Sleep Deprivation and Weight Gain
From LoveToKnow Sleep
You may be surprised to find out that there is a correlation between sleep deprivation and weight gain. The less sleep you get, the more weight you will gain.
Sleep Deprivation and Weight Gain: How it's Possible
Several factors influence sleep deprivation and weight gain. Usually, it's not only one factor that contributes to increased weight associated with sleeplessness, especially when you look at eating habits as well as physiological causes.
Eating Habits of the Deprived Sleeper
Throughout the day, you eat because you are busy and your body is using up energy it receives from food. At night, if you don't sleep, you are using up energy just as you do during the day, which means you get hungry and chances are, you eat. This means that you are packing in many more calories than you would if you slept for at least six hours.
You are also less likely to eat healthy in the middle of the night. You probably don't want to start cooking a full meal, instead you choose easy to grab treats such as a bag of chips, candy, or ice cream. What does this mean? Not only will you be eating more calories but also much more fat than you would have during the day.
Physiological Factors in Sleep Deprived Weight Gain
When you eat during the night, chances are, you aren't working to use up those extra calories. You are most likely trying to fall asleep lying in bed or watching TV on the couch.
When you don't get enough sleep, your body doesn't have a chance to restore itself. This means that your bodily functions start to slow down including your metabolism. Your metabolism is responsible for speeding up the process of food out of your system. The slower it is the more your body hangs on to unneeded calories and fat.
The Difficult to End Cycle of Eating and Not Sleeping
The problem with eating late at night is that your body starts to grow accustomed to it and will wonder what happened to the extra food if you do start to sleep again. It will be difficult to train your body not to wake you up looking for food, but it is possible. You might have to eat smaller amounts each night so you can slowly wean yourself from your midnight snack or quit cold turkey IF you can get back to sleep feeling hungry.
How to Maintain Weight When Dealing with a Sleep Disorder
If you have a sleep disorder that causes sleep deprivation, there are things you can do to make sure your weight gain doesn't get out of control:
- Keep your hands busy
Do something that doesn't allow you to eat such as typing on your computer or some other activity using your hands.
- Set a eating timer
This takes a bit of discipline but commit to a time to stop eating. Ideally, this should be at least a couple of hours before your normal bedtime. The point here is to keep your eating schedule in place even though you are not sleeping.
- Keep junk food out of the house
Don't buy junk food, especially the kind you can just grab and eat. If you don't have it in your house, you are most likely not going to head out at 3 a.m. to buy it.
- Have healthy food ready
Cut up some vegetables and fruit to have them available as soon as hunger strikes. Eating vegetables and fruits will help you get your recommended daily intake while not overloading on empty calories.
- Drink water
Did you know that hunger could also be a sign of thirst? Try filling up on water before you nibble on something.
Beating Sleep Deprivation Weight Gain
Even if you don't eat at night, your body still is unable to process food as efficiently when you are without sleep, but you can take measures to counteract the weight gain. Remember to eat sensibly and rest as much as possible until you are able to get the sleep you so desperately need.
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This page has been accessed 767 times. This page was last modified 18:57, 25 February 2009.
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