Seep is Key to Weight Loss!

 

Everyone knows that sleep is important, but did you  know that lack of sleep severely reduces your ability to lose weight and keep it off!  In fact a recent study suggests that missing out on just 30 minutes of sleep per day can increase your risk of obesity and diabetes.

There are several reasons for this phenomenon, but on one level it is pretty easy to understand.    If you do not get enough sleep you will not have energy to live a healthy, active lifestyle, and when you are tired it is very easy to skip workouts and spontaneously reduce overall activity.

Sleep: Your Body’s Best Friend

Sleep is important for just about all the systems in your body, and lack of sleep reduces cognitive function including reduced reaction time, impaired decision making and memory.  Sleep is also essential for the repair and recovery of the body.

Even if you think you get enough sleep you may still be suffering from the symptoms of sleep deprivation.   Unfortunately just a little sleep deprivation can have a significant effect on weight gain.

How Lack of Sleep Causes Weight Gain

Lack of sleep increases the levels of a stress hormone called cortisol, and cortisol increases appetite significantly.  Sleep deprivation also saps willpower and decision making ability so not only are you hungrier – you are more likely to make poor food choices.     Sleep deprivation is a stressor and when you feel stressed you tend to choose high carb foods which boost serotonin.

At the same time the body’s ability to handle carbs properly is reduced.    Your cells become less sensitive to the effects of insulin which is called insulin insensitivity.  Insulin insensitivity is what type 2 diabetes is all about.   If lack of sleep is a chronic condition you quite literally can make yourself gain weight and become diabetic!

In addition when you are really tired, a hormone called Ghrelin is boosted while Leptin levels drop.   This is quite literally a double whammy because Ghrelin increases hungers and Leptin tells you when you full and satisfied.   So you are hungrier and yet you do not feel as satisfied when you do eat so you eat more.

In fact, studies have shown increased calorie intake of over 300 extra calories per day in sleep-deprived people.

How To Improve the quality and time you spend sleeping

There are simple steps to keep lack of sleep from sabotaging your weight loss efforts.  The first step is to figure out your bedtime based on when you need to get up in the morning.    Count back a full 8 hours and set that as your bedtime.   You also want to go to bed and wake up at the same time all the time because having a consistent bed-time and waking time helps set your body clock.

It is also critical to get as much bright light exposure as possible as soon as you wake up - going outside for even 5 minutes and exposing your eyes to the bright blue light of the sun is as important as reducing your night-time exposure to light and blue light in particular.      Turn down your lights as much as possible during the evening and minimize screen time near bed time.   You can also install free blue light filter programs on your phone and computer - flux for computers and twilight app for phones.

It is also important to avoid all sources of caffeine except for first thing in the morning.     Caffeine is not a horrible thing, but too much to late can really have a big negative impact on your sleep.     Also avoid alcohol because drinking reduces the quality of your sleep as well.    Just cutting down or cutting out alcohol and caffeine often makes a dramatic difference in sleep quality within a week to 10 days.

The other key is making sleep a priority.  Sleep is directly linked to higher quality of life and resistance to illness and disease.    Sleep is as important as diet and exercise so make getting a good night’s rest a priority.

 

Does Eating too Little Really Prevent Weight Loss?

 

It can seem like this is true when you are trying to do everything you can to lose weight and nothing seems to be happening.  But is this really the case?    The short answer is NO!

So what is going on when you are eating a lot less and still not losing weight?   You have probably heard the phrase “calories in, calories out” many times but doubt its truth.     In fact the balance of calories burned and taken in DOES determine bodyweight and there are no exceptions even though it can seem like this is not the case.

In every case when scientists tightly control or measure intake and output of calories – the balance between calories in and out DOES cause changes in bodyweight.   

Factors that affect calories burned

There are many factors that affect how many calories you burn daily, and the tricky part is that your body is designed specifically to adjust calorie output based on environmental conditions.  For example, prolonged low calorie intake WILL slow down your metabolic rate resulting in a significant drop in calorie burn.

By the same token if you are exposed to cold temperatures consistently your metabolic rate will increase in order to create heat necessary to keep your body functioning properly.

Another very important factor affecting your metabolic rate is your activity levels including exercise AND non-exercise movement or NEAT for short.  NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis and refers to the fact that ALL movement requires caloric energy.   

When scientists have studied people and used sophisticated techniques to monitor movement, they have discovered that the levels of NEAT vary considerably between people, and NEAT can make all the difference in the world between being fat or lean.

Factors that affect calories consumed

Calorie consumption is also affected by many factors including appetite which is very complicated in humans and strongly affected by psychological factors including stress and upbringing which influence our perception of hunger.       Other factors include macronutrient percentages in the diet referring to the percentage of protein, fat, fiber, sugar and starch in the diet along with meal frequency and size.

Why does it seem like calories in and calories out does not work?

We are not very good at correctly judging how much we are eating and burning!      Well-controlled studies show that people (even trained professionals!) consistently underestimate calorie intake and over-estimate calorie burn by up to 50%.

What about hormones?

Hormones like insulin, glucagon, growth hormone, testosterone, and others influence metabolism, lean mass, and fat mass they do not invalidate the energy balance equation.   

So What Can You Do?

Measure your food intake – use whatever tools you like including scales, measuring spoons, pictures, food logs, portion estimating tools, etc.     The key is getting a handle on what you are consuming by tracking EVERYTHING you are consume for a full week – the results will probably surprise you!

Track you daily activity levels – including exercise and non-exercise movement for a week using a movement tracker or app on your phone.   While far from perfect this also gives you a window into what you are doing which most of us are completely unaware of consciously. 

Choose whole, unprocessed foods – like eggs, meat, fish, vegetables and fruit.    That is where all the micro-nutrients (Vitamins, minerals, and beneficial plant chemicals!) you need come from, and if you follow through on this you may find yourself losing weight without so much effort.

Adjust your proportion of protein, carbs, and fat – some people respond better to more carbs and fewer fats while others may respond better to less carb and more fat and protein.     There is no single diet that is best for everyone!

Get a Professional Coach – making consistent changes in your eating and activity habits can be very challenging – especially when you try to do it all by yourself.      Seek out a qualified and compassionate coach who can help you navigate these tricky waters.

Solving the Weight Loss Puzzle - Part 4

 

If you have not read parts 1 – 3 do so now.  Now that we understand that the three keys to losing bodyfat are: Resistance Training; High Intensity Interval Training, and Managing food and beverage intake let’s talk about how you really get a handle on doing all three!    

First, you need to establish a baseline to measure progress against which means assessing your current weight and percentage of body fat.   There are many effective ways to assess body composition (how much of you is fat and how much is lean tissue) but the most accurate is to get a Styku Scan.    Styku - www.styku.com is highly accurate and gives you a perfect picture of your body and all its measurement.   In fact there is no more accurate method to determine all your body measurements and be able to compare them accurately over time.

The Styku Scan also gives you a daily caloric expenditure estimate based on your height, weight, sex, measurements and level of bodyfat along with target calorie intake to reach your goal weight/bodyfat level.     Most Workout Anytime locations have a Styku Scanner and all members receive a complimentary scan, and premium memberships include monthly Styku Scans!

The next key is adopting some method to get a handle on your food and beverage intake and the new Workout Anytime Go App is the ideal place to do that!   the app is free to members and includes nutrition logging and tools like ability to scan food barcodes to get nutrition information.

Third you need to be able to measure your progress on the activity side of the equation by using a device to monitor exercise intensity and calorie expenditure and there are several good options such as Fitbit, Apple Watch and best of all Myzone.   My favorite devices are ones that include heart rate monitoring and not just movement tracking because during your workouts your heart rate response tells the whole story!     

During your HIIT training sessions you want to elevate your heart rate between 85 – 100% of your maximum heart rate for 10 – 15 minutes of a half hour sessions.   You can estimate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220, but there are several other formulas available for estimating your maximum heart rate.   Here is a great article that walks you through three options: https://theathleteblog.com/calculate-maximum-heart-rate/ 

Fourth you need to keep a record of your resistance training exercises so that you can see whether you are making progress.   You can also do this using the new Workout Anytime Go app.  If you are not familiar with proper resistance training technique and exercises we highly suggest you find a trainer and invest in some personal training to learn proper form and resistance levels so you get the most from your resistance training. If you follow these guidelines and record your exercise sessions and food and beverage intake you will find that becoming a lean, mean fighting machine is not as hard as you think!

Solving the Weight Loss Puzzle - Part 3

 

If you have not read parts 1 and 2 please do so first!.  Now that we understand that the most important factor in controlling bodyweight is managing the energy you use each day with the energy you take in from food and beverages the next step is understanding the crucial difference between losing fat and losing weight!

In the beginning of any new diet there is typically a significant loss of water weight, and while comforting this is a temporary phenomenon and not permanent!    Also it is important to understand that real goal should be reducing levels of bodyfat while maintaining or actually increasing muscle mass.     

The reason is that muscle and fat are not the same when it comes to how you look and feel. Fat is stored energy and fat tissue takes up much more space than muscle or other lean tissue mass.  Take a look at the picture below to get a sense of how different 5lbs of muscle looks compared to 5lbs of fat.

As you can see muscle is much denser and firmer material than fat.  The practical implication is that if you were to lose 5lbs of fat and gain 5lbs of muscle - although the scale would not change at all – you (and everyone you know) would notice a big improvement in your appearance.   You would actually look smaller and feel firmer. 

In addition because muscle burns significantly more calories than fat while at rest your resting metabolic rate would be increased meaning you are burning more calories ALL the time — not just during exercise.  

It is very important to have a way to track your progress and the Styku Body Scan is ideal because you will literally see changes in your body and be able to accurately track your fat and muscle mass to make sure you are losing fat and not losing muscle over time. 

So the next question becomes “how do I lose fat and build or maintain muscle mass at the same time?”   

Regular Resistance Training aka strength training which stimulates your body to maintain or build muscle and bone tissue.

High Intensity Interval Training which maximizes calorie burn both during AND after the workout.  One of the best HIIT workouts is Sprint 8 - to learn more about it see this previous blogpost:  http://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2019/03/is-hiit-really-better-for-fat-loss-than.html 

Managing your food and beverage Intake to ensure your calorie intake is slightly below your total calorie output to ensure your body has a reason to use fat (stored energy).

Maintain Adequate Protein Intake - it is very important to eat enough protein to prevent loss of muscle mass during weight loss.   Protein needs vary based on your size, age, and activity level but during weight loss you want to shoot for .8 - 1 gram of quality protein per pounds of bodyweight.   To learn more about protein needs check out these previous blogposts:   http://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2021/06/everything-you-need-to-know-about.html and http://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2021/06/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about.html .

While each of these components are important by themselves - combining them creates a much greater short and long term response.   Take any of the four components out and you will limit your results!

Reducing calorie intake (aka dieting alone) will initially result in greater fat loss than exercise for people who are beginning to exercise, BUT overtime your body will ALWAYS slow-down in response to any sustained drop in calorie intake.   

Exercise on the other hand is just the opposite — initially for an unfit person exercise makes a very small contribution to any weight loss because the person’s exercise capacity is low.  However, over time a person’s exercise capacity will improve.    So all forms of diet become less effective over time while exercise becomes more effective.

The key is addressing diet and exercise out of the gate and focusing on HIIT and Resistance Training in your exercise programming while watching your food and beverage intake!

Stay tuned for the final part of this article next week!