Shot of stressed business woman working from home on laptop looking worried, tired and overwhelmed.
Tired as F…
Lack of sleep and subsequent fatigue are powerful triggers for hunger and a cause of obesity. Adults who get less than five hours of sleep per night have a 60% increased risk of obesity. Children who sleep less than 10 hours a night see their risk double. New studies have revealed that hormonal modulations are responsible for this. Lack of sleep reduces leptin (the hormone that makes you feel full) and increases ghrelin (the hormone that makes you feel hungry). This results in the person being pushed toward carbohydrate (sugar) rich foods, lowering their insulin sensitivity and putting them at increased risk for type 2 diabetes.
The only treatment for fatigue is rest. It is generally recommended that people get 7 to 8 hours of sleep per day. However, North Americans are sleeping 1.5 to 2 hours less per night than they were 40 years ago, so that 40% of people sleep less than 7 hours per day.
It is recommended that teenagers get 9 hours of sleep per night and school-aged children get 10 to 11 hours.
To help you sleep better, avoid the following before bedtime: caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, exercise and bright light. If worries are keeping you awake, write them down on a piece of paper and tell yourself that the night is a good time and that your subconscious will give you the answer the next morning. Chapters 4 and 5 will provide you with additional tools.
Also, get into the habit of doing a good relaxation technique with at least three deep breaths in and slow breaths out. Mental programming sequence based on the abbreviated Shultz autogenic training, which lasts six minutes, will be very useful.
Don’t neglect sleep deprivation and fatigue or you will never be able to solve your overweight and food consumption problem. A good six-minute relaxation technique can have an effect comparable to an hour of sleep.
Excerpt From: Dr. Maurice Larocque. “The WHY book.” Apple Books.
