IS THERE A “MAGIC PILL” FOR FAT LOSS?

I’m sure you all know the answer to this question is No! But I will say that there is one thing that many of us struggle with that is as close as you can come to a magic pill.  And that’s sleep. Last Friday was World Sleep Day…if it has a day it’s got to be important!  

Sleep is a restorative process for our bodies and our minds.  It helps fight off diseases such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. It also helps promote good mental health because our brains can not function properly without proper sleep.  

Let’s get into some specifics. For all of you trying to build muscle, the repairing of that muscle tissue happens when you sleep. You won’t properly recover without adequate sleep, Also, our brains process and store memories when we sleep. Have you ever noticed that on a day after a poor night’s sleep the most insignificant things that happened the prior day tend to set you off? That’s because the process of filtering and storing those memories as insignificant didn’t happen.  

So how does sleep affect fat loss?  Honestly, lack of quality sleep can make all the training and good nutrition you work so hard on irrelevant. So if lack of results has you feeling frustrated, improving sleep may be part of the problem.

First off poor sleep will affect your hunger and satiety hormones. When you’re tired your satiety hormone, leptin will down regulate and ghrelin, your hunger hormone will up regulate.   Lack of sleep will also affect your willpower and determination.  Talk about an uphill battle…you’re hungrier, you can’t stay satiated and your willpower is shot! 

Poor sleep will also affect your cortisol and insulin levels.  While cortisol and insulin sometimes get a bad wrap (they are necessary and do serve a purpose) they can absolutely make fat loss difficult in excess.  Lack of quality sleep will elevate levels of cortisol as well as contribute to insulin resistance.  

In order to realize the health benefits of sleep adults need 7-9 hours per night.  And for all of you out there saying “I do just fine with 5 hours” I’m sorry to say that you may think you’re fine but you simply don’t know what it feels like to be well rested! That being said it doesn’t need to be all or nothing.  If you’re only getting 4 hours and feel like 8 is impossible, work on getting 5 hours for a while and go from there.  Also keep in mind that if you can’t increase quantity you should at least work on quality.  5 hours of quality sleep is better than 6 hours of interrupted sleep.

How do we work on getting better sleep? Move your bedtime up by just 15 minutes for a week or 2 and then try for 15 minutes more.  Also go to bed and get up at the same time each day so you have a consistent sleep schedule.  A good sleep routine is very important as well.  Turn off all electronics 30 – 60 minutes before bed.  That means TV, phones, computers, tablets, etc.  The blue light from these devices will decrease your production of melatonin which singles to your body that it’s time for sleep.  Have a cup of tea (decaffeinated), do some reading, maybe a puzzle, etc. Something relaxing.  It’s also helpful to do a “brain dump” before bed.  Jot down all the loose ends of the day so you don’t wake up worrying you’ll forget them in the middle of the night. Also be sure your room is cool and dark.

Finally be sure you’re not going to bed hungry.  Hunger increases cortisol and we want to do all we can to reduce cortisol before bed to promote quality sleep.  A small snack that includes some quality carbohydrates will increase serotonin.  This inhibitory neurotransmitter will lower cortisol levels and promote better quality sleep.

Let’s face it, many of us (myself included) fall into the trap of sitting down in front of the TV at night while catching up on social media or news sources that we access via our phones.  It’s not always easy to change that routine. But if just a few small changes could immediately impact your health and fat loss goals I think it’s worth it, what do you think??  Feel free to reach out if you’d like some help working this “magic pill” into your daily routine.