Lack of sleep and weight

Nimue108

I am asking this because my 14 month old has very poor sleep patterns and I wonder if the lack of sleep is causing my weight to fluctuate up some. I stay under my calories most days, but my weight will stay high even on my workout days. Could my sleep be the issue? Thanks.

cappri

The short answer is yes. I've found getting enough sleep to be essential to weight loss. When my body is tired it is harder to make good food choices and I start craving sugar/carbs/caffeine. Not that I'm saying sugar/carbs/caffeine are "bad" I just want to much of them when I'm tired. I need to make sleep as much a priority as working out if I want to see the scale move in the downward direction that I desire. That of course is much, much harder to do with a poor sleeping toddler than with three teenagers who keep their own sleep schedules.

SavvyCake

Oh dear Neptune, YES! Sleep is soooo important to your health, including weight gain and loss. I went for about five years with untreated sleep apnea, just thinking that I was a generally tired person. When it got to the point that I was sleeping 9-10 hours a night, and taking a nap on my 15-minute break at work, then again on my 30-minute lunch, then again on my last 15 break, I began to realize it wasn't normal. During this whole time when my sleep apnea was raging untreated, I gained about 95 pounds. It never had occurred to me that the sleep issues were contributing to my weight problems; the first 20 I blamed my birth control, then with the next 20 pounds I blamed my hypothyroidism. Then eventually it just seemed as if nothing worked; my body just seemed set on gaining. Obviously at this time I wasn't exercising enough, because I was so exhausted all the time anyway, just being up was effort. I tried myriad diet changes to make some sort of dent in the gaining, but nothing worked. Finally when my doctor agreed something was drastically wrong, he sent me for a sleep study and began treating my sleep disorder.

Since getting my sleep problems resolved, I've finally been able to make positive changes in my health. I eat exactly the same as I did during the years of non-stop gaining (actually, I eat more calories now!) but since I have the energy to exercise, and since my body is getting the precious restoring sleep it needs, I've lost 30 pounds so far. I hope to keep the trend going and get into a healthy weight range. People ask me sometimes about my sleep issues, and I maintain that if I hadn't gotten it treated, I feel certain I wouldn't have lived another five years. I was SO exhausted, every second of the day.

Is there any way to get your baby into a better sleep pattern than what you're currently struggling with? Or is it just a baby thing that has to work itself out?

dbchbm

I totally agree that sleep is very important to weight loss; I noticed years ago when I started experiencing insomnia that the weight gain started increasing even more; I'm positive it's related to lack of sleep

tigerlily8045

Yes I found that until my daughter started sleeping through the night at 4 yrs old, I would fuel up on carbs/sugar trying to get energy. Even now when she has a bad night and I am up, i do nothing but crave those horrible things( donuts, candy, cookies, red bull ). I get good sleep consistantly and i have the energy to work out as well as be clear headed to make good decisions.

Mokey41

I'd also look into why your child has such poor sleep patterns. It's not only harming your sleep but the child's as well. Children need good sleep to function and grow properly so finding a solution to the child's issues will help both of you.

SoDamnHungry

There are studies saying people who don't get enough sleep tend to gain weight. Their bodies crave fattier foods the more tired they are. I'd suggest looking up studies.

Nimue108

My daughter has had one thing after another causing her bad sleep. She has had a strring of ear infections and then 2 molars, then ANOTHER ear infection and then the stupid wonder weeks. I have realized that when I have a bad night the first thing I want is Chick Fil A breakfast as a treat (I generally avoid it because I have been tracking long enough to know how many calories that REALLY is). I had jsut noticed recently that when she is up a bunch my weight will jump up a pound even though I know that I haven't eaten enough to cause that. I still exercise regularly even when I get less sleep because it makes me feel better and I have a GREAT support system. Abby and her brother are going to my parent's house this weekend so I hope once they get back that we can start to get her sleeping better. I just wanted to check and make sure I wasn't looking at the wrong place for these random gains. I drink between 8 to 10 cups of water a day so I figured it wasn't water gain, but who knows, lol. Thanks for all the input.

carrieous

absolutely.