While thumbing through a magazine last night, I read an article that says the average woman is actually gaining weight by not getting enough sleep. It says sleep deprivation "wreaks havoc on hormones that control appetite, cravings and the metabolism of fat." Several studies were cited which indicate that people who are tired eat more and crave more junk food.
My own personal theory is that if you're sleeping more, you're awake less to raid the fridge. It's easy to skip that midnight snack if you've been in bed for two hours. But the "scientists" didn't check that out, so it didn't make it into the story.
Anyway, they tested this theory out on five women of different sizes and ages, asking them not to make any lifestyle changes (eating better, working out more, etc.) but to commit to 7.5 hours of sleep per night. The result? They all lost inches and most of them lost weight. This is a diet I can really get behind.
When the alarm went off this morning at 5:00 after a meager six hours of sleep, it was all I could do not to tell Chad that I was going to skip the gym and just lose weight while I slept. That really would be heaven.
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