The FastDay Forum

Just spotted this article on the BBC website - says insufficient sleep can contribute to obesity. Thought it may be of interest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24162508

If you read up on hormones in paleo literature, then they also advocate more sleep. I go to bed earlier now as a result, been more successful with this than giving up bread. Think it does help.

That doesn't surprise me. I know being sleep deprived makes me eat crap (mostly of the sugary carby variety), and it also kills all willpower. Not a good combo if you're trying to eat healthily and exercise regularly. I'm also pretty sure my hubby got into a "bad sleep/put on weight/sleep apnoea/permanently tired/eat really badly and have not energy for exercise/put on weight, worse sleep apnoea" cycle which has left him with massive weight problems

If I hit exhausted (it happens regularly) and I can't nap, my body is screaming for high carb food to give an energy boost.

I can tell when I need a nap (I know its not for people with normal 9-5 jobs, but they aren't still 'working' at 2am) as I start prowling for sugars and high carb foods.

I think the relationship between tiredness and weight is vastly underestimated. I have FMS which means my sleep is very disordered. I'm constantly tired and yet seldom reach deep, restorative sleep. I have noticed that my brain seems to confuse the need for sleep with the need for food. I don't think in my case its totally about craving carbs for energy. My brain seems to sense a need and tries to fill it with food!

My hubby went down a similar track to KataMac's hubby. He has had a weight problem for as long as I've known him but severe sleep apnoea was just making matters worse. Of course we didn't recognise what was happening and he just kept making half hearted attempts at various diets. It wasn't until he had a DVT and pulmonary embolism which nearly killed him that the problem was recognised. Luckily the brush with death and the threat of withdrawing his driving licence concentrated his mind and he joined SW (no 5:2 then! ).One of the first improvements we noticed was in the sleep apnoea and as that resolved his energy levels absolutely soared.

Don't knock the benefits of a few early nights!

No sleep - no willpower

If only I knew the secret of getting plenty of sleep!

If only I knew the secret of getting plenty of sleep!

Yeah! I can sleep but I wake up feeling worse than when I went to bed!

[Tracieknits]

I read these things at 2am and think "There's probably something to this."

There has been masses of research on this - this is quite a good (if slightly old) review on sleep and obesity:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3632337/

but some of the links / citations down the right hand side are more recent...

Here's to good sleep for all, FatDog

I'm sure there is something in it, but knowing that doesn't help those of us who would like nothing more than good, deep sleep. I wake constantly in the night, often take ages to get to sleep, need the loo 3-4 times in the night, wake early and can't get back to sleep, etc, etc. The only time I sleep for longer periods is when I take a sleeping pill, which apparently means you don't get proper sleep anyway. I don't know what the answer is. On a fast day if I didn't take a sleeping tablet, I don't think I'd get to sleep at all, as I lie there thinking about and feeling my hunger.

Sue

I know just where you're coming from soobidoobs. It was bad enough when it was just the FMS but now I have arthritis too its gone from bad to worse! The pain in my hips wakes me up and I literally have to roll out of bed to turn over. Crazy I know but I have to physically turn round and get back in on my other side. Of course getting out of bed tends to mean a trip across the landing to the loo so it all gets a bit annoying. The only bright point is that I don't have to race round the next morning sorting out kids or racing off to work!

More time sleeping is less time eating?

16:8 is much, much easier when you sleep until noon...

I read the book 'The Feel Good Factor' and implemented some of his suggestions for my son who was having a hard time. One of those problems was not being able to get to sleep. We implemented some supplements and foot soaks (no big bath here) with Epsom salts in it, to start boosting the relevant minerals and vitamins that would then boost relevant hormones that were essential for sleep, in his case supporting melatonin production.

It worked, within 3 weeks he was sleeping better, getting to sleep and staying asleep for longer periods. He now goes to bed before us and sleeps later.

The magnesium soaks could be a way forward. There are magnesium supplement, but they can give you the 'trots'.

Since I swapped to a healthier lifestyle I actually sleep less! Gone are the daily "power naps" that I attributed to the menopause and sometimes I only have three or four hours sleep. But my usual is about seven. The difference now is the QUALITY of that sleep and I always wake feeling refreshed and ready for the day ahead