Napping... Good or Bad?

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  • frillypantz
    frillypantz Posts: 134
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    Naps are the best! :D
  • RuthieCass
    RuthieCass Posts: 247 Member
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    I don't think napping is necessarily "bad." But it could be a sign of something bad. Are you getting enough, good quality, sleep? Are you eating a healthy, well-portioned lunch (not carb- or sugar-loaded)? If you answered yes to both questions, then I don't see anything wrong with the nap. But I know I only want a nap if I'm lacking sleep (e.g., if I had cr*ppy sleep from drinking the night before). Some people will tell you that it's beneficial to nap since adequate sleep is important for weight loss. However, I am doubtful of this since you are not going to get real quality, deep, sleep from a nap. It's more important to get enough sleep throughout the night than to try to "make it up" with a nap.
  • NOLA_Meg
    NOLA_Meg Posts: 194 Member
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    They are terrible if you've eaten right before as your metabolism will slow down and you'll store it as fat. Also make sure you eat right after waking back up to jump start your metabolism

    False.
  • AmeChops
    AmeChops Posts: 744 Member
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    Wish I could nap - I just wake up feeling groggy and a little angry and remain that way until it's actual time to go to bed. I go through regular bouts of insomnia so naps would be awesome :-((
  • mslack01
    mslack01 Posts: 823 Member
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    sorry...did somebody say something? i was napping
  • NOLA_Meg
    NOLA_Meg Posts: 194 Member
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    I don't think napping is necessarily "bad." But it could be a sign of something bad. Are you getting enough, good quality, sleep? Are you eating a healthy, well-portioned lunch (not carb- or sugar-loaded)? If you answered yes to both questions, then I don't see anything wrong with the nap. But I know I only want a nap if I'm lacking sleep (e.g., if I had cr*ppy sleep from drinking the night before). Some people will tell you that it's beneficial to nap since adequate sleep is important for weight loss. However, I am doubtful of this since you are not going to get real quality, deep, sleep from a nap. It's more important to get enough sleep throughout the night than to try to "make it up" with a nap.

    The benefits of sleep are not all in REM sleep. You can get benefits from a 15-20 minute nap where you are in stage 2- it is good for alertness and motor skills.
  • soygurl
    soygurl Posts: 44 Member
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    Many studies have proven that naps are extremely beneficial in TONs of different ways (if I wasn't on my iPad I'd find some links to back this up). I can't imagine naps harming your weight loss in any way, unless the naps somehow contribute to worse sleep at night, or additional eating or something. :huh:
  • scubachick2287
    scubachick2287 Posts: 57
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    I won't rest until I've lost all the weight. I mean that literally. I have a pantry full of trucker drugs, and I haven't blinked since Feb.

    This made me LOL. :-)
  • RuthieCass
    RuthieCass Posts: 247 Member
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    I don't think napping is necessarily "bad." But it could be a sign of something bad. Are you getting enough, good quality, sleep? Are you eating a healthy, well-portioned lunch (not carb- or sugar-loaded)? If you answered yes to both questions, then I don't see anything wrong with the nap. But I know I only want a nap if I'm lacking sleep (e.g., if I had cr*ppy sleep from drinking the night before). Some people will tell you that it's beneficial to nap since adequate sleep is important for weight loss. However, I am doubtful of this since you are not going to get real quality, deep, sleep from a nap. It's more important to get enough sleep throughout the night than to try to "make it up" with a nap.

    The benefits of sleep are not all in REM sleep. You can get benefits from a 15-20 minute nap where you are in stage 2- it is good for alertness and motor skills.

    Perhaps I wasn't clear, but I didn't mean that the only benefits of sleep come from REM. I was referring specifically to sleep as it pertains to weight loss. The impact of sleep on weight loss comes from the role sleep plays on the regulation of hormones (leptin and ghrelin) that influence appetite. Not getting enough deep sleep interferes with these hormones, which could increase your appetite, thus preventing you from losing. E.g.: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC535701/

    I'm sure napping can help some be more alert, etc. It can make others more groggy, though. But I never knocked napping. I just said it could indicate another problem, especially considering it's a new phenomena for the OP.
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
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    They are terrible if you've eaten right before as your metabolism will slow down and you'll store it as fat. Also make sure you eat right after waking back up to jump start your metabolism

    Well yeah duh, everyone knows that. I get up in the middle of the night to eat cuz I don't wanna go more than 4 hours without food so i don't go into starvation mode.....not eating overnight is fasting, and fasting is bad! Plus I have coffee to jump start my metabolism in the morning....

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