Sleep

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Derekok
Derekok Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Does anyone have any information on the effect sleep (or lack of it ) has on weight loss ?

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  • Emmapatterson1729
    Emmapatterson1729 Posts: 1,296 Member
    edited August 2019
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    I don't, but I have seen other longer threads on the subject recently.

    Could search keyword sleep on MFP and it might pull up the other threads.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    expert scientific information? nope.

    but i sleep horribly (i might average 5 hours of actual sleep a night and its disrupted at that) and lost 130 pounds, for what its worth.
  • Terytha
    Terytha Posts: 2,097 Member
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    When I don't sleep well my weight hovers or goes up. When I do sleep well it drops abruptly.

    I have concluded that being tired causes my water retention to increase.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    edited August 2019
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    Derekok wrote: »
    Does anyone have any information on the effect sleep (or lack of it ) has on weight loss ?

    I've seen articles suggesting that lack of adequate sleep can affect your appetite and satiety hormones, but I don't remember how much research was behind that.

    I'd assume that when you are tired, your body craves more calories to try to get some extra energy. And I'd also assume that when you are tired, you are less active throughout the day and give less effort to any workout you do, lowering you CO.

    I also make lousy decisions when I'm tired.

    A quick search suggests that there actually have been quite a few studies but many of them are focused on certain age groups and often only correlate to conditions such as sleep apnea.

    Here is a generic study I found that looked at a large sample of men and women ages 51-72 over 7.5 years. It generally found that less sleep is correlated with more weight gain. https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/178/11/1600/83147

    As others have said, the more tired I am the more likely I am to overeat through the day due to a combination of lack of willpower and trying to get an energy boost from more food/caloric drinks.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    I recall the explanation is that Lack of sleep increases cortisol which causes water retention and slight slowdown of fat loss. But it doesn’t prevent weight loss if you’re in a proper calorie deficit. Sorry but I don’t have any articles handy at the moment.
  • Hannahwalksfar
    Hannahwalksfar Posts: 572 Member
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    I think it’s a very individual thing, hence the loads of evidence that is purely anecdotal. Some bodies respond differently to lack of sleep than others. I know that if I don’t get adequate sleep I retain water weight more than if I get proper sleep. I also feel like crud and don’t exercise like I do on days I sleep well.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    The other thing is that fatigue from lack of sleep might make you want to eat more as your body searches for energy.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
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    I'm sure there is research on it out there somewhere, otherwise people wouldn't be banging on about how important it is to sleep.

    For me personally, if I don't sleep enough and am tired the next day, it makes it harder for me to stick to lower calorie goals because when I'm tired, I don't know, I get "hungry" - or I get the desire to eat. Possibly it's a thing like "if I eat this chocolate cake I will have more energy to function".

    BUT - i'm one of those people who NEED sleep. Like I NEED MINIMUM 7.5 hrs per night. MINIMUM. That's actually not even good. 8 solid hours, preferably 8.5-9 hours.

    I do not function on any less than 7 hours.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,070 Member
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    I know that sleep deficiencies are not universal weight loss doom. How do I know it? I've had sleep interruption insomnia for nearly 20 years now, and still have it despite trying everything. Everything. But in 2015 I lost weight anyway, and have stayed at a healthy weight since.

    I totally believe that getting enough sleep would make weight loss - and darned near everything else - easier, though.
  • lalalacroix
    lalalacroix Posts: 834 Member
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    My anecdotal response is that my sleep has been *kitten* this week and I want to eat all zee foods!

    I'm taking diphenhydramine tonight and will sleep finally like a dead person. And tomorrow I won't want to eat my arm off.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    Calories only affect weight loss.

    A night of near or total sleeplessness does tend to make me hungrier the next day. After 48 hours of no sleep my hunger returns to normal. The most I have ever gone is just shy of 4 full days. I fell asleep around 5am of the 4th day making it something like 94 hours.
  • MoKaaz
    MoKaaz Posts: 162 Member
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    I am not sure really. Personally I have insomnia and am pretty much always sleep-deprived, I still have consistent weight loss as long as I stick in my caloric limit. I believe the idea of "sleeplessness = weight gain" is because you are awake longer giving you more time to over-eat.
  • Emmapatterson1729
    Emmapatterson1729 Posts: 1,296 Member
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    MoKaaz wrote: »
    I am not sure really. Personally I have insomnia and am pretty much always sleep-deprived, I still have consistent weight loss as long as I stick in my caloric limit. I believe the idea of "sleeplessness = weight gain" is because you are awake longer giving you more time to over-eat.

    Same, I have an adrenaline disorder. I get around 4-5 hours a night, but wake feeling fully rested. But, I don't tend to eat an extra meal or extra snacks just because I'm awake longer.

    I've run like this for years.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    From what I've seen the biggest problem is that when you're tired it's much harder to resist overeating.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
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    lorrpb wrote: »
    I recall the explanation is that Lack of sleep increases cortisol which causes water retention and slight slowdown of fat loss. But it doesn’t prevent weight loss if you’re in a proper calorie deficit. Sorry but I don’t have any articles handy at the moment.

    There is that but I also learned that lack of sleep can also affect other hormones, including ghrelin and leptin which both impact on your hunger levels. Therefore the less you sleep the hungrier you can become. Lack of sleep also leads to fatigue which can also lead to less physical activity and a greater chance of grabbing quick and easy food which is calorie-dense but not satiating nor nutritious. While is still all boils down to calories in versus calories out it is much harder to achieve that balance when you are sleep deprived.
  • elitesportsdude
    elitesportsdude Posts: 17 Member
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    I believe less sleep can potentially increase cortisol levels which will lead to weight increase so a slack of sleep can effect weight in general
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
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    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    lorrpb wrote: »
    I recall the explanation is that Lack of sleep increases cortisol which causes water retention and slight slowdown of fat loss. But it doesn’t prevent weight loss if you’re in a proper calorie deficit. Sorry but I don’t have any articles handy at the moment.

    There is that but I also learned that lack of sleep can also affect other hormones, including ghrelin and leptin which both impact on your hunger levels. Therefore the less you sleep the hungrier you can become. Lack of sleep also leads to fatigue which can also lead to less physical activity and a greater chance of grabbing quick and easy food which is calorie-dense but not satiating nor nutritious. While is still all boils down to calories in versus calories out it is much harder to achieve that balance when you are sleep deprived.

    Yep. Google "sleep ghrelin leptin." There is plenty of evidence, not all anecdotal. I am one of those who feel acutely higher ghrelin (growth hormone stimulates appetite) and lower leptin (satiety hormone) with insufficient sleep. Willpower is no match for these powerful messengers. I do not have noticeable cortisol/water retention effects. My understanding is the effects are all about appetite, not about metabolism (i.e. no impact on fat burning for the same activity level). In other words, you are likely to eat more for higher CI but no independent impact on CO (unless you are just too tired to maintain your normal activity).
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,070 Member
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    elitesportsdude wrote: »
    I believe less sleep can potentially increase cortisol levels which will lead to weight increase so a slack of sleep can effect weight in general

    But what increases directly because of cortisol is water retention, not fat gain. To the extent it's not fat, why stress about it (stress just increases cortisol . . . ! ;) )? The larger concern for fat gain/loss is undersleep affecting appetite and self-discipline; or fatigue affecting activity level/intensity.

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