Sleep and Weight Loss – Andrea Arthur Owan

8 Steps to a Good Night’s Sleep

A couple of weeks ago I promised to let you know how I’ve changed my sleep patterns and how that’s been going for me. Well, today I’m going to give you my new ritual and let you know how it’s measuring up.

The process of deciding on and planning for a good night’s sleep—

The first thing I did wanted to decide, once and for all, what time I wanted—needed—to go to bed every night and how much sleep I would aim for nightly if I were going to be a fully functioning, alert individual.

1) First, I decided on a no later than 10:00 PM in bed and lights out schedule and a 6:30 AM wakeup. I know from past experience that I function best on 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night and usually lean toward the longer number of hours.

2) Second, I set my smartphone to switch to darker yellow light at 8:00 PM. With the bedtime schedule set on it, the phone alerts me at 8:00 that I need to be in bed at 10:00, and that my preparations should start at 9:00. (I get plenty of warnings.)

3) Unless I miscalculate on preparation hours, or an emergency deadline or need arises, I shut of my computer by 8:00 PM, preferably 7:00. If I’m really motivated, I don’t get on it after 5:00.

4) Around 8:00 PM, I start dimming lights around the house or shutting most of them off completely. When I enter my bedroom at 9:00, I turn on my bedside light and leave the main, intensely bright lights, off.

All of this helps trigger my melatonin production to prepare me for sleep.

5) If I need or want to shower to relax, I shower around 9:00 and prepare for bed in a relaxed manner.

6) No later than 9:30, I’m in my little sitting room just off my bedroom, with a good book in hand, reading. I’ve stopped reading in bed, with my head cocked at an obtuse angle, putting strain on my neck muscles, back and hands.

7) A little before 10:00, the engineer and I hold hands and say our bedtime prayers. And we always ask for a good, peaceful and restful night’s sleep.

8) Then it’s off to bed. Nightstand lights out. At 10:00, my phone conveniently darkens its screen and shows little stars and a slivered moon as it blocks any incoming calls, text messages or emails from waking me up. The phone doesn’t even vibrate. It just stores everything until the next morning. It takes its place on my nightstand, ready to awaken me with lovely, soothing music that gradually gets louder until I turn it off. Once I do, the screen greets me with Good Morning!

How has my bedtime ritual benefited me?

Sleep is arguably one of the most important times of our day. Lack of it causes a host of physical problems, including weight gain and inability of the body to shed toxins or rejuvenate itself or heal properly. Lack of sleep can also cause depression, worsen it, and lead to cognitive dysfunction and physical and emotional stress.

The first night we tried our new sleep schedule we were amazed by the results.

Doing the new schedule was difficult for the engineer because he usually returns to the computer right after dinner and sits for hours in front of the blinding screen before running directly from his office to bed. If he wanted to try to unwind—do something mindless before bed—he might watch an old movie on television before hitting the sack.

He wasn’t sleeping well.

Within 15 minutes of starting our reading, though, our eyelids felt so heavy that we had to quit reading earlier than expected. Both of us fell asleep instantly when our heads hit the pillows. When my music started the following morning, I had already started awakening naturally to the sunrise and wasn’t jarred awake by the music.

It was actually a pleasant wakeup, and I felt energized and ready to go.

But first, I took the advice of my Shetland sheepdog (and all of the cats that have condescended to live with me over the years) and did some stretching in bed before swinging my legs over the side of it and letting my feet hit the floor. After toileting, removing my retainer and brushing my teeth, I am ready for some light calisthenics that get my blood pumping and lungs ballooning.

After five weeks of this regimen, I’ve never felt better after a night’s sleep! With the increased melatonin production, my body is always ready to lay it down, even if I add some light exercises to the regimen before showering or grabbing my book to read. And my night’s sleep is deeper and more rejuvenating.

When I skip this regimen during the weekend and go to bed too late, and without my reading ritual, I can feel it. Maybe it’s my age (most probably it is), but I can’t shake that lousy bedtime preparation off like I used to.

Physical benefits of sleep—

One of the big benefits, after trying nearly everything else in the way of diet and exercise, is that I’ve managed to shave eight pounds from the scale! Yippie!

The better and longer sleep, in combination with

making sure I avoid all of the foods that cause problems for me or cause inflammation (inflammation can wreak havoc on your sleep);
regular (3-4 days a week of strenuous cardio and weight lifting exercise) exercise; walking leisurely (about a mile) after dinner to ramp up the digestion;
walking a more fast-paced mile every other morning and on the days I add several strenuous nighttime calisthenics to my daily activities;
not eating unless I’m hungry and then maybe deciding not to eat even then;
making my evening meal the lightest one of the day and always making sure I consume it by 6:00 PM;
not going to bed within 3-4 hours after eating;
not exercising within 3 hours after eating;
avoiding most desserts and reducing my sugar intake;
ditching the coffee;
reducing my dairy product consumption;

has done wonders for my energy level and improving the way I feel physically.

Psychological and emotional benefits of sleep—

I’ve also found that my melancholy and depression has reduced significantly. And when it does sneak up on me, I am more capable of resisting and combatting it. For that I am most grateful.

I’m more alert, less sluggish. I have more energy for exercising.

But now that the days are getting shorter and the nighttime is lengthening, I may lengthen my sleep. The engineer and I call it “keeping farmer’s hours.”

Doing a better job at maintaining the rhythm of life.

But there are certainly bound to be days when I’ll need to arise before the sun does, so I’m purchasing a sunrise “alarm” clock. If you’ve never heard of one, it gradually lights up at the rate the sun would come up and illuminates the room as a sunrise would.

People I know who use one swear by them, and the reviews are good. I’m ordering mine this week, so after I’ve had a chance to try that out for a while, I’ll give you my take on that method.

The engineer and I are ecstatic with our sleep results. And to add extra melatonin help, we’ve started using a major brand name lotion that contains both lavender (a soothing sleep aid) and melatonin. The engineer swears it helps kick his sleep into high gear.

Next, he wants to try taking melatonin when he has to travel overseas on business, when sleep is usually at a premium and not restful.

If any of you have used melatonin for travel, I’d love to hear your feedback!

Until next week,

Happy sleeping!

Andrea


Andrea Arthur Owan is an award-winning inspirational writer, fitness pro and chaplain. She writes and works to help people live their best lives—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

How Do Genes and Gut Bacteria Affect Weight Loss?

My ninety-seven year old mother is decidedly opinionated about seriously overweight people.

“How can they let themselves get like that?” she laments while shaking her head and cruising along with her walker.

Sounds terribly judgmental, doesn’t it?

Yet scientists are proving there is an undercurrent of truth to that sentiment. A strong undercurrent.

Research indicates that the majority of the obese people in our country—40% of us fall into that category—didn’t get there by having bad or “fat genes.” On the contrary, evidently genes account for only 3% of the differences in people’s sizes.

Most overweight strugglers got that way for a variety of other reasons than genes:

Learning how to and eating the wrong foods. (Family habits.)
Learning how to and eating too much food. (Family habits.)
Not exercising enough.

And now scientists know other variables play into the problem. Things like:

Not enough sleep.
Too much stress.
Wrong kind of stress.
Socioeconomic status.
Mental health.
Daily responsibilities at work and home.
The health of your microbiome—your gut bacteria.
Kitchen smarts and comfort—knowing how to cook and being comfortable preparing meals.

And I would add another variable:

Spiritual health.

So the verdict is in:

Experts agree that genes alone do not explain the rapid rise in obesity we’re seeing today.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientist, Kevin Hall, laments the fact that scientists still don’t know why weight loss can vary so much from person-to-person when they’re all on the same diet. He says it’s the biggest open question in the field.

What if you do have a “fat gene”?

It might seem easy to fall back on the knowledge of having a “fat gene” as a good excuse for not being able to lose and maintain a healthy weight. But John Mathers, a professor of human nutrition at Newcastle University in England sites a study of 9,000 people that found that being a fat gene carrier had no influence on that person’s ability to lose weight. Mathers says,

“Carrying the high-risk form of the gene makes you more likely to be a bit heavier, but it shouldn’t prevent you from losing weight”

(Sifferlin, Alexandra. “Why Your Diet Isn’t Working and What to do What It” The Science of Weight Loss: Special Time Edition, 2019; page 16).

What about that microbiome—the gut bacteria?

Researchers for the Personalized Nutrition Project at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel have been studying how gut bacteria may play a role in weight loss and maintenance. Their researchis fascinating.

In a nutshell, they found that blood sugar levels vary widely among people after they ate the exact same meal. That finding alone debunks the common and popular idea of everyone responding identically to the same diet recommendations.

And they were able to go further. They developed a mathematical algorithm for every person involved in the test trial, and that algorithm can accurately predict that person’s blood sugar response to a specific food just on the basis of their personal microbiome!

Knowing that could be the next frontier in weight loss prescription—your doctor being able to design a tailor-made diet plan, just for you and your body!

Another big contributor to weight gain and weight loss struggles are…

Chemicals.

Yup. Chemicals we’re exposed to in our daily lives. Chemicals like:

BPA found in canned goods lining
Cash-register receipts
Flame retardant material in sofas and mattresses and children’s clothing
Pesticide residue on our food
Phthalates in plastics (think water bottles and food storage containers) and the makeup we wear

What’s wrong with these chemicals and how do they factor into obesity?

These chemicals are able to mimic human hormones. And that leads scientists to believe they can, and are, wreaking havoc on our endocrine systems. They’ve been found in human breast milk. And some doctors believe it’s what contributing to children experiencing puberty at younger ages.

Some doctors are going so far as placing this chemical-endocrine danger as the third lynch pin—along with poor diet and lack of exercise—in the trilogy of weight loss obstructers and obesity epidemic contributors.

Case Study—

I’d like to pin my current overweightness (not yet in the obese category) on a lot of things, including my slowing hormones. But when I take an honest look at my current lifestyle, it’s a far cry from what it was even two years ago, when I exercised regularly and paid closer attention to what I ate.

Although I’m eating healthier now than I did then, I’m eating more and burning off less. I had started sitting at my computer too much and stopped going to the gym regularly, all while continuing to consume the same number of calories I did when much more active.

I’d like to blame it on my slowing hormones, too, but first I’m ramping up my exercise again, before rushing off to my doctor for a thyroid test. I want to see if increasing my muscle mass will improve my metabolism to a point where the weight loss is regular and a healthy weight obtainable and manageable.

And because I’m getting older, I know my daily calorie requirements are dropping, so I need to take an honest look at what I’m packing in and when. And I’ve been accumulating sleep data, courtesy of the cool fit watch my younger son gave me for Christmas. From that I’ve determined I do best with 8 ½ hours of sleep. And, surprisingly, I seem to get more and better sleep when I go to bed later and rise a little later than an early bird.

Maybe that’s how my clock is wired, to be a night owl, even though I do on occasion enjoy waking up early enough to see the sunrise. Maybe not on a regular basis, though. So, I adjust to my personal biorhythms. Thankfully, I can do that since I’m self-employed. My poor husband—who definitely leans toward night owlness—doesn’t have that luxury.

Another thing that helps me immensely in getting adequate, restful sleep is shutting down all of the tech appliances well before bedtime. An hour is best, but I’m aiming for longer time between computer/phone/tablet and lights out. I find my sleep switch starts kicking in earlier and gradually ramps up the melatonin production in preparation for bed.

And one last thing I watch is how much food I eat for dinner and what time my last meal is. If my last meal is at 3-4 hours prior to bedtime, I sleep better. And if I consume my last glass of water 3 hours before going to bed, I’m less likely to be awakened by bladder pressure screaming its needs in the middle of a good dream!

As the long-living Seventh Day Adventists say, “Eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch, and a pauper for dinner. It’s great advice!

NEXT WEEK, we’ll take a closer look at this Keto diet craze and the benefits of food restriction or fasting a couple of days a week.

Until then, take heart! You don’t have to be stuck in your unhealthy weight mode. Perseverance and consistency can get you where you want to be—healthy!

Blessings,

Andrea

“Certainly there was an Eden….We all long for it, and we are constantly glimpsing it.” —J.R.R. Tolkien