The Role of Sleep Consuming a large amount of food before bedtime can also result in indigestion and sleep problems, which can trigger you to eat more during the proceeding days. A growing body of research suggests a connection between obesity and lack of adequate sleep. Statistics show that overweight individuals sleep about 1.8 hours less a week than people of normal weight. Since the 1960's sleep duration for American adults has dropped by as much as two hours a night, while obesity has drastically increased. Sleep is a regulator of two hormones that effect appetite, leptin and ghrelin. Leptin helps suppress food intake and stimulate energy expenditure, while ghrelin stimulates appetite, fat production, and body growth. When one is sleep deprived, the level of leptin drops and the level of ghrelin increases. The result is a drastic increase in hunger. One study reported a 24% increase in hunger, with excessive, uncontrollable cravings for calorie and carbohydrate packed foods such as cookies, candy and cake. It can all add up to a vicious cycle of late night binges, lack of adequate sleep, uncontrolled snacking, late night binges, and so on. Are You An Evening Eater? Try this exercise to find out. Use the Nutrition Tracker to track 3-5 typical days of eating. Print each day's results and use your records to answer the following questions: 1. How many meals and snacks did you eat after 5:00 pm? 2. How many meals and snacks did you eat during the day? 3. How many total calories did you consume after 5:00 pm? 4. How many total calories did you consume for the day? 5. What activities occurred while you ate after 5:00 pm? You may have a problem with evening eating if: Put An End to the Evening Binge Cycle! You CAN control evening eating disasters. Try these tips to normalize sleeping patterns and fend off hunger:
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Is Evening Eating Destroying Your Weight Loss Efforts?
Cues to Eating and How to Control Them
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