Jennifer has carried excess weight for decades. She lost and gained 100 pounds in her 30s. She’s now in her 60’s and could run circles around her old self. Since 2009 when she was diagnosed with hypertension, she’s been focused on improving her health and losing weight. She’s got discipline and commitment to the nines.
She committed all the sins of rapid weight loss seekers. She slashed calories, banned fat, ate too little protein, exercised excessively, and rarely rested. Eating as few as 600 calories a day while exercising for two hours daily Jennifer’s success was minimal and injuries became more frequent.
In 2013 she was selected for a statewide challenge, Live Healthy Iowa. It was then that Jennifer and I first butted heads. As one of a dozen people selected for the challenge I coached, Jennifer had some resistance to my strong suggestions. When I first told her ultimately I’d like to see her increase her calories two if not three times what she was currently eating I couldn’t tell if she was going to punch me, drop out, or cry.
When I added that I’d like to see her cut her exercise time in half, take a day off every week, and add strength training to her program (further decreasing her current aerobic activity), it became obvious we were going to have some major compromises ahead of us.
Following the recommendation outlines in my book, You Still Got It, Girl! The After 50 Fitness Formula For Women, Jennifer did change: first her mind, and then her body. I wish I could tell you that once she gradually added calories and decreased her exercise while giving each session more purpose the pounds fell off. They didn’t. What changed first wasn’t as tangible or desirable to a scale-watcher. Her energy improved. Her strength improved. The frequency and severity of injuries decreased dramatically.
For months she worked hard during exercise and learned to rest as hard and fuel right. She not only gave in to a day off each week, she took two. Two days a week were active recovery days. She was working out three days a week with purpose to each session and feeling better than she had for a long time. She still battled old thoughts about exercising more and eating less but usually won the internal struggle.
Along with nutrition and exercise changes, we worked on improving Jennifer’s sleep. In the beginning she had no awareness of how important it was in her weight loss success. Life and habits had created long term sleep deprivation and nights of disrupted sleep. Her Fitbit recorded up to 23 episodes of restlessness each night. She had been a single mom, worked double shifts as a nurse, and had fun.
“I had a total disregard for sleep,” she recalls.
A year ago after we’d set a bedtime routine including stable sleep and wake times, and introduced safe supplements, changed diet and exercise habits to optimize sleep, Jennifer was still seeing only minimal success. I prompted her to do some testing and discuss options with her doctor. Natural sleep is always best, but when it’s illusive and you’ve tried every lifestyle option, it’s time to look at support.
Since beginning a low-dose prescription sleep aid Jennifer has lost over 50 pounds. Mind you, weight loss after 50 or 60 isn’t impossible, it just doesn’t get easier with age.
“I didn’t realize how bad I [had] felt until I started getting a good night’s sleep,” she said.
She’s not done with her journey but now she’s experiencing the kind of success she should be and enjoying optimal quality of life only possible with sleep.
You can exercise and eat as optimally as well as possible but if you’re not sleeping you’ll struggle to be at your optimal weight. Below are five reasons sleep will either help you find your optimal skinny or be an obstacle in your weight loss at any age.
Cortisol Control
There is an inverse relationship between sleep and the stress hormone cortisol. If your getting less than your personal sleep quota your cortisol is likely elevated the following day. Cortisol elevation leads to increased cravings, not usually for kale and salmon, and increased inflammation making it difficult for you to lose weight.
Ghrelin
When cortisol levels are high typically ghrelin, your hunger hormone, is also high. That means even an hour or so after lunch you may get the signal you’re hungry even though physiologically you’ve had plenty to fuel you for hours. The “you’re hungry” message is constantly playing.
Leptin
When this little hormone gets out of whack it fails to tell you you’re full. Paired with ghrelin, the two are a bad combination. You’re getting the signal to eat more often and never getting that signal you’re satisfied.
Growth Hormone
Your growth hormone helps preserve and repair lean muscle tissue. You produce less of it as you age which can hurt your weight loss efforts even if you sleep like a baby. You produce the majority of it in deep sleep. So if you’re not getting enough volume of sleep and cycling in to deep sleep stages, or you suffer from a lot of restless sleep, chances are you don’t have enough growth hormone to help create lean tissue and boost metabolism.
Operating Drunk
How well do you make food choices when you’re drunk? Do you exercise drunk? Ever tried it after a few beers, or a dozen? Studies show that if you have lost even two hours sleep, you’re operating as if you’ve had 2-3 beers. Get 4 hours less sleep than you require and it’s as if you have a blood alcohol level of .10%, or you had between 6 and 12 beers. If you’re sleep-deprived, you’re not going to make the best decisions about what to eat nor are you going to get the highest quality exercise.