Dietary Magic Pulls Something From Thin Air
And now for my first act, I’m going to turn nothing … into something. In violation of Newton’s Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy I’m going to poof something right out of thin air by taking a zero-calorie thing, and turning that into luv handles and spare tires.
But first, we have to move from old skool Houdini-style magic to hypnotism — curiouser and curiouser.
Let’s all pretend that we’re watching a watch go back and fourth, while I breathily whisper that you’re getting sleepy. Veeeerrrry sleeeepy. Let’s further suspend disbelief that you can do that while you’re reading the instructions for watch watching. During our imaginary sleep I implant the suggestion that you cannot sleep at night. It will be as if you are over 40 and somehow your brain pops on wondering irrelevant things for hours until 15 minutes before you have to get up (remember, when this actually happens … it was me. Bwa ha ha).
The next morning after you awake, you stumble over to free base some coffee or just straight up snort espresso powder (note to crazy people: do NOT do this) and go through your day in a groggy haze like your brain has on muddy contacts. But the other effect of your own personal zombie apocalypse is that you get hungry. Everything wants to go in your mouth, like a black hole pulling in galaxies of Ho Hos and office bagels and the stuff in the back of the fridge that no longer has recognizable features.
Lack of sleep does this. Creating cravings, creating the sense of hunger when you and I both know you are anything in this world but calorie deficient.
This article below, originally pubbed here, just makes the point that 100% calorie free sleep can turn into weight control issues. You know your own best strategy for sleep — if you need some pointers, let us know. There’s no magic to this, once you know the trick.
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Are your eyelids drooping as you read this? You might want to watch what you put on your plate. We all know that a lack of sleep can make us older, crankier, and—let’s face it—fatter. (Learn what else happens when you don’t get enough sleep.) But sleep slackers, beware: Researchers now know exactly how many more calories we consume when we skimp on our shuteye, and it’s not pretty.
According to a 2016 meta-analysis published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who don’t get enough sleep much more than usual the next day. More specifically, they eat an average of 385 calories more than their usual intake. The research team also revealed that the sleep-deprived participants ate significantly more fat and less protein.
Why the boost in calories and fat? Turns out, a bad night’s sleep can actually make you crave junk food, scientists say.
To make matters worse, the subjects didn’t move around much after a bad night’s sleep. So instead of burning off those extra calories, it’s likely that the participants ended up storing them as fat. Consistently eating 385 extra calories a day can cause you to gain about a pound every nine days, Women’s Health reported. And not only does that spell disaster for your tummy, but all that weight gain could also increase your risk of developing conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.
If you struggle to lose weight, researchers suggest adjusting your sleep habits first and foremost. Try getting to bed an hour earlier to hit the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep. But for those who struggle to reach that suggested dose of Zzzs, try these tips to stay sharp. Trust us, your body (and your brain!) will be glad you did.
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