Sleep Yourself Skinny

Photo by Layla Mazdyasni

If you were to poll the people of Carmel Valley on the one thing in life they wish they had more of (well, besides money) its time. Most of us get so busy with our days multi-tasking between our families, our jobs, surfing the Internet and our cell phones that in a blink of an eye the day is half over yet you haven’t scratched the surface on the ‘To Do’ list.

Because of these obligations and distractions our sleep suffers. Hey, I can’t blame you– you’d rather spend an extra hour connecting with your significant other, watching an exciting TV show, out at a party, or surfing the web then waste it sleeping. And there’s the age-old adage, ‘You can sleep when you’re dead!’

But what if that lost hour or two of sleep each night could be largely responsible for your low energy levels, reduce mental clarity, diminished strength and stamina, and stubborn body fat that you just can’t seem to lose? The National Sleep Foundation maintains that seven to nine hours of sleep for adults is optimal and that sufficient sleep benefits alertness, memory, problem solving, and overall health. Moreover, most of our poorest nutritional decision-making happens during hours you shouldn’t even be awake. A UCSD psychiatry study of more than one million adults found that people who live the longest self-report sleeping for six to seven hours each night. So maybe the adage should be modified to ‘you’ll die if you don’t sleep more?’

Known effects of sleep deprivation include weight gain, hypertension, Type 2 Diabetes, irritability, cognitive impairment, memory lapse or loss, impaired immune system, increased heart rate variability, heart disease, decrease temperature, and growth suppression. Bottom line, when you burn the candle on both ends everything suffers and that includes your waistline.

Instead of sleeping, many of us line up in droves outside of coffee houses for our morning caffeine fix and continually come back for that second and third fix of ‘liquid energy’. Yet caffeine just leaves you wired on the outside and exhausted underneath. Technically, it is not even an “energy drink’ as energy involves calories and caffeine is calorie free. Furthermore, that constant caffeine buzz puts stress on your adrenal glands, which can have negative consequences on both your health and your weight. By making yourself go to bed a little earlier and ensuring that you get quality sleep, you’ll benefit with increased strength and stamina for your workouts as well as a more efficient and productive workday with your newfound mental clarity, leaving you with more time at the end of the day and an overall improved quality of life.

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Kyle Brown

Kyle Brown is a health and nutrition expert whose portfolio includes everything from leading workshops for Fortune 500 companies and publishing nutrition articles in top-ranked fitness journals, to training celebrity clientele –from pro athletes to CEOs to multi-platinum recording artists. In 2010 and 2011, Kyle was voted San Diego’s Best Personal Trainer by the readers of The San Diego Union Tribune and Signonsandiego.com. Kyle is the CEO and the creator of FIT 365®, an all-natural, complete low-calorie meal in a shake. Kyle is also the author of the forthcoming book Secrets of a Champion.