Can Sleep Help You Lose Weight

Are you a busy mom who is just eating all wrong or trying to lose post pregnancy weight? The good news is that the experts now say that you can lose it by sleeping!

Have you ever noticed that you eat more when you’re tired? That is just one reason why you should get more sleep.

In addition to a healthy and balanced diet and regular exercise, a restorative night’s sleep can help flatten that tummy. According to recent studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Lancet, lack of sleep can slow down your metabolic function and make you huge!

This is because there are hormones that make you hungrier if you are not well rested. Two hormones in particular – gherkin, which is responsible for making you feel hungry, and leptin, which makes you feel full – are affected by your sleep patterns.

When you’re sleep deprived, ghrelin levels increase and leptin levels drop, making you feel hungry and escalating our need to indulge cravings. When faced with cravings, our tendency is to grab highly processed sweet and starchy snacks that make us really fat. You are more likely to keep eating even when you’ve had enough because when you are tired.

The hormone cortisol also appears to be linked to body weight. Stress or sleep deprivation can cause cortisol levels to rise, and your appetite and cravings will rise right along with it. Excessive cortisol has been linked to a surplus storage of fat, specifically around the mid-section – this is a bad place for extra pounds as it can put women at higher risk for heart disease, stroke and cancer.

In order to keep your hormonal cycle in check, aim for seven to nine hours each night. You are sleep deprived if you have difficulty falling asleep, wake up a lot during the night, wake up too early in the morning and if you wake up and you don't feel rested. These are all experiences that mean it is time to alter your routine. Try adjusting your bed, clearing out distractions like television and blackening out your room so you can get a better rest.

If you have answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, it may be time to address your sleep routine to help you lose those extra pounds. Just remember, the better the quality of sleep is, the more pounds and fat you will just lose naturally! I'd rather nap than exercise!

Preventing That Pain in the Neck

As a busy mom I always have a pain in the neck. At first I thought it was the kids driving me crazy. Then I realized there were many possible causes including poor posture, arthritis and muscle strain from doing things like picking up my kids in a clumsy way.

Sometimes neck ain can be serious especially if there is a severe headache, loss of balance, blurred vision, trouble swallowing, numbness in arms or a severe headache accompanying it. It can mean you have actually had a stroke so pay attention.

To prevent neck pain you should always warm up before and after sports, gardening or doing anything strenuous at all. I have started doing that just before I do housework as even that can be quite strenuous.

While at the computer I now remember to get up and stretch every now and then. I also work on my posture both seated and standing to keep my spine aligned naturally. A happy spine equals a happy neck. I have also invested in a designer ergonomic keyboard and desk and chair to help myself.

Another tip is to drink water to keep the disks of your spine hydrated. A lack of water can actually cause the disks to compress. This can get you in trouble and make you feel very crippled. Back pain in the lower back is related to neck pain in this way.

You can also prevent discomfort by avoiding cradling a phone in the crook of your shoulder, falling asleep on the arm of the sofa and sleeping on thin pillows that provide no neck support.

Of course the worst is picking up that screaming, kid in the crook of your hip and cradling the phone in the crook of your neck. That is hideous for your posture. You should also avoid NOT bending your knees when picking something up as this can strain your neck as well as your arms and spine!

Just one more tip – try to avoid wearing flip flops. They can hurt your back even more! I know that summer is over but some of us still wear them around the house. Apparently they can cause spinal alignments that can really hurt your neck.

If you do end up being in a lot of pain you might want to try an over the counter muscle relaxant, taking some yoga classes or just simply try rubbing a mentholated rub like Tiger Balm. Just be sure that you do not get it into your eyes!