about sleeping

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Hello everyone i just wanna ask about sleeping. ..does not getting enough sleep affect my weight and fat loss? ? Even tho i eat right and exercise well
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  • ragenhay1
    ragenhay1 Posts: 158 Member
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    I've heard it can but I am doing fine despite only getting about 4-6 hours a night because I have a three month old who wakes every two to three hours to eat.
  • lmrudnick
    lmrudnick Posts: 40 Member
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    When I have a hard time sleeping I take melatonin
  • Protranser
    Protranser Posts: 517 Member
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    There are some posts that discuss this, sorry i have no links. Sleep affects ghrelin and cortisol, hormones which can fluctuate weight and affect hunger signals, masking your weight loss or causing water retention. General consensus is to aim for ~8 hrs of sleep a day, but that's a subjective number.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    I have heard that it can disrupt hormone balance which may influence weight loss. I don't recall the specifics, something about the stress levels the body experiences. Hopefully someone with more detailed information can explain it. It is ideal to get enough rest for more reasons than weight loss.
  • mtbdcl
    mtbdcl Posts: 15 Member
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    Thanks and i understand that i should get enough sleep the problem is the stress i have bcoz of college it kinda makes it hard for me to sleep so many times
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    Extra sleep won't help you lose faster if you aren't eating at a deficit.
  • Jmgkamp
    Jmgkamp Posts: 278 Member
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    Weight has effected my overall loss pattern, but not the loss itself. I bounce around a lot more now that I'm sleeping less (job change). If you look at my graph I have huge spikes (4-5 pounds up sometimes) but I'm still losing about 4-5 each month.

    I'm ~ 75 down with 10 or so to go.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Not sleeping well can make it harder to stick to a deficit (affects will power, you may feel hungrier), and may have some effects on hormones that affect weight loss, but probably not a significant effect for most.

    I habitually sleep too little and it didn't seem to matter to my rate of weight loss, but I have found that if I let myself get really sleep deprived it seriously hurts motivation. It's better for you to get adequate sleep, too, and will likely help you deal with stress better.
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
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    They say it does, but I haven't met a mom yet who doesn't have the same issue. My kids are grown, and I STILL only get 4-6 hours a nite, my body is so used to the broken sleep. Good luck, do the best you can, it's all we can do. If you can find ways to increase your sleep hours by one or two, that will probably do a lot for your emotional wellbeing, like Lemurcat12 says above xo
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
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  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,757 Member
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    I am a terrible sleeper, very rare that I get more than 6 hours. I lost weight fine, pretty consistently and still make muscle gains at age 48 despite sleeping horribly most nights.
    Cant compare it to my clone who sleeps well though :(
  • ald783
    ald783 Posts: 688 Member
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    Getting enough sleep is just good for your body and health in general, but it's not like a lack of sleep makes it impossible to lose weight. When I don't get enough sleep I eat a lot more junk and my workouts are a lot more lackluster, so I think sleep contributes to weight loss even if it's not the primary factor.
  • MVY_
    MVY_ Posts: 253 Member
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    Yes it does...I have a 2 month old so I am still waking up in the middle of the night but I have found that I am exhausted by 7 and I usually fall asleep after the kids are in bed. I don't wake up until 5:30 am when I need to roll out of bed to work out.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,670 Member
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    You BURN the most fat sleeping. If one lacks getting enough sleep to get into REM, then GH balance is disrupted and GH is needed to help burn fat. Believe it or not, one burns more fat sleeping 8 hours than if they did an 1 to 1 1/2 hours of cardio. Why? Because fat is the primary source of energy when the body is at rest.
    Of course none of that will matter if one isn't in a calorie deficit to lose weight though.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png
  • superhockeymom
    superhockeymom Posts: 2,000 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    You BURN the most fat sleeping. If one lacks getting enough sleep to get into REM, then GH balance is disrupted and GH is needed to help burn fat. Believe it or not, one burns more fat sleeping 8 hours than if they did an 1 to 1 1/2 hours of cardio. Why? Because fat is the primary source of energy when the body is at rest.
    Of course none of that will matter if one isn't in a calorie deficit to lose weight though.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png


    Really?
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,670 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    You BURN the most fat sleeping. If one lacks getting enough sleep to get into REM, then GH balance is disrupted and GH is needed to help burn fat. Believe it or not, one burns more fat sleeping 8 hours than if they did an 1 to 1 1/2 hours of cardio. Why? Because fat is the primary source of energy when the body is at rest.
    Of course none of that will matter if one isn't in a calorie deficit to lose weight though.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png


    Really?
    Yep. Any physical activity will burn glycogen first. One would have to be doing 20 or more minutes of steady state cardio before a mixture of fat starts to get burned and that percentage from one's overall workout would be small.
    That's why it's a myth when people say to focus on cardio to burn fat. Cardio burns calories in higher ratio per duration than other exercises (dependent on intensity of course) which helps with CALORIE DEFICIT, but fat is primary fuel source for the body at rest. Truth.
    That's why I discourage my clients from having alcohol before bed. Alcohol before bed would inhibit fat burning because until it's metabolized out of the body, alcohol will be the primary source of energy.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

  • ncfitbit
    ncfitbit Posts: 1,058 Member
    edited November 2015
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    You BURN the most fat sleeping. If one lacks getting enough sleep to get into REM, then GH balance is disrupted and GH is needed to help burn fat. Believe it or not, one burns more fat sleeping 8 hours than if they did an 1 to 1 1/2 hours of cardio. Why? Because fat is the primary source of energy when the body is at rest.
    Of course none of that will matter if one isn't in a calorie deficit to lose weight though.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    OMG, love this. I do try to get as much sleep as possible because I just feel better and it's easier to stick with eating and exercise goals the next day, but this is the piece of information that will encourage me to turn off the computer and hit the sack earlier from now on!
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
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    Sleep is so important for health. Now, if you can stay in a caloric deficit you will lose weight regardless of your sleep. I lost the 50 lbs with relatively poor sleep. But sleep is the foundation for having positive mood, effective bodily self-regulatory cycles, energy, motivation, willpower, and heart health...

    What's getting in the way of having enough sleep?
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    If I don't get enough sleep it sends hunger cues when I know I'm not hungry, because my body is looking for a source of energy. It very hard for me to stay on a deficit and be sleep deprived. My understanding is, if you can stay on a deficit you will still lose weight.
  • CountessOCandy
    CountessOCandy Posts: 17 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    You BURN the most fat sleeping. If one lacks getting enough sleep to get into REM, then GH balance is disrupted and GH is needed to help burn fat. Believe it or not, one burns more fat sleeping 8 hours than if they did an 1 to 1 1/2 hours of cardio. Why? Because fat is the primary source of energy when the body is at rest.
    Of course none of that will matter if one isn't in a calorie deficit to lose weight though.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png


    Really?
    Yep. Any physical activity will burn glycogen first. One would have to be doing 20 or more minutes of steady state cardio before a mixture of fat starts to get burned and that percentage from one's overall workout would be small.
    That's why it's a myth when people say to focus on cardio to burn fat. Cardio burns calories in higher ratio per duration than other exercises (dependent on intensity of course) which helps with CALORIE DEFICIT, but fat is primary fuel source for the body at rest. Truth.
    That's why I discourage my clients from having alcohol before bed. Alcohol before bed would inhibit fat burning because until it's metabolized out of the body, alcohol will be the primary source of energy.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    So is this why they say not to eat 3 hours before bedtime? Or is that just another dieting myth?