Obesity and not getting enough sleep

nictew
nictew Posts: 1 Member
I would like to know what is the correlation between sleep and obesity. Why not getting enough sleep can get you fat. How does this work?

Replies

  • MaryFloNS
    MaryFloNS Posts: 19 Member
    For me, if I don't get at least 6 to 8 hours of sleep a night, I will show weight gain. The reason for this, even tho I ate my minimum calories or less, I have retained fluid. For me, fluid buildup is a problem. Now that I am sleeping better the fluid is gone and therefore I can focus on fat burning instead of fight fluid retention. The more sleep you get, the longer you are not eating. It works for me. I started at 272, I am now down to 226 and that is in about14 months.
  • Idontcareyoupick
    Idontcareyoupick Posts: 2,797 Member
    I've seen a lot of articles that talk about how less sleep impacts our decisions and we make worse choices, such as reaching for caffeine and junk to stay awake.
  • paints5555
    paints5555 Posts: 1,228 Member
    There is also a connection between weight and sleep apnea. The heavier a person is, the more likely they will have periods of sleep apnea and then the quality of their sleep is diminished. So the person is more tired during the day and is more likely to make poor food choices. A vicious circle that can be hard to break.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,724 Member
    Another two possible factors:

    1. Poor sleep causes fatigue. Fatigue is a shortage in our energy budget. When we're short on energy in the moment, our body can seek energy, in the form of calories (even when there are enough total calories in our day). That energy seeking manifests subjectively as hunger, appetite, cravings. We eat more. We gain weight.

    2. Poor sleep causes fatigue (yup, repeating). Fatigue makes us rest more, maybe in really subtle ways we don't notice. When we rest more, we move less, since there are only more hours in the day. Instead of window shopping at the mall, we sit on a bench and have that nice mocha latte (double whammy). Instead of making a complicated meal at home (seems like a lot of work), we go through the drive through, grab some fast food. We maybe lose interest in movement-oriented hobbies (playing a musical instrument, dancing, gardening, etc.) and gain interest in sedentary ones (TV, gaming, reading, movies, eating, etc.). If we exercise, maybe we do it less time, or less often, or with less intensity. Even fidgeting can burn up to a couple of hundred calories daily, according to research comparing fidgety people with otherwise similar less-fidgety ones. (Would you notice if you fidgeted less? I wouldn't!)

    Some of this stuff is common sense, when one thinks about it, IMO. Are there more subtle things, hormones, gut microbiome, whatever? Maybe. Maybe even probably. But I think the common sense parts matter, may have a bigger impact. Just guessing, though.
  • mrmota70
    mrmota70 Posts: 523 Member
    If you can be like most folks work at improving your sleeping habits. A lot of case study’s and Drs will point a direct correlation between poor sleeping habits and health.. I wish I could be like most folks. I’m a bit of an outlier in that I’ve gone from being pretty unhealthy weight wise to now being in fairly decent shape over three years. I usually avg 4-6 hrs of sleep and it works for me. I usually run 5ks 4 times a week with a few 4-8 mile jogs as well. So in my case I don’t have low energy. But I can tell you I wish I could sleep longer than what I do now. I work at it and is all part of my evolving lifestyle. I got just under 6 hrs today so feeling good..