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Lose Weight While You Sleep: The Dream Diet

11:37 AM


By Lois Sciligo
Have you ever experienced a sleepless night and the next day you felt ravenous, all day? No matter how much or what you ate, you never felt full or satisfied? You were experiencing the effects of two very important hormones that control appetite: leptin and ghrelin.


So how do they work? Leptin is the hormone that tells the brain you are full, satisfied, had enough food. When you get too little sleep, leptin levels drop. You can eat and eat and not feel satisfied. Ghrelin is the hormone that tells the brain that you are hungry and need to eat more food; it increases our appetite. When you get too little sleep, ghrelin levels increase and you want to eat everything in site. You will generally reach for the high-carb, calorie dense foods to give you energy.


This was recently explored in two studies conducted at the University of Chicago and Stanford University in California. In both studies it was revealed that the level of body fat seemed to correlate with sleep patterns. The less sleep, the higher the body fat. Those who got the least sleep weighed more.




However, it's not just the number of hours that you sleep that affects your leptin and ghrelin levels, it is also the quality of your sleep and other life factors like our diet, amount of exercise, personal stress levels and even our genetics.




Getting enough sleep...you can't go wrong there. If you are dieting, sleeping a few extra hours a night is not a bad deal. Especially if you tend to only get six hours or less a night.




So it seems that sleep loss appears to effect us in several ways:






1. You feel hungry even when you are full. Therefore, you will tend to overeat. Making it more difficult for you to adhere to a diet.




2. Increases fat storage by interfering with the metabolism of carbs, leading to higher blood sugars. Which promotes the over production of insulin, which then leads to storage of body fat...and insulin resistance. A step towards developing diabetes.




3. Slows the loss of fat, speeds up the loss of lean body mass (muscle) which in turn decreases energy and the burning of calories.


Getting a good night's rest if vital to any weight loss plan you are on. But you can't substitute sleep for a healthy diet and exercise. These remain important to your weight loss efforts too.




When you find that you don't get the rest you need, and you have that "hungry" feeling the next day, avoid the high carb snacks and opt for healthy. Cut up some apples, have some carrots and celery handy. Put some nuts in a small bag and have some chewing gum available. If you work at a desk, get up and move around about every hour or so, do some deep breathing and drink plenty of water (not sugary sodas or juice, just water).




Once you've started getting enough rest at night, you will notice the difference in your appetite, your energy level, and your waistline!




Lois Sciligo promotes a healthy and happy lifestyle for persons of all ages. Her primary mission is provide information that will help others make informed choices and support their journey toward health. Her involvement in the development of a number of wellness programs during her 30+ year career as an Activity Professional in long term care has made her aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle at every stage of life.






Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5320941

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