"Sleep" Helps Control Weight

willclower
on 11/8/09 10:46 pm
Hey, good morning!!

I saw this and just had to pass it on. This article reports on data that may seem counterintuitive, but really bears another look.   There's more to maintaining your weight and health than the simplistic "calories-in calories-out" idea. We have all heard that the ONLY thing you have to be concerned about is this calculation: The number of calories burned, minus, the number of calories eaten.

Well, if it is THAT easy, why do we struggle so much in our culture? And why is it that, even when we do this equation correctly, we still have problems maintaining our weight and health?

Clearly, there are a slew of other factors that can sabotage your efforts. And the very best way to head those off is to start with the easy choices -- the "gimmie putts" -- because these are the areas in our lives where we really can have some measure of control. 

Sleep is a key area. Getting a good night's sleep creates the conditions within your body that favor controlled consumption. Conversely, getting an awful, no good, terrible, ugly, nasty, night's sleep is taken by your body as a stressor. This can induce the production of cortisol, which can lead to fat deposition, and chronic cravings.

Do this experiment. When you eventually have a couple of terrible night's sleep, notice how you are feeling on the next morning. Because of the cortisol, most people feel hungrier than normal. And, it is a chronic hunger that is not easily sated.

This hunger is not due to a lack of calories you have on board, but because you got a couple of awful, no good, terrible, ugly, nasty, night's sleep. The drive to consume is not driven by the calories-in, calories-out theory, but by that PLUS a closet of lifestyle factors. And THAT's what makes this problem so sticky to solve. 

Here is my morning podcast audio on this topic.   So. Bottom line? This is an easy place for us to start, if we are looking for a lifestyle of living well. Here are a series of tips that you can apply right away

Let me know if you have any questions at all: www.willclower.com/bariatrics
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