Friday, July 30, 2021

Is Stress Ruining Your Sleep? How To Deal

For about 70 million Americans, a good night’s sleep is as mythical as the tooth fairy and Big Foot.¹ For them, it just doesn’t exist.

At any given time, between 10 to 30 percent of the population suffers from insomnia—an inability to fall or stay asleep or poor quality of sleep when they do finally doze off. A good night’s sleep is defined as seven or more hours a night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).²

Stress Drives Poor Sleep

a stressed out woman laying on the ground with a book over her head

There are many causes of poor sleep, but stress leads the list. So it should come as no surprise that the coronavirus pandemic—with its deadly combo of health concerns, economic anxiety, disruption of normal routines and isolation—triggered a 37 percent rise in insomnia, along with stress, anxiety and depression, according to a study of almost 6,000 people published recently in the journal Sleep Medicine.³

The American Psychological Association found in its 2020 annual survey, Stress in America, that stress is not only higher among Americans than in previous years, it’s the highest it has been since the survey was launched in 2007.⁴

The current wave of stress-induced sleep problems has even earned its own name: “coronoasomia.”⁵

Why Stress Keeps You From Losing Weight (and How to Beat It!)

The Vicious Cycle of Stress and Sleep Deprivation

a man laying awake in bed looking at his alarm clock at night

Stress isn’t just the cause of sleep problems, it’s also the result of sleep deprivation. If you’re not getting enough shut-eye at night because you’re juggling your worries, they may seem to have multiplied overnight. And to add to those keep-you-up-at-night concerns: lack of sleep can lead to a depressed immune system, increased risk of health problems such as diabetes and hypertension, plus weight gain.⁶

In fact, if you’re trying to lose weight, not getting enough sleep is a major obstacle: Losing sleep can reduce the amount of weight you lose and trigger overeating, in part by altering your body’s appetite chemicals.⁷

Naps and a night-time glass of red wine may be your fallback plan for de-stressing and getting a better night’s sleep, but they’re not the best solution to avoiding the all-day yawns. And they’re not going to give you the skills you need to deal with everyday or extraordinary stress.

How To De-Stress And Get Good Sleep Tonight

Instead, follow these smart lifestyle tips from the nation’s top sleep and stress experts for calming down and getting all 40 of those winks.

1. Schedule regular daily exercise.

man on his daily run outdoors

Exercise can help improve your mood and make whatever’s bothering you seem more manageable. Studies have found that 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise—like a brisk walk or bike ride—can make you feel calmer for up to several hours.⁸ Exercising can also help you sleep better, research says. Just don’t exercise too close to bedtime. Those feel-good endorphins you get from aerobic exercise can actually keep you up—plus your core body temperature may rise which sends the wrong message to your body clock that it’s time to be awake, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.⁹

On Nutrisystem, we recommend 30 minutes of daily activity each day for weight loss and better health. These 10-minute workouts make it easy to fit some movement into your everyday routine.

7 Easy Tips for Natural Stress Relief

2. Meditate.

Woman sitting on her bed streaming an online meditation class

Meditation has been shown to calm you down and give you a sense of peace. It can also help you sleep.¹⁰ You don’t have to sit cross-legged and chant “Om” either. Simply finding a quiet spot and focusing on your breathing instead of the maelstrom of thoughts in your head can help anchor you to the present moment and shoo those thoughts away.

You can take meditation classes or use a guided meditation you find on the Internet in which you are “guided” by another person to a place of peace and relaxation in your mind. Yoga, tai chi and qi gong are forms of “moving meditation” that may help you both reduce stress and learn to relax enough to fall and stay asleep. Or you can simply take a deep breath to a count of four and exhale to a count of four whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed.¹¹

Bonus: Studies have found that deep breathing can help you fall asleep and get back to sleep if you wake up. Not only by relaxing you, but by also initiating melatonin production.¹²

3. Cut back on caffeine.

Hot morning cup of coffee

Caffeine consumed at any time can give you the jitters. If you’re already stressed out, you need to switch drinks. Anything more than 400 milligrams a day—around four or five regular cups of coffee—can make you feel like you need to be scraped off the ceiling (your results may vary).¹³

And that cup of joe is a real killer at night. A 2013 study, published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, found that having a caffeinated drink even six hours before bedtime can interfere with sleep, reducing shuteye by about one hour.^14,15

Stress Management: 7 Symptoms and Signs of Chronic Stress

4. Avoid excessive screen time.

Woman checks her phone in bed before going to sleep

TV, computer games, even e-books may actually make it hard to wind down for sleep. They’re not only stimulating, but the blue light emitted from the screen can suppress your body’s production of the sleep-inducing chemical melatonin.¹⁶ If you can’t cut down on screen time during the day, consider blue light blocking glasses or turning on the blue light filter on your e-book reader. A few small studies have found that blocking blue light can help you sleep.^17,18

5. Find some green.

Cheerful man hiking outdoors

Visiting “green spaces”—a garden, a woodland park, a wilderness—during the day can relieve your stress. Not only do they provide a way to get some exercise, being in nature removes the distraction of daily life and helps you relax by making you feel like you’re “away,” according to a 2018 study in the journal, Behavioral Science.¹⁹

You don’t have to live at the edge of a national park to gain the stress-relieving benefits either. Spending even a little bit of time in a green space—only 10 minutes in research done by Cornell University—can have lasting results.²⁰

6. When your worries wake you up, get up.

A woman that can't sleep because of stress is holding her face in bed.

If you find yourself counting worries instead of sheep, get out of bed, says the Sleep Foundation. It’s counterproductive to toss and turn, wrestling with your thoughts. If you haven’t fallen asleep within 15 minutes after hitting the sack, leave the bed behind and go to another part of the house and do something that helps you chill, like meditating, reading, or listening to music. If your worries shake you awake in the middle of the night, don’t look at the clock. It will just make you more anxious. If you have to, drape a cloth over the clock face so you don’t see it.²¹

Feeling Stressed? 9 Foods That Make You Happy

Sources:

The post Is Stress Ruining Your Sleep? How To Deal appeared first on The Leaf.

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I have gained 17 COVID pounds since March of 2020

The only thing I’ve ever been good at is gaining weight. And no matter what I do, it will NEVER come off.

Covid shut everthing down, but I still worked out 5 days a week with the equipment I had. Dumbbells, kettlebells, jumprope, went on walks, etc.

I’m 26, female, 5’4, and today I’m 211 pounds. I started lockdown at 194 and even then I was on a mission to lose weight. I’ve never been successful, all I’m good at is maintaining for a period of time and then it slowly creeps up by a few and then I maintain for a time and the cycle continues.

I’ve been to the doctor. My blood pressure is fine, my blood work is fine. Everything is always fine.

I understand CICO. I’ve gone to TDEE calculator to figure out my proper calories. I’m active in the gym 5-6 days a week (heavy lifting and I try to include cardio every day in some capacity). If I choose sedentary on TDEE calculator, it gives me 2000 calories as my maintenance. That means eating 1700 PLUS a hard ass workout should be causing weight loss.

If I list lightly active it says 2300 is my maintenance, therefore 2000 calories a day plus a hard workout should lead to weight loss. But neither ever do.

And I find it distinctly hard to believe that at the level I’m exercising I need to be eating 1400 calories a day. I will quite literally be starving. Even 1700 leaves me hungry at the end of the day.

I’ve cut alcohol out during the week which I was doing early lockdown and I know added to my weight gain. When I drink I like to snack. I put on the first 10lbs without even thinking about it. When I realized what. I was doing I quickly stopped. But the weight gain HASNT stopped.

I’m on birth control pills. I have been for 7 years though. Every doctor SCREAMS that the pill isn’t causing weight. I’m just not sure.

My GOAL weight is 175. It’s funny because that’s still considered obese. But I know that I’d look significantly slimmer at that weight.

I’m just tired of this endless battle. I eat the healthiest out of anyone I know. I cook everthing. Lean meats, complex carbs, veggies, fruits. I exercise.

I’m gonna end up being 300lbs if this doesn’t stop, but I’m not eating fast food or thanksgiving size portions. I don’t know what to do anymore

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TEN POUNDS DOWN!!!

F 5'6 SW: 202 CW: 192 GW:160

I did it! I heard the first ten pounds were the hardest and I did it with a mix of CICO and intermittent fasting. There is nothing better than getting on the scale in the morning and seeing the numbers. Intermittent fasting has only execrated the loss and I am so happy.

I was on a medication for two years and went from a very low weight to 200 pounds. It has been a shot to my self confidence and made me really depressed but I decided last month to buckle up and focus on weight loss for the last and final attempt. I am so determined to get down to a healthy weight. I want to be able to feel confident again as well as be healthy and live a long, meaningful life.

I am starting college next month and I am definitely worried about the cafeteria situation but I feel that if I reach out for the nutritional information, I can maintain a good calorie count. I am also hoping to start hitting my apartments gym a bit more.

Anyway, I am just so excited to have a diet that works. I am also around for fellowship and holding eachother accountable.

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Discouraged in weight loss journey

I gained 20 pounds since 2019 (pandemic, dad got cancer, several family members died, tore my ACL), and began working out November 2020. For the first several months, the scale stayed the same but my body dramatically changed (you can see the pictures in my profile).

The past six weeks, I have been much more mindful of my diet (~1500 cal/day) and trying to do 20 minutes of daily sweaty speedwalking in addition to my lifting routine. I lost 9 pounds! It was so encouraging to see how thinking a little harder about food and doing a little cardio went such a long way! I bought a crop top!

Then I got my period and got my wisdom teeth out, and the scale has gone back up 9 pounds in the last week. I’ve still been doing cardio and have definitely been eating even fewer calories since I’m only allowed to eat soft foods post-op. I know that this journey isn’t linear, but it is really freaking discouraging. I want to be in this for the long haul, but six weeks of work seemingly getting cancelled by one week that’s out of my control is such a drag! Do y’all ever feel like this?

One positive side…I was always afraid of gaining the 20 extra lbs I have on me now. Two years in, literally the only change is that I bought bigger bras and pants. My husband still loves me, I’m still good at my job, I can still do things I like to do, and all of that helped me realize I love myself at any weight. It is a relief to be on a weight loss journey without shame or fear of myself.

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How do I learn to be patient?

Hi everyone! For context I am F20, 5'1 and 145lbs (GW: 120lbs)

I was overweight most of my life, and last year during the lockdown in my city, I lost around 44lbs and got to around 132lbs. I basically did low carb and didn't track anything, it seemed like the weight just fell off, and I suddenly had to learn how to accept compliments about my appearance etc. I actually found the change in perception from other people of me slightly disturbing, but flattering nonetheless. I think I went into my weight loss journey super naive. I did a lot of walking but didn't exercise a lot and I didn't know how much I was eating. In reality, I was probably eating anywhere between 1200 to 1800 calories a day. I started a new semester of university this term and started working a full-time job. I found I was so much more hungry than before and was binging after work as I hadn't eaten enough during the day. I did my best to eat to a low carb diet but also neglected my chronic health issues (I'm a type one diabetic). basically, I was just neglecting myself totally and felt so out of control. When I was first losing weight I had nearly perfect BGL control and slowly my numbers crept up my last test was flagged with a doctor for potential complications down the track. I put a large chunk of the weight back on- I think around 15lbs (can't be sure as I only weighed myself this week after losing a bit)

I have been researching calorie deficits, macros etc and I find it quite clear and obvious that its the best option for losing weight, I think in the last 4 weeks or so I've lost about 5lbs (I've gotten over my fear of the scale so will be more accurate now, I have a feeling it might be a bit more lost with accounting for water weight). But the main issue I have had is fear of overeating. I am using the loseit app to track my calories, and my goal is approx 1500 calories per day. I exercise a fair bit- I run 3 times a week and go to the gym as well as walking a lot. My TDEE says my maintenance at my height and weight is 2143, so 1500 is a 643 calorie deficit. But I am eating sometimes under 1200 calories a day, mainly because I am scared that my tracking is inaccurate and I'm overeating. I find it really difficult to trust the process, eat enough and not fear the result. I weigh most things but I still find it so hard to trust what I'm doing. I think I am scared that people will notice I have put some weight back on and I want to lose it as fast as possible, but that neglect put me in this situation anyway!

I am glad to be back on track and on a positive path to being healthy, I just neeeeeed tips to help me be patient and trust the process.

Thanks for reading, I know it's a long post but you're all so smart and have so much to say that i need to hear.

Thanks :))

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Post weight loss flab and chronic illness. How do I build muscle?

I'm an underweight, short (152- 43) female with very weak muscles and a high body fat percentage. I have adrenal fatigue and fatty liver disease so it is really difficult for me to walk and exercise. At one point I could not walk and had to literally sit down every minute or else I felt like I was going to faint from the pain in my body. I am currently on medications and even though my health is improving, I cannot exercise for long.

My weight fluctuated between 66 kilograms (28 bmi for me) and 37 kilograms depending on my liver health. I've lost and gained the same kilograms three times the past five years and my body looks different each time, less and less toned.

I probably lost a lot of weight and muscle after I gave birth to my daughter. 44 lbs since December. She's only 13 lbs 13 oz and holding her for more than 1 minute makes me want to cry because my whole body hurts.

How do I start lifting weights and what do I need to do to tone my body, I am really confused because I am underweight and still have a lot of fat, more fat than the first two times I lost weight, so technically do I not need to be in a deficit to lose it? But with weight lifting I would need to eat more.

With strength training is it okay to start with my body weight and gradually increase? How many times a week? I don't know what to do or where to start.

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Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Friday, 30 July 2021? Start here!

Today is your Day 1?

Welcome to r/Loseit!

So you aren’t sure of how to start? Don’t worry! “How do I get started?” is our most asked question. r/Loseit has helped our users lose over 1,000,000 recorded pounds and these are the steps that we’ve found most useful for getting started.

Why you’re overweight

Our bodies are amazing (yes, yours too!). In order to survive before supermarkets, we had to be able to store energy to get us through lean times, we store this energy as adipose fat tissue. If you put more energy into your body than it needs, it stores it, for (potential) later use. When you put in less than it needs, it uses the stored energy. The more energy you have stored, the more overweight you are. The trick is to get your body to use the stored energy, which can only be done if you give it less energy than it needs, consistently.

Before You Start

The very first step is calculating your calorie needs. You can do that HERE. This will give you an approximation of your calorie needs for the day. The next step is to figure how quickly you want to lose the fat. One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat per week you will need to consume 500 calories less than your TDEE (daily calorie needs from the link above). 750 calories less will result in 1.5 pounds and 1000 calories is an aggressive 2 pounds per week.

Tracking

Here is where it begins to resemble work. The most efficient way to lose the weight you desire is to track your calorie intake. This has gotten much simpler over the years and today it can be done right from your smartphone or computer. r/loseit recommends an app like MyFitnessPal, Loseit! (unaffiliated), or Cronometer. Create an account and be honest with it about your current stats, activities, and goals. This is your tracker and no one else needs to see it so don’t cheat the numbers. You’ll find large user created databases that make logging and tracking your food and drinks easy with just the tap of the screen or the push of a button. We also highly recommend the use of a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Knowing how much of what you're eating is more important than what you're eating. Why? This may explain it.

Creating Your Deficit

How do you create a deficit? This is up to you. r/loseit has a few recommendations but ultimately that decision is yours. There is no perfect diet for everyone. There is a perfect diet for you and you can create it. You can eat less of exactly what you eat now. If you like pizza you can have pizza. Have 2 slices instead of 4. You can try lower calorie replacements for calorie dense foods. Some of the communities favorites are cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash in place of their more calorie rich cousins. If it appeals to you an entire dietary change like Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian.

The most important thing to remember is that this selection of foods works for you. Sustainability is the key to long term weight management success. If you hate what you’re eating you won’t stick to it.

Exercise

Is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight.

It has it’s own benefits though. You will burn extra calories. Exercise is shown to be beneficial to mental health and creates an endorphin rush as well. It makes people feel *awesome* and has been linked to higher rates of long term success when physical activity is included in lifestyle changes.

Crawl, Walk, Run

It can seem like one needs to make a 180 degree course correction to find success. That isn’t necessarily true. Many of our users find that creating small initial changes that build a foundation allows them to progress forward in even, sustained, increments.

Acceptance

You will struggle. We have all struggled. This is natural. There is no tip or trick to get through this though. We encourage you to recognize why you are struggling and forgive yourself for whatever reason that may be. If you overindulged at your last meal that is ok. You can resolve to make the next meal better.

Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don’t need perfect. We just want better.

Additional resources

Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.

Quick Start Guide - Build your foundation!

* Lose It Compendium - Frame it out!

* FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!

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