Sleep and Stay Slim

Here's another reason why Americans arn't getting enough sleep. We are working too many hours at our jobs.

An average American works about 45 to 55 hours a week, while most full time jobs account for 40 hours, and the additional 5 to 15 hours are due to secondary jobs.

My maximum hours allowed is 30 hours. It's time for American bosses at work to think about cutting down the work time to either 5 six hours workshifts a week, or 4 full workdays a week. Allong with exercise training at a young age, kids can live a less stressful life, while enjoying a more active lifestyle, and also better farming techniques, and that fast food chains needs to stop selling fried foods to people and adopt a more healthier menu items, such as oily fish, shell-fish, unfried meats cooked in extra virgin olive, clean animal fat, or extra virgin tropical oils instead of burgers cooked in trans fats, and buttered, steamed vegtables instead of trans-fatty fries fried in partionally hydronated oils.

And Everyone should get 90 minutes to 2 hours of moderate to intense exercise a day.

It makes total sense. The body is under stress if deprived of sleep. The brain undergoes critical maintenance during sleep patterns. I'm sure these combine to a change in metabolism if you don't get enough sleep.

I have a special needs two-year old and a home-business and when either (or both, usually) causes me to not get a full night's rest, I find that I put weight on easily or stall on losing weight.

Hmm, now that I've said that, I see I've just restated the article. I guess I can agree that I get fed up with insta-thin celebrity moms, but more so, I get fed up with people who make comments about how new moms haven't lost the weight yet. I've lost 25 pounds since my prepregnancy weight and am thrilled, but it took 18 months to be able to have enough brain cells to devote to diet for that to happen.

What really irks me is the campaign that touts breastfeeding as a great way to lose weight. Breastfeeding does burn lots of calories, but, mothers who are breastfeeding need to be taking in adequate nutrition for both themselves and their baby. This is not taught to new moms and most of them continue the bad eating habits they've always had and wonder why their baby isn't thriving and they aren't losing weight. If you're breastfeeding, remember that you're still eating for two and if you don't get that vitamin/nutrient, your baby won't be getting it either.

The moral of the story, get your sleep. The TV show that is keeping you up isn't worth it. If it's the baby or your job, well, suck it up and remember that your metabolism is affected, so be more careful to only take in power foods.

-Danielle

I believe the study. I tend to want to binge more when I am tired. I think we try to replace food energy with rest angry.

If you have problems with sleeping go to the doctor. Most people don’t realize they have sleeping disorders.

It might sound silly but I think that jobs should have a 20 minute nap time. I really think they’d get more work with rested employees.

"It might sound silly but I think that jobs should have a 20 minute nap time. I really think they’d get more work with rested employees."

I think that our job hours are far too long. I think that they need to cut our hours down to 30 hours a week, with six hours a day. On these days, you get one break, and than a 45-minute lunch. Than, you can get home early, flip on that iPod, and jog around town. Maybe I can buy a swimming suit and do some swimming at the beach.

Of course, the next time you are at the beach, go in the water. Don't just lay in the sand, catching the sun. You can also get sunned just as well when you are in the water. You burn more calories that way, plus you achieve more vitamin D by converting that cholesterol in your skin by exposing the sun. If you want to put on sunscreen, only put a thin layer. That way, you get some better sleep at the hotel.

"If you want to put on sunscreen, only put a thin layer. That way, you get some better sleep at the hotel."

I'm sorry, I try not to pick on James, but come on, now. You claim that processed foods give us cancer, but are willing to just ignore the risks of skin cancer and aging effects of the sun? Argh! The rule of thumb is to apply a shot-glass worth of sunscreen and reapply every couple of hours.

And before we get there, yes the neanderthals didn't have sunscreen, but they did have old growth forests for shade and probably napped during the peak sun hours of 12 to 3pm to conserve energy.

There are still cultures that do shut down during this time frame - Italians come to mind - and they seem to have a heck of a lot of thin people in spite of the yummy yummy foods they eat a lot of. Perhaps we should all move to Italy and pick up that mid-day nap to keep our weights in check!

-Danielle

I have my own experiences regarding long working hours and sleep deprivation. I used to have a high-powered job and 14-hour days which started at 5 am in the morning. (I had a 2-hour drive to work and back) I never slept more than 5 to 6 hours a night because I never fell asleep earlier and I had all kinds of chores to do before bedtime (due to those long working hours). I ate 3 times a day, at 5 am, 1 pm and 20 pm and was constantly miserable with how I ate. In three years I gained 44 pounds. There was absolutely no way I could have controlled my eating because of constant fatigue and self-pity. I also craved sweets and fats like crazy. I definitely think the chronic sleep deprivation messed up my metabolism, too.

Now that I have quit that job I have been able to sleep again and I have been able to control what I eat. After a couple of months I was able to change my eating habits and do not crave unhealthy foods like I used to. I have shed 20 pounds in a couple of months and keep on losing weight. I am starting to listen to my body in a way I have not been able to do in years. Before I was not hungry, I was craving. Now I can feel real hunger again and enjoy the feeling. If I now have a sleepless night I have noticed that the next day I feel like I'm starving all the time and get all kinds of cravings again.

Sorry, I meant 8 pm instead of 20 pm. European time -type of thinking.

One time during the summer break from college, I worked a job that was an hour and a half drive from my home and had 12 hour days. I'd get up at 4 am and not get home until 8 or 9 at night. By the time I had dinner and went to bed, I might have gotten six hours of sleep at the most.

Yeah, the pay was good, but I'd be surprised if I formed any coherent sentences by the end of the summer. I know I couldn't think straight. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

-Danielle

I try to get enough sleep, but lately it's been difficult. I get about 6 hours...7 if I'm lucky...most nights. One other drawback of crazy-long hours is that people have no time to exercise. Exercising helps keep you alert and suppresses your appetite somewhat so you can make smarter decisions about your food intake. So many people work super long hours thinking it'll help them climb the corporate ladder faster, but if you have to sacrifice your health to do that, what's the point?

I can personally attest for the lack of sleep affecting my weight loss journey. My second child has been a horrible sleeper. I didn't get more than two hours of uninterrupted sleep (many times less than that) at any given time for the first 15 months of his life. He's now 18 months and recently my 4 year old is going through waking several times a night for whatever reason (drink of water, bathroom usage, nightmare, etc). At the same time, I am working 40 hours a week (at least) and taking care of the kids solo every evening while my husband is in school or doing homework for his classes. Long story short - I've been working with a huge sleep deficit for the past 18 months and I definitely see an affect on my efforts to exercise and eat healthy. The exhaustion takes a toll on my energy level and motivation to exercise, my ability to plan good meals and pack healthy lunches for work, etc, etc. But I don't doubt that the stress and sleep deprivation have affected my metabolism. Because even on "good weeks" where I push through the exhaustion and get my 5-6 days of cardio AND my strength training AND eat healthy AND drink my water for two and three weeks at a time, I see minimal weight loss, if at all. My theory is my metabolism has slowed significantly and I've revamped my training and diet plan to work on increasing my metabolism. It's been a struggle, but the kids have to start sleeping eventually, right? Right? RIGHT?!? LOL!

Heather, you have my sympathy. There are some occasions in life where you simply cannot keep to an aggressive fitness routine, and somehow factor in exercise that will work with your current life situation. For you, this may mean simply going for a walk during your work lunch break -- and that may be it!

It's a very tough time - but it WILL get better. Go easy on yourself. Your kids will only be this little for a short time.

Thanks Jim. It's getting easier every day. I swim and walk on my lunch hour and have been trying to get to the pool in the morning before work as well, when the kids (and my sleep schedule) allow it! LOL! It's not much in the way of cross-training, but it's good exercise when I can get it and it's conveniently located to my job and most importantly, as you said, it WORKS with my life RIGHT NOW. So I'm plugging away. Since my son has started sleeping better and weaned (I can't lose weight well while nursing, don't get me started on that one!) I have dropped 7 pounds. I'm on my way!

The answer is simple. Adequate sleep reduces cortisol levels.

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