Losing weight while you sleep

It sounds crazy but it is true! Of course the catch is what you eat. The key is to eat less food that contains fat and eat more fruits and vegetables. Easier said then done. The foods that we grew up loving are many times the food that we shouldn’t be eating, at least not eating in such large quantities. But there is help!

1. Creative recipes – make the meals tastier and add variety will help wean you off your fat laden meals.
2. Changing your mind set is more than half the battle. Read about success and be inspired!
3. Challenge yourself to eat better. I know but try again and again, there isn’t a time limit.

Here are few resources to help you on your way.

Prevention Magazine has it’s own  eat more lose more diet.

http://www.prevention.com/cda/article/eat-more-lose-more/f25388dc78803110VgnVCM10000013281eac____/weight.loss/diets/other.popular.diets/low.calorie.diets

Men’s Health Magazine also has its take on eating more and losing more

http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/lose_fat/index.php

As for low fat recipes  try Low Fat cooking at about.com

 http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/mealplanning/a/healthymeals.htm

Tagged: eat better, eat more fruits and vegetables, eat more lose weight, low fat diet, low fat recipes

There are a million diets out there. Some are traditional and some sound just crazy. If you have done any research on dieting over the years you probably know that there isn’t any easy way to lose weight. And you probably also know that losing weight takes time. You have seen all those ads about people losing lots of weight in a hurry. Of course a lot of them gain that weight back in a hurry.
So what do you need to look for in a diet?

• The pounds come off slowly. A good diet will have you losing a pound a week. This gives your body time to adjust to the weight loss. I know most people are in a hurry now a days but in the long run losing weight slowly is the best way to go.
• Go for the diet that includes all the basic food groups. Grain, Fruits, Vegetables, milk products (low fat), lean meats, nuts, seeds and legumes. If you have a medical condition always check with your doctor to see if some of the foods in these groups are harmful to you.
• Any diet should have exercise included in it even if it is just walking. Once again you need to check with your doctor first.
• Keep track of what you eat and plan you meals ahead of time. This will help keep you honest.
• The most important thing to remember is that you feel comfortable with your eating habits. Add variety to your meals.  

In order to make any diet work you must have patience! There are going to be setbacks, don’t let them get you down.
At some point you will forget that you are on a diet and consider your eating and exercising as a new lifestyle.

For more information about the food groups click on the CDC website about nutrition.

For more information about basic exercises that you can do click on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness.

Tagged: basic food groups, exercise, the pounds come off slowly, weight loss, What to look for in a diet

 Eat This Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution (Paperback) is a great guideline to grocery shopping. Each chapter is a walk down the grocery aisle showing you what to buy and why you should buy it. The healthiest foods and the ones with the most nutrition are pointed out to you as you wander in your local grocery. This book is full of nutrition facts going into detail about a great number of products. The facts are laid before you leading you to make the most of the information. Like the other books in the series this book is easy to read and use.

Tagged: book review on grocery shopping

Is losing weight while you sleep a pipe dream or is it real?  Instead of hitting the gym you hit the mattress and sleep off those pounds. Don’t believe it? There is some evidence to suggest that there is a connection between sleep and losing weight.

First thing to consider are the hormones, Leptin and Ghrelin. Leptin is the energy balancer that controls how much food we eat. Ghrelin is a hormone that stimulates the food intake. It has been suggested that there is a decreased level of Ghrelin in cancer patients who are losing weight. If there is a decreased amount of Leptin being delivered into the central nervous system this will cause weight loss.

To sum it up, an increased level of Leptin is good and an increased level of Ghrelin is bad. In order to lose weigh there must be appropriate level of each hormone.

Where does sleep fit in to all this?

Both Leptin and Ghrelin are hormones that are produced mostly at night. If you don’t get enough sleep your level of Leptin goes down and your Ghrelin level goes up. This is a recipe for weight gain.

It has been stated that sleep apnea patients may have a decreased level of Leptin that may be why so many people with sleep apnea are obese. But recent studies haven’t come to that conclusion.

Another reason that sleep helps with losing weight is that people who sleep more are more rested and have more energy. Therefore they rely less on sugar loaded foods to get them through the day.

Tagged: Can you lose weight while you sleep, ghrelin, hormones produced at night, leptin, losing weigh, sleep and losing weight, sleep apnea, sugar loaded foods