Article:
Conquer your Cravings by Catching your ZZZZ’s
By Roslyn Franken
Imagine if you could control your weight while you
sleep. Sound too good to be true? Good news. With mounting medical
evidence linking sleep and appetite control, catching your zzzz’s can be one of your
best allies in conquering food cravings especially for sugary, high carbohydrate and
calorie dense foods. This article will help you look at your own sleep habits, WHY
you may need to make some changes and HOW.
Which of the following statements are TRUE for you?
I rarely go to sleep much before midnight.
- I have trouble falling asleep.
- I usually wake up during the night.
- I often feel sleep deprived.
If one or more of these statements are TRUE for you, then
you may not be getting proper sleep which in turn could be holding you back from reaching
and maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle. Here's why...
The hunger and fullness hormone effect
While you sleep your body produces hormones that control
appetite and signal your brain when you're full. Too little or disrupted sleep can throw
off these hormone levels so that the next day your...
Appetite is seemingly unsatiable especially when it comes
to sugary, high carbohydrate and calorie dense foods and;
Your brain isn't telling you you're full.
This helps to explain why it may be so difficult to stop
after only one cookie, for example. Not exactly a good recipe for effective weight
control.
Benefits of getting proper sleep
Although we all have different sensitivities to these
hormones, getting enough proper sleep can only help you in your efforts to reach and
maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle:
Can help to minimize the cravings for sugary, high
carbohydrate and calorie dense foods;
Can help improve your brain's ability to get the signals that you're full faster;
You may have more energy during the day;
Better able to manage daily stress
Changing your sleep habits gradually
Get to bed earlier: If you
typically get to sleep around midnight, start by going to sleep at 11:30pm. Get used
to that and then cut it back to 11:00pm, etc… Your goal is to get a minimum of 6-8
hours of solid undisrupted, good quality sleep
Improve your bedtime habits. Start
slowing and winding down at least a half hour before your desired bedtime. Give your
mind and body a rest. For example, get off your computer, stop working and doing
chores, turn off the television. Instead, take a hot bath, do some light stretching
to relieve your muscles of the tension built up through the day, spend some quality time
with your loved one. Take time for yourself to relax and unwind and avoid eating
right before bed.
If you often wake up at 3:00am and are wide awake and have
trouble falling back asleep, observe what is happening. Are you worrying or
obsessing about your To-Do list for the next day? Get out of bed and write down your
thoughts and then learn to practice self-relaxation techniques to get you back to sleep.
Other factors
If you still wake up tired and feel tired throughout the
day, speak with your doctor as there may be other underlying issues impeding your proper
sleep such as obstructive sleep apnea which causes disruption in breathing and a tendency
to snore. This disruption may occur multiple times throughout the night preventing
you from having proper good quality sleep. Heavy emotional stress may also be
playing a big part.
Roslyn Franken is
a proud cancer survivor and acclaimed author of The A List: 9
Guiding Principles for Healthy Eating and Positive Living and Death Can Wait: Stories from Cancer Survivors. She is a motivational speaker and host of the How to Thrive after 35 internet radio
show. Roslyn also offers one-on-one coaching by telephone and
email conveniently accessible world-wide. For more information, send email to info@roslynfranken.com or visit www.roslynfranken.com.
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complete statement with it:
Roslyn
Franken is author of The A List: 9 Guiding
Principles for Healthy Eating and Positive Living. She is a Weight Loss Coach and
Motivational Speaker on positive living solutions for positive results for greater health,
success and quality of life. She hosts How to
Thrive After 35 Internet Talk Radio and is co-author of Death Can Wait: Stories from Cancer Survivors.
Diagnosed
with cancer at age 29, Franken fought back to become a long-term cancer survivor. Then at
age 39, at her heaviest weight ever, and concerned for her health, she decided to fight
back once again, only this time to overcome her battles with food and weight once and for
all.
Roslyn
owns Roslyn Franken Group, committed to helping people lighten up their lives one bite at
a time by reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, balanced lifestyle, and positive
outlook.
For
more information, visit www.roslynfranken.com
or view her video at http://www.roslynfranken.com/highlights.wmv
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