be different. :/

    I agree. I function best on 9 hours/night. I usually only get 8 on weekdays, but weekends I often get 9+.
  • Deipneus
    Deipneus Posts: 1,862 Member
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    I'm always skeptical of whatever study is in the news at the moment, but it's hard to argue against getting a good night's sleep. From just personal observation, it carries a lot more benefits than just weight control. It helps our ability to think clearly.
  • FemininGuns
    FemininGuns Posts: 605 Member
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    In my experience "sleep is a weapon" also!

    When I train, I need GOOD SLEEP to recover. That for me is at least 8hrs. When I did get my 8hrs a night, I would lose fat much faster than I do now (sleeping bouts of 4-6hrs - waking for baby feedings).
  • FeebRyan
    FeebRyan Posts: 738 Member
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    nonsense. I barely get 5hrs of sleep each night, all interrupted with toddler ill or baby needing feeding or so on.

    This is normal for many people for many years.

    Generally speaking, evolution knows what its talking about and would not have created a situation that was so harmful for us.
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,650 Member
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    I had heard that your body produces HGH when you are sleeping, so if you don't get enough sleep, it will produce less HGH and thus your metabolism will slow down and other problems will occur. I have no scientific evidence to back this up, but I could probably google it and find something on it. But am too lazy to do that right now. :wink:
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    nonsense. I barely get 5hrs of sleep each night, all interrupted with toddler ill or baby needing feeding or so on.

    This is normal for many people for many years.

    Generally speaking, evolution knows what its talking about and would not have created a situation that was so harmful for us.

    Find us 3+ credible sources to back up your argument, and I will consider debating the facts with you.
  • RosscoBoscko
    RosscoBoscko Posts: 632 Member
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    Have been struggling with sleep for the last year or more and have lost 32 pounds this year so would like to know what I'd have lost if this has been slowing my weight loss. use a fitbit to track sleep and last nights came out at 47% efficiency which is quite high for me. just under 3 hours actual sleep. Same or less most days weekends included. Almost used to it now. would love more / better sleep but doesnt happen.
  • Jamie_Lauren
    Jamie_Lauren Posts: 211 Member
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    I can vouch for this!

    I used to be a terrible insomniac. I'm the kind of person who can't turn my brain off when I go to sleep, and I can be wide awake as soon as my head hits the pillow. I was also very overweight, and the insomnia didn't help that as I constantly craved sugar and high calorie foods because I was tired!

    Since I changed my diet and started exercising regularly, my insomnia has pretty much disappeared :drinker:

    Sleep has become so important to my routine since I started losing weight, and I have found that when I have "bad spells" it definitely affects my progress.
  • Andrea3030
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    "nonsense. I barely get 5hrs of sleep each night, all interrupted with toddler ill or baby needing feeding or so on. "



    This is for a very short period over the course of a lifetime. My kids are 4 and 2 and I'm already back to 7-9 hours uninterrupted sleep per night.

    I believe adequate sleep is just as important as a healthy diet amd exercise.
  • FeebRyan
    FeebRyan Posts: 738 Member
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    Find us 3+ credible sources to back up your argument, and I will consider debating the facts with you.

    Tempting, but, I have two young children and far far better things to do.

    We are not having a science lesson, folk can have an opinion without having to back things up and certainly without having to prove such things to the likes of you.
  • escloflowneCHANGED
    escloflowneCHANGED Posts: 3,038 Member
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    Only a sith deals in absolutes
  • ZombieChaser
    ZombieChaser Posts: 1,555 Member
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    Only a sith deal in absolutes

    /endthread
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    Find us 3+ credible sources to back up your argument, and I will consider debating the facts with you.

    Tempting, but, I have two young children and far far better things to do.

    We are not having a science lesson, folk can have an opinion without having to back things up and certainly without having to prove such things to the likes of you.

    "There are two kinds of fools: those who can't change their opinions and those who won't."

    Josh Billings

    I'm not asking you to argue it with me, but to try to convince people that 20+ studies are completely false simply because you have some children is like bringing a knife to a gun fight. I don't care what your opinion is, but if you want to make an argument in a public forum, bring a bit more than just what you believe in. Bring some factual evidence.
  • FeebRyan
    FeebRyan Posts: 738 Member
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    Find us 3+ credible sources to back up your argument, and I will consider debating the facts with you.

    Tempting, but, I have two young children and far far better things to do.

    We are not having a science lesson, folk can have an opinion without having to back things up and certainly without having to prove such things to the likes of you.

    "There are two kinds of fools: those who can't change their opinions and those who won't."

    Josh Billings

    I'm not asking you to argue it with me, but to try to convince people that 20+ studies are completely false simply because you have some children is like bringing a knife to a gun fight. I don't care what your opinion is, but if you want to make an argument in a public forum, bring a bit more than just what you believe in. Bring some factual evidence.

    I'm not trying to convince anyone else of anything. You have your opinion, I have mine. You not sharing my opinion is really not my concern, unsure why me not sharing your opinion is of such concern to you really.

    I couldnt give a toss whether you get 8 minutes or 8 hours sleep a night, fact is, babies and young children wake frequently in the night and it is natural for humans to have babies and young children for extended periods of adult hood, therefore according to the great big study known as EVOLUTION I deem these 'new facts' to be untrue.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    Considering the report was based on men, and not women, I don't see how your point is relative. Men don't wake up in the middle of the night to deal with children. We usually sleep right through it.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,135 Member
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    I didn't read everything because scientific papers make my brain bleed. What I did read, and I probably missed something, is the study was done in an open fashion rather than a closed lab study; the chosen men were only contacted 3 times between 1987-2004 for info and blood samples. Also, the study didn't eliminate other factors that could contribute to diabetes development. For me, not having a "clean" study group (such as no health probs, no drinking, no smoking, no familial predisposition to diabetes, no eating disorders) and not keeping the group in a controlled environment casts plenty of doubt on the absolute of no sleep = diabetes/weight gain.

    Uninterrupted sleep is good for health, yes, but there are too many variables that either weren't removed or accounted for to make such an absolute statement.