Sleep, fitbit and weight correlation

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Recently bought a fitbit surge. one thing it has shown is how little sleep I get. I always knew it wasn't a shining example of 8 hours a night, and some people may need less but I am kinda shocked at how many 5 hour nights sleep I get. I always read weight loss is affected by this.

Any thoughts or experience? I need a better nights sleep, like anything possibly just need to set an alarm to get in bed....

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  • Colorscheme
    Colorscheme Posts: 1,179 Member
    edited January 2016
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    I have a Fitbit Charge and I get about eight and a half hours of sleep. I don't drink caffeine after 1 or 2 pm , and admittedly, I need sleeping pills. My brain won't turn off at night. I take OTC ones from Costco and they work great. No grogginess or anything when I wake up.
  • dettiot
    dettiot Posts: 180 Member
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    One of my resolutions this year was to get more sleep. For me, I'm finding it's helping my weight loss because if I'm not tired, I'm less grouchy and less likely to throw my workout plans out the window if anything goes wrong.

    For the most part, I've gotten nearly seven hours of sleep a night for the last week, and it's already changing my life and making me feel a lot more energetic and committed to my weight loss plans.
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
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    i was surprised at how little sleep i was getting as well. I'm in bed for about 8 hours every night but my fitbit says i get about 4 hours of sleep. >< it was stressing me out so bad i stopped wearing it to bed. lol
  • allison4224
    allison4224 Posts: 80 Member
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    Getting a good night's sleep is definitely beneficial to your health. That being said, sometimes life happens and things just work out so you can't get as much sleep as you need. What to do about that? I don't know. But I will say that not getting enough good sleep for me has NOT hindered my weight loss.
  • jennylj29
    jennylj29 Posts: 4 Member
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    Rdsgoal16 wrote: »
    Recently bought a fitbit surge. one thing it has shown is how little sleep I get. I always knew it wasn't a shining example of 8 hours a night, and some people may need less but I am kinda shocked at how many 5 hour nights sleep I get. I always read weight loss is affected by this.

    Any thoughts or experience? I need a better nights sleep, like anything possibly just need to set an alarm to get in bed....

    I know on my fitbit charge hr i had to change sleep setting from sensitive to normal. If you haven't done this you may try to see how they compare.
  • Chain_Ring
    Chain_Ring Posts: 753 Member
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    Fitbit is *kitten*. Go buy a Garmin, it'll make all other devices look like the toys that they are.
  • Clobern80
    Clobern80 Posts: 714 Member
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    I think one thing that helped me was cutting out caffeine. I still sometimes drink coffee or tea, but for the most part it's just water. I now basically get the amount of sleep I am supposed to as soon as I lie down. I don't toss and turn in bed anymore while my mind races. If I get into bed at 11 and am supposed to wake up at 6, I get pretty much those full 7 hours of sleep.

    As far as affecting weight loss; yes. Your body needs to heal and repair and when you lack sleep it messes everything up.

    Good luck to you.
  • aSearch4Me
    aSearch4Me Posts: 397 Member
    edited January 2016
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    I have a Fitbit Charge HR. But I know from my weight loss journey over the past 6 months, the weeks I consistently get at least 7-8 hours of deep/quality sleep, I lose more weight. If I've got a lot going on, or I let my sleep hygiene lax & only sleep 4-6 hours a night, I lose less weight.

    I have found that the keys for me are: zero caffeinated beverages after 1:00pm. No tv, computer or cell phone 1 hour before bed (minus quick glimpses like setting an alarm clock). I've noticed that the nights I tend to stay on my phone or watch tv right up until bedtime, I have more periods of waking/restlessness per my fitbit, and I feel groggier in the morning. We also keep our bedroom pretty dim right before bed (i.e. only using our nightstand lamps instead of our ceiling lighting).

    ETA: While I know what I NEED to do to get better sleep/better weight loss, ACTUALLY following through with this can be challenging...many weeks I lapse into old habits :smile:
  • Rdsgoal16
    Rdsgoal16 Posts: 302 Member
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    thank you some very good input!
  • ragenhay1
    ragenhay1 Posts: 158 Member
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    I have a five month old baby who still wakes me up every one or two hours at night. I'm lucky if I get three hours in a row and most the time I'm running of of about five hours of sleep. I've still lost 25lbs in the last three months. So for me the lack of sleep isn't affecting my weight loss.
  • DrifterBear
    DrifterBear Posts: 265 Member
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    I've always had difficulty sleeping, but recently have been getting the best sleep of my life. I get up at 440 to workout before work and consistently go to bed by 9. Sunday and Monday nights are usually very difficult to get to sleep, but By Tuesday I'm dead to the world. You have to make yourself tired, I'm learning sleep is something you have to earn. If I sleep in a little, don't workout, or take a nap, I'll have a rough night.