Jeff's Thoughts

• The Big 5 For Weight Loss – 5

  28 April, 2011

  Sleep – The King To Results

  I was deciding what the 5th one was, there are so many options this could easily be the big 10 for weight loss. I was deciding between toxicity, hormonal imbalance or even supplements. While a good magnesium supplements will help you sleep, really they are all linked. Deep stage sleep is where the magic happens. In deep stage sleep your liver detoxifies you, it helps with insulin management which will help your hormaonl balance and ultimate your weight loss. If you cant detoxify, often toxins show up as environmental estrogens (which create fat on the thighs). So really sleep truly is king to getting results. In my studio in Wellington I always ask people if they wake up tired when they join. I would say 8/10 people tick the box to say yes. Combine the poor quality sleep (and hence recovery) with a stressful life with poor food and it is a downward cycle that will inevitably lead to long term illness. This is why personal training can be an art and not just about yelling at someone (as I see so often in the media). If you can get results before someone even starts, it keeps you better than the rest.

  If your body can not detoxify itself adequately, this means that the body has to deal with higher than optimal toxicity levels. When the body has this going on internally, your results will be limited as your body will be overtrained more easily as your body will need more time to recover. Between the hours of 10 pm and 2 am is when physical repair happens, between the hours of 2 am and 6 am is when the physiological repair happens. Thus if you are going to bed later than 10 or 10.30 then you are already missing out on valuable recovery time that your body needs. The 8 hours does start at 10 pm and not when you go to bed, so. sleeping for 8 hours from 2 am to 10 am has been proven to not be as effective

  Dr Sonja Peterson N.M.D who has wri.en an article labelled “A Good Nights Sleep” points out some key reasons why sleep is so important.

  1. Your metabolism declines due to a Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) decrease. With a lower metabolism you will not be burning as many calories on a daily basis.

  2. “Research has shown that after just one week of insufficient sleep, the body can no longer metabolize carbs efficiently. Blood sugar takes 40% longer to decrease after a high carb meal and insulin sensi4vity decreases by 30%”.

  With the above information it is easy to see why a high carbohydrate meal combined with a lack of quality sleep leeds us to ill health very quickly.

  3. Deep stage sleep is when growth hormone is released.

  The way your bedroom is set up can make a big impact on your sleep. Follow the below rules and you should be set for a good night sleep.

  1. Make your room as dark as possible. It is only when you are in complete dark that melatonin is released. It is melatonin that helps your body get into deep stage sleep,and so without complete darkness you lack the ability to fully release your melatonin which means you will never go thorough your deep sleep cycle correctly. You should also turn down all lights in your living room an hour or 2 before you go to bed, this will start the melatonin produc/on. If you go from a completely lit living room to expect to sleep in a dark room, it may be hard for your body to adjust that quickly.

  2. Take all electronic equipment out of your room. This includes TVs to your mobile phones. If you insist on having your phones in your room. Turning them off is not enough; take out the battery to completely stop all electromagnetic fields affecting your sleep patterns.

  3. Make sure you associate your bedroom with sleep (and one other activity). I.e. do not take a whole lot of work with you or watch TV before you sleep. Just remember that your results will always be limited if you break down con/nually at the gym, you have to create the best environment for your results to happen. Even if you are a weekend warrior, the above are simple steps you can take that do not affect your lifestyle too much – so why not, give it a go and have a great sleep

   

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