Your Lack of Sleep and Weight Gain

Did you know that insomnia can contribute to weight gain? It doesn’t cause you to gain weight…however, some factors lead to those gaining extra pounds, which is why your fat-burning and weight-loss efforts may have proven fruitless so far. Significant studies tell us that sleeplessness does not directly cause weight gain. But the conscious activities that some people make to fight the tired, sluggish feelings they have in the day, which arise from insomnia, may be causing weight gain.

Think about it for a minute. Let’s look at a little scenario of a normal day.

• You toss and turn during the night, you fight to get to sleep, and when you do, you sleep restlessly. Just when you are experiencing some wonderful deep sleep, your alarm reminds you that you have important things to do. You get sluggishly out of bed and head to the kitchen, straight for the coffee machine.
• Liberal amounts of sugar in your morning java get you started with an energy boost. But after only a couple of hours at work, you need to reach for a sweet candy treat, doughnut, or sugar-filled snack for another shot of energy.
• Your workday finally comes to an end, and you are still so beat and tired that you decide to skip your scheduled trip to the gymnasium.
• When you arrive home, there are kids and dinner and dishes and other responsibilities that you must tend to. You certainly cannot do that if you are sleepy, so you reach for an energy drink or soda. By the time you are set to go to bed, you are so sugar-packed and caffeine-injected that there is no possible way you will sleep fitfully.

Light Therapy

You should keep a daily journal that chronicles your every daily activity, as well as your sleep patterns at night. This can help your doctor spot poor health patterns that may be creating your insomnia in the first place. If this journal shows that you are not personally responsible for your insomnia, light therapy can be prescribed as an effective treatment for resetting your natural clock.

You should also never eat or drink foods with sugar and/or caffeine 8 hours before you plan on going to sleep. It has also been proven that sleeping and waking at the same time each day and night can create a comfortable rhythm which leads to better sleep and in turn to better daily performance.

Make sure that you are drinking at least 2 quarts (8 cups) of water daily. This cuts down on water retention which also adds pounds, but it also helps regulate your digestive system helping you to sleep more restfully. Just try not to drink too many liquids within a couple of hours of bedtime. That triggers nighttime potty visits that disturb your sleep.

Doctors know that sleeplessness by itself does not magically cause your body to gain weight, but sleeplessness and insomnia can cause daily behaviors on your part making your body horde fat, and weight gain is a natural result.