Sleep Your Way Skinny!

A couple years ago my mama and I took a wonderful trip to Ireland. After a few harrowing days of driving on the left hand side of the road mama decided she had had enough and we booked into a hotel on a tiny island off the west coast that had a new hotel, a few classic irish cottages, and not much else. The hotel was solidly built, the island deeply quiet, and the whole place wild and restful in the way only remote nature can be.

It was fabulous. We ate four course meals at night, sipped whole-milk lattes while the storms rolled in in the afternoons, and went for light walks around the island when graced with sunshine. At night, we both slept a good solid 9-hours for the first time in years.

So... I gained like 40lbs, right? No gyms, no celery sticks? Instant weight gain, right?

Nope! I actually lost weight. EFFORTLESSLY. And not even intentionally, either. I was at a fine weight but by the end of the week had leaned up a few pounds... How about that?!

It was then that I realized I really should write a book. I would title it something along the lines of 'Sleep Your Way Skinny' or the 'Dream Diet' or something equally catching and tacky and it would have a tremendous impact on obesity in America. It was brilliant! I loved waking up skinny and I felt great. In the end, I favored the simple method of pestering my own clients about their sleep patterns over the complexities of publishing, but the importance of sleep has not lost it's weight in my mind (pun intended).

Which is why I was delighted when I saw the recent explosion of media on the subject! Glamour Magazine did a whole article on the subject and USAToday did a great summary of the latest research (here). If you are the type who likes to know all the details and the mechanics then check out the article but here are a few of the stats:

• Scientists have found that sleep deprivation increases levels of a hunger hormone [ghrelin] and decreases levels of a hormone that makes you feel full [leptin].
  
• Researchers found that people who sleep 2-4 hours a night are 73% more likely to be obese than those who get 7-9 hours.
  
• Those who get 5 hours of sleep are 50% more likely to be obese.
• Those who sleep 6 hours are 23% more likely to be obese [than normal sleepers].

Have you ever noticed how much more you crave sweets when you're tired? Lord, I do. As the article reports from a study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, "The sleep-deprived men who had the biggest hormonal changes... felt the most hungry and craved carbohydrate-rich foods, including cakes, candy, ice cream, pasta and bread." When you are tired your brain is constantly signaling the need for energy. How do we get our energy? Calories! And what is our brain's stand-by for quick-fix energy? Sugar! Makes sense doesn't it? The problem is, we are not tired from lack of 'energy' (read: calories) but rather but a basic deprivation of REM time. However, your body can't just shut down (you have THINGS TO DO!), so it compromises by telling you to eat.

Interesting, no? So. Moral of the story: GET SOME SLEEP! It is by far the easiest way of all to help your body healthy, strong, and lean. How much sleep? It depends on your body. A good rule of thumb is to sleep as much as you possibly can for at least three days in a row. This should even out any 'sleep debt' you may have accrued. On the fourth and fifth night note how long you naturally sleep and use this amount as a guide for what is 'normal' or required for your body. Sleep is essential for proper body functioning, and proper body functioning is the foundational to being JOYOUSLY FIT!

...sweet dreams!

photo thanks to mplex.org