#35: Can Sleep Loss Make You Gain Weight?

Did you know that sleep is one of the most essential ingredients for weight loss?

So, if you're doing everything right, you could still be battling to lose weight if your sleep isn't optimal.

So, what is an optimal amount of sleep?

How can you improve it?

In this episode, I explain what a lack of sleep does to your metabolism and eating habits and delve into 12 of my top sleep tips to ensure that you get the quality sleep that is REQUIRED for weight loss!

Here is all the notes from the podcast too! Along with a downloadable guide at the end for you to refer to with ease.

How sleep affects weight loss?

Appetite

A reduced amount of sleep can increase your appetite. Someone who sleeps between 5-6 hours will have a higher appetite than someone sleeping between 7-9 hours per night. This can lead to weight gain your cravings are for more likely for sugary and saturated fat-containing foods. When this happens a few times a year it is fine, but if your sleep quality is poor and this happens a few times a week, you may be eating much more than you need and this can easily cause weight gain.

Exercise

After a night of poor sleep you’re more likely to skip your gym session. Studies show the less sleep you get, the less likely you are to complete your exercise routine. The better rested you are the better your mind and body function, including at the gym.

Motivation

Motivation, not only for exercise is reduced with a lack of sleep. Sleep deprivation reduces the desire to engage in physical, social and health-promoting activities.

Decision Making

Not getting enough sleep sets your brain up to make bad decisions as it dulls the activity in the brain’s frontal lobe, this is where decision making and impulse control occurs. It’s kind of like being drunk! Your ability to stick to your healthy habits is decreased as you don’t have the mental clarity to make smart decisions.

Cravings

When you’re overtired, your brain's reward centre called the mesolimbic dopamine system gets activated. Dopamine is a brain chemical released by neurons when we consume sweet, energy-rich foods. These dopamine hits increase your desire to eat rewarding food like a piece of cake, over an apple.

Portion Control

Studies have found that sleeping too little prompts people to eat bigger portions of all foods, this directly contributes to weight gain. A review of 18 studies, found that a lack of sleep led to increased cravings for energy-dense, high-carbohydrate foods. Adding these two together, a sleepy brain appears to crave junk food while also lacking the impulse control to say no.

Hormones

Too little sleep also affects your hormones and metabolism in ways that support weight gain. Reduced sleep quality triggers a cortisol spike, this is our stress hormone, and it signals your body to conserve energy to fuel your waking hours. This affects weight gain as when cortisol is higher, you’re more likely to hang on to fat. I’ve felt this in the past for sure, particularly around my stomach, have you? Within just 4 days of insufficient sleep, your body’s ability to process insulin is also reduced. Insulin is a hormone that controls fat and sugar metabolism.

This is so interesting. Researchers have also found that when dieters cut back on sleep over 14 days, the amount of weight they lost from fat dropped by 55%, even though their calories stayed equal. They felt hungrier and less satisfied after meals, and their energy was zapped with reduced sleep!

Long story short, a lack of sleep hampers your metabolism and can contribute to weight gain!

Here are my 12 best sleep tips:

1. Turn your iPhone onto night mode when the sun goes down in settings —> display and brightness and install F-Lux on your desktop.

2. Wear blue light blocking glasses at night time! I am obsessed with the ones by Baxter Blue. You can get 15% off by entering healthwithbec at checkout!

3. Quit DOING SO MUCH and delegate. Ie - hire team members, cleaners, nannies or get the family to do more housework.

4. Try natural herbs such as valerian, lavender, chamomile, nutmeg, hops, passionflower, ginseng.

5. Take a good quality magnesium supplement daily. I love the Bioceuticals ultramuscleze one.

6. Sleep in a pitch-black dark room or buy an eye patch - I LOVE my one by Manta Sleep.

7. Set BOUNDARIES! Stop work at the same time every day, ensure you have ample time to relax mindlessly before bed. I recommend at least 2 hours. Perhaps take a bath, read, watch Netflix, stretch, listen to calming music or do a jigsaw puzzle.

8. Exercise daily, but avoid it late at night as it can stimulate your adrenaline and make it harder to wind down. You want to rest for at least 3 hours before bed time.

9. Have a regular bed time each night, and be sure to hop into bed at least half an hour before your ideal “sleep window”. Ie, if you know you need 7 hours and you want to be asleep from 11pm-6am, hop into bed at 10.30. This decreases that stress you feel when you ’know you have to sleep’ - I suffer from this the most

10. Avoid all caffeine after mid-day (coffee, tea, chocolate, diet coke). Stick to 1 coffee a day as early in the day as you can.

11. Plan out the most important things you have to get done tomorrow that you didn’t get to do today. Put them in your calendar or write them down. Also keep paper and pen by your bed and write down any thoughts that pop into your head as they come to you through the night or as you’re falling asleep.

12. Visit the GP if it’s extreme, sometimes you just need medication in the short term if the natural stuff doesn’t work, there’s no shame in this. I have to! When I had chronic insomnia, I was actually advised to take medication for 14 days in a row to reset my rhythm, which worked well for me. Please know that this advice is 100% up to your qualified doctor though and I am speaking from personal experience.

I hope this helps you understand how vital sleep is if you’re struggling to lose weight!

It’s such an important piece to the puzzle for every aspect of our health.