Sleep More, Weigh Less

Sleep More, Weigh Less

It's true: Being short on sleep can really affect your weight. While you weren't sleeping, your body cooked up a perfect recipe for weight gain.

When you’re short on sleep, it’s easy to lean on a large latte to get moving. You might be tempted to skip exercise (too tired), get takeout for dinner, and then turn in late because you’re uncomfortably full.

If this cascade of events happens a few times each year, no problem. Trouble is, nearly two-thirds of Americans aren't getting enough sleep during a typical week Yet experts agree that getting enough shut-eye is as important to health, well-being, and your weight as diet and exercise

Your Sleepy Brain

Skimping on sleep sets your brain up to make bad decisions. It dulls activity in the brain’s frontal lobe, the locus of decision-making and impulse control.

So it’s a little like being drunk. You don’t have the mental clarity to make good decisions.

Plus, when you’re overtired, your brain's reward centers rev up, looking for something that feels good. So while you might be able to squash comfort food cravings when you’re well-rested, your sleep-deprived brain may have trouble saying no to a second slice of cake.

Research tells the story. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that when people were starved of sleep, late-night snacking increased, and they were more likely to choose high-carb snacks.

A second study found that sleeping too little prompts people to eat bigger portions of all foods, increasing weight gain. And in a review of 18 studies, researchers found that a lack of sleep led to increased cravings for energy-dense, high-carbohydrate foods.

Add it all together, and a sleepy brain appears to crave junk food while also lacking the impulse control to say no.

Hunger Hormones

Sleep is like nutrition for the brain. Most people need between 7 and 9 hours each night. Get less than that, and your body will react in ways that lead even the most determined dieter straight to Ben & Jerry’s.

Why? Because insufficient sleep impacts your hunger and fullness hormones, including two called ghrelin and leptin.

Ghrelin signals your brain that it’s time to eat. When you’re sleep-deprived, your body makes more ghrelin.

Leptin, on the other hand, cues your brain to put the fork down. When you’re not getting enough sleep, leptin levels plummet, signaling your brain to eat more food.

Put the two together, and it’s no wonder sleep deprivation leads to overeating and extra pounds.

Then there’s the cortisol spike that comes from too little sleep. This stress hormone signals your body to conserve energy to fuel your waking hours.

Source:- http://www.webmd.com/diet/sleep-and-weight-loss

Accept Me As I Am

What a great lady!
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09/20/2014

This morning I decided to write myself a letter, then when I got started writing I thought maybe I wanted to write everyone a letter. This itch may have started when a guy I had been seeing told me he could no longer see me in a romantic manner because I was too chubby for him. Well, for those of you who love the victory karma, haha, in-yo-face moment, here it is. I am poor. I’m a full time college student without a job. I can’t afford to wear clothes that show off my figure. However, yesterday the guy who broke it off with me saw me walk out of the gym. He stopped in his tracks and did a double. He walked up to me and told me I looked amazing. He saw me two weeks ago, not wearing my gym attire, and I was too chubby for him. I just looked at him, wondered what I ever saw in him, and walked away.

Score one chubby girl

Score zero douche bag

Now here’s a little about myself: I am 19 years old, currently in my third year of college. I’m a middle school dropout, who weighed 220lbs at fifteen. My father asked me one year when I was sixteen, what I wanted for Christmas. Now mind you, coming from a poor family we don’t generally have presents on Christmas, but this year was different. What did I want? I wanted to be healthy. I did not want to have to take a break walking up the stairs. I wanted to be able to go run, to smile, and to feel beautiful. For anyone who has lost weight in the past, I’m sure you know that achieving any of this is a struggle that you fight through every day. That year my dad bought an elliptical for me. It changed my life!

The first few months it was so hard, I wanted to give in every time I even looked at the elliptical. Nevertheless, I lost 25 pounds so I pushed on. At the eight-month mark, I was down 50 pounds and seeing so many changes in my body and my mind that I never thought were possible. At the year mark I was down 70 pounds…this was in 2013. Today I weigh 145 pounds. Anyone who has lost weight, especially large amounts of weight, understands that your body doesn’t always tighten up like a cheerleader's; it doesn’t work that way. I have stretch marks, flappy skin, and still some tub.

However, that isn’t what matters… what matters is every morning when I wake, I see this amazing woman. I see a smile that makes me wanna cry because I’m so happy. I feel the hot sun beating on my skin when I run. I feel my feet pounding on the sidewalk. And I feel the rush of my breath as I hit my two mile mark. I see myself as someone so incredibly different, that sometime I wonder: "who am I?" And then I remember, I’m Kay. I love being outside, I love playing the Sims and COD, I want to be an education counselor because I don’t ever want to see a child forgotten the way I was. I am loud but shy, opinionated but a good listener, and slightly irrational but so loving.

This may not have been what you thought I was going to say, but I’m glad you read it. I’m still chubby, I don’t wear things people think I should, but it doesn’t matter. You either accept me as I am, or move on. I’m not changing for anyone other than myself.

And for my fellow chubster ladies who feel like they may never meet the one… it doesn’t matter how old you are, what size you are, or the color of your skin, we each have that one person out there made for us as we were made for them, you just have to start looking.

PS. I love my awkwardly big feet! :)

 

Source:- http://www.mybodygallery.com/blog-416-Accept-Me-As-I-Am.htm

How I Lost Weight Eating One Meal A Day

How I Lost Weight Eating One Meal A Day: I lost 30lbs over 5 months eating 1 meal in the evening. This is my experience…

 

This is my account of how I lost a significant amount of weight when I adopted the idea of eating one main meal a day.

I’ve written this for those who have heard about eating one meal a day and want to seek out the experience of someone doing it. If you decide to do something similar it’s my hope that you can benefit from my experience. I write this as if a friend had asked me to describe the diet.