Is Poor Sleep Sabotaging Your Weight Loss?

Is Poor Sleep Sabotaging Your Weight Loss?

Sleep can significantly sabotage our weight loss attempts. Have you ever noticed that you’re more likely to overeat when you’re tired? Not getting enough sleep interferes with the hormones that regulate our hunger and satiety.

You’re probably aware that lack of sleep impacts negatively on your health in a number of ways, but it can also hamper your efforts to lose weight and maintain a healthy diet. Here’s what you need to know about how sleep affects weight loss.

INCREASED HUNGER

When you haven’t slept enough, levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin are increased so you’re likely to feel hungrier than normal which can lead to to overeating.

DECREASED SATIETY

Sleep also regulates how much leptin the body produces. Leptin is known as the ‘satiety hormone’. It lets us know when we’ve had enough to eat and sends signals to the brain that we’re full. Lack of sleep reduces levels of leptin meaning that our ‘stop eating’ messages don’t get through.

The combination of increased hunger and decreased satiety is a recipe for overeating. And, chances are it won’t be salad you find yourself bingeing on. In one study, people who lost 80 minutes of sleep one night ate an average of 549 extra calories the following day.

LACK OF WILLPOWER OR LACK OF SLEEP?

We often blame a lack of willpower when we struggle to control our eating, but how many of us are actually at the mercy of our hormones due to lack of sleep? Many of us give ourselves a hard time, not truly understanding the underlying causes of the perceived lack of willpower. Next time you’re tempted to overeat, or reach for foods that aren’t ideal, ask yourself if lack of sleep could be to blame.

WAYS TO GET A BETTER NIGHT’S SLEEP

AVOID EVENING SCREENTIME

Phones, iPads, laptops and TVs are best avoided at least one hour before bedtime. Studies have shown that exposure to the blue light emitted by these devices can suppress melatonin – the hormone that helps us fall asleep and stay asleep.

AVOID STIMULANTS

You probably know that consuming caffeine after a certain time can affect your sleep, but alcohol can also have a negative effect on sleep too. That glass of red might make you feel sleepy, but ironically it can actually disrupt healthy sleep. Anyone who tracks their sleep and recovery using wearable health trackers like a WHOOP Strap or Oura Ring will have noticed how even small amounts of alcohol can significantly impact sleep quality and recovery.

HYPNOTISE YOURSELF TO SLEEP

Sleep hypnotherapy / meditation recordings can be very useful for helping you get off to sleep. There are many different meditation apps available to download on the App Store. We recommend MEYA which uses sound wave therapy to induce a state of calm.

TRY A SLEEP SUPPLEMENT

Countless natural sleep supplements are available over the counter. Two we find to be effective are:
Valerian and Hops – a natural, herbal sleeping aid and Unplug, a sleep complex from Motion Nutrition.

WORK WITH US

We are a team of qualified nutritionists who specialise in weight loss. The way we support our clients in losing weight extends far beyond handing out generic diet plans. Achieving and maintaining your ideal weight requires more than that. If you’re ready to overcome your weight challenges, achieve your goal weight and maintain it long term, we can help. You can use this link to book in for a complimentary call. This is an opportunity to talk through your challenges with a member of our team and decide together whether one of our Intelligent Weight Loss programmes is right for you. Or contact us to request a copy of our brochure and we will get back to you soon.



AILSA HICHENS

 

Ailsa is one of our most experienced practitioners. She specialises in helping clients to lose weight, develop a healthy relationship with food and finally feel comfortable in their skin. Ailsa’s mission is for everyone she works with to enjoy the journey and that working with a nutritionist should not be a punishment, but your access to a new possibility.

 

Ailsa is not only an experienced weight loss nutritionist, she is also a skilled coach. She helps our clients overcome emotional eating, destructive habits and self-sabotaging behaviours that have prevented successful weight loss in the past. Ailsa has spent years in clinic working with clients who have experienced yo-yo dieting and have discovered that long term weight loss is not just about eating less until you can stand it no longer.

 

Working with Ailsa you will be comprehensively supported, not only in improving your nutrition and lifestyle, but also your eating habits and your relationship with food. When you work on all these elements together, the results can be truly astonishing.

 

To enquire about working with Ailsa, please contact us.

Test Nikki is our Practice Manager, managing our team of practitioners and heading up the day-to-day running of the business. Nikki is involved in the strategic development of our practice, coming from a strong business background in town planning. A Florida girl, Nikki relocated to the UK in 2014 with her husband and two children.

NIKKI ANDRIANI

 

Nikki is our Practice Manager, managing our team of practitioners and heading up the day-to-day running of th clinic.

 

Nikki is involved in the strategic development of our practice, coming from a strong business background in town planning.

 

A Florida girl, Nikki relocated to the UK in 2014 with her husband and two children.

STÉPHANIE ACHAR

Stéphanie is a skilled nutritional therapist and functional medicine practitioner with additional training in eating disorders, disordered eating and obesity. She believes that working towards both physiological and mental health is key in achieving optimum wellbeing.

 

Stéphanie’s personal experience of emotional eating and the ongoing struggle to find the right support led her to combine the science of nutrition with behavioural coaching to motivate and empower her clients. She specialises in helping people who struggle with their weight and their relationship with food. She helps them develop a healthier and more peaceful relationship with food and their bodies.

 

To enquire about working with Stéphanie, please contact us.

INNA WEARN

Inna is passionate about supporting women on their journey to improved health and wellbeing. She believes that the solution to effective weight loss does not lie in ever more restrictive diets, but a more sophisticated approach that optimises health and vitality, as well as promoting effective weight loss.

 

Working with Inna you will benefit from her in-depth knowledge of female health and hormones. She will support you in developing a healthy diet, lifestyle and mindset that ensures you reach your ideal weight and maintain it in the years to come.

 

Inna is passionate about food with a wide repertoire of delicious healthy recipes and meal ideas to ensure your weight loss journey is as enjoyable as possible!

 

To enquire about working with Inna, please contact us.

ANIA MASON

 

Ania is a firm believer that improving your health and losing weight should be a positive, empowering journey, not one centred around deprivation.

 

After being diagnosed with two autoimmune conditions in her twenties, Ania spent several years educating herself on the power of food and nutrition. She put it all into practise and changed her diet and lifestyle, reversing her endometriosis and thyroid disease. After experiencing such a significant improvement in her health, Ania had a big desire to help others. She embarked on a four year journey to study nutrition, graduating from the Institute for Optimum Nutrition with distinction.

 

Ania specialises in autoimmunity and works with clients who have underlying health issues preventing successful weight loss. Her expertise enables her to successfully support our clients with conditions such as hypothyroidsm (underactive thyroid), PCOS and diabetes. 

 

To enquire about working with Ania, please contact us.

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