Using 5 Hour Energy is a mistake

There is a wealth of information connecting sleep deprivation to weight gain.

As this article clearly points out, sleep deprivation affects the brain in many adverse ways. There are studies that point to a relationship between leptin, ghrelin and lack of sleep. Leptin tells the body that you're no longer hungry and ghrelin tells the body that you ARE hungry.

When you don't get enough sleep you produce more ghrelin than normal and less leptin. You know what happens next. You overeat. Then, as the article points out, sleep deprivation increases the body's level of stress; cortisol levels rise with increased stress and this in turn increases your blood sugar. 

Sleep deprivation also causes impaired judgment which can lead to a greater risk of accidental injury.

To learn more about the relationship between leptin and ghrelin as well as tips for getting enough sleep please read the following article:

We live in a fast paced society where people have lost appreciation for the fact that sleep is necessary for good health. We need to take the matter more seriously.

I would love to see an article that explores the opposite and quite reliably reproducible phenomenon: that calorie restriction reduces the requirement for sleep.

Any study involving brain imaging should be ignored. It's all smoke and mirrors and just-so stories...

Sounds like lack of sleep leads to an over-reliance on our automatic/fast/intuitive/emotional/unconscious System 1 of our brains (limbic system in particular), and a disregard for the effortful/slow/deliberate/logical/conscious System 2 (frontal cortex in particular).

As mentioned in a few other comments, this certainly has implications for medical education/training. Having endured plenty of 30+ hour shifts in medical school and residency, this is not particularly surprising news. The link to adenosine is interesting, and makes sense (plenty of coffee during those long shifts!).

The last line about a "reset" of our bodies/brains is spot-on!

After being up till 2 a.m (a 5 Hour Energy mistake .) , I guess I can expect a showdown with ice cream cravings about 3 this afternoon. This article provided a lot of great info re. how the frontal cortex acts when it's sleep deprived, especially re. rational decision making. But weight loss, especially dealing with food cravings, especially sugar cravings, is such a complex, emotional issue! Brain research helps, but it's really hard, and sometimes almost impossible, when people try to make these big changes on their own. I've seen a lot of clients who have suffered with this issue and this has given my a passion for people dealing with this struggle.

Using "5 Hour Energy" is a mistake unto itself.

Yes, losing weight is complicated. Our bodies fight like mad to hold onto extra pounds, even if you do everything "right."

I don't believe the word, insomnia, was mentioned once. When you can't sleep you can't sleep and no amount of knowledge will remedy this. I made the connection for myself between lack of sleep and gaining weight. So now what? I walk around groggy most of the time. Last year I lost 20 pounds but still don't sleep. I am still losing weight very very slowly because I hear I have a better chance of keeping it off. 

But sleep eludes me. Here's why:

• About once or twice a month I sleep well and feel absolutely wonderful but I know it will last less than two days and back to being in a fog - not to mention the long, long, dark nights. 
• Too tired to read, too tired to watch TV. 
• So more studies are done and relief is NOT on the way. 
• I have a Physician friend who spent years doing sleep research. 
• He told me - we know nothing - do your best to cope and sleep whenever you can. It is the best advice I ever had.

Suggest you read "Say Goodnight to Insomnia" by Gregg Jacobs. I am a Sleep Medicine MD and find this book invaluable for my patients. Good luck!

THX wyn. I will read it. But I have taken just about every workshop, every new idea and signed up for any study that would take me. No one asks anymore because I am old now. But sleep deprivation is a torture method and I know why. It's horrible. I will read the book and hope it works for me. I am sure you have heard endless stories of how long the nights become when you are sleepless. But I can read your book then. THX again.

Over the past couple of years, I found myself gaining weight despite a rigorous diet and exercise program. I also found myself with severe, intractable insomnia (for which my idiot p-doc prescribed Seroquel because "Ambien is addictive" - which cause me to gain even MORE weight and become prediabetic - I tossed those pills down the toilet!), nightmares, restless sleep, waking up to pee every night, a mouth so dry I found myself waking in the middle of the night just to gulp water. I demanded and got a sleep test. The diagnosis - SEVERE sleep apnea. I now have a CPAP and a new lease on life.

I do not look like a "typical" apnea patient - not severely overweight, female, under 50. Yet I have *severe* apnea. The difference to my life and the quality of my sleep is miraculous. (And, btw, the machine is small and quiet, it blows heated humid air, and I have one of those wee little nose masks - nothing is cumbersome.) 

Not only do I feel more rested, and have been able to dispense with insomnia meds AND anti-depressants, I've been able to stick to much healthier eating and exercise habits. Sure, I eat ice cream every once in a while, but it's a treat, not a habit. I don't need to snack constantly to keep my energy up. I'm losing inches off my waist and pounds off the scale, and my insulin resistance (pre-diabetes) is going away as well.

IF YOU HAVE ANY SUSPICION YOU MIGHT HAVE APNEA, GET A SLEEP TEST.

Over the years I have struggled with my weight

Over the years I have struggled with my weight. As a child I never had a problem with my weight and even into my teen years. My mom’s side of the family was a bit on the large size. I thought I had this weight thing beat. Even after I had my daughter I lost all of my baby weight. I felt like I was doing well. About seven years ago my weight started to change.

It started to increase, but I still had that mindset that I had this under control. I was wrong. In 2011 I became obsessed with working out. I was doing combat fitness at least two times a day with private training lessons on my lunch breaks. I had lost 35 pounds in less than four months.

My doctor told me that was too much and to slow down. My weight continues to fluctuate and there are days that it does get me down. I know there is no magic pill or magic remedy that will make me lose. It comes down to eating right and exercising.

But why is this so difficult to do? Doesn’t everyone want to be healthy? In the discussion of Human Natures Perspectives, Ethics in Human Communication (2008), the philosopher Kai Nielson states “We often ‘yearn’ for what not is good. (p.35)” Is this why it is so difficult to lose weight? I know what I need to do to lose weight and feel better, but why is it so hard?

Coming from someone who has never had a major weight problem, I can say I would have never looked twice at your weight numbers on paper. I would not have been the slightest interested. Although, I agree that was an invasion of your privacy.

I am now 64 and have to eat half what I used to to be able to button my jeans. I do weigh every day. That is the only way I can tell over time if I am off course. Far better to track a few pounds each way than wake up 6 months from now 5 - 10 pounds over what I should be. I weigh around 110 so that is a lot for me. Weighing everyday is good because you become desensitized to numbers. For me, it's only a general guide.


I understand the need to want to abandon the obsession with the scale but as a nutrition and health professional, regular weigh-ins are useful in the prevention of a large weight gain. 

Isn't it better to know when you are up a few pounds and try to get that regulated vs 10 lbs or more? Yes, weight is just one tool that is used to evaluate body composition. Using BMI, percent body fat, waist circumference in combination are important tools used to assess and predict risk of chronic disease. It's not just about what you look like in the mirror.

Someone who is logging and journaling food and beverages on a regular basis is most likely weighing themselves on a regular basis, as well.

True, the research says that in addition to regular weighing, keeping a regular food journal will increase your success at reaching and maintaining a healthy weight. There are ways to do both without making ourselves crazy, nothing is easy but it is possible!

Our society's obsession with being ultra thin and having model looks is another discussion altogether.

i recently lost 35 pounds due to a change in a medication i was taking. i'd been taking the medication for 17 years and was 40 pounds overweight throughout. i tried and tried, but i simply could not lose more than 3 or 4 pounds while on the medication.

When i switched doctors, and my new doctor told me that i shouldn't be on this medication, saying that it wasn't good for long-term use, presto, the weight dropped as if by magic. now i am a healthy weight for my height. i cringe at the thought of all of the people who may have been thinking that i was "in denial" or "sad" or a "pig" or worse.

If You Want to Get Fit, Push Yourself!

Here's what people from nytimes are saying about getting fitter and getting healthier. 

My rule of thumb every time I complete a workout of any type--shirt needs to be covered in sweat, I need to stink and require shower immediately--if not, it wasn't a hard enough workout. This is what I call exercise. Most people I know, are just active. 

They go to the gym, fumble around a bit, swing their legs on the elliptical and call it good. Which is fine, but so much of it seems to be smart phone use, from what I presume is finding the right song or texting. Leave the WiFi devices home.

However any activity is better than none so can't be too judgmental.

I just recently read the "Sports Gene" by David Epstine, which explores how gene mapping has allowed scientists to focus on specific sections of human DNA related to certain athletic attributes. Mainly the book is a nature vs. nurture type of dialogue with evidence suggesting a constant interplay between the two, of course. 

However, for geneticists, this type of work is exciting. As for the general public, I wouldn't allow it to influence how we approach exercise too much; we all know that a semi rigorous workout for 20 minutes a day 3x a week is beneficial. If you can push yourself more, great! 

You're probably the one with the six pack, if not, well still, you may even be the 60 year capable of running 3 miles a day 7 days a week.

I keep looking for a an excuse to not work out harder. 

Some magic new study or six minute workout regimen that will allow me to not really workout yet gain all the benefits. Deep down I know that I really have to push myself very hard everyday to make fitness gains. That's just the way it is.

I used to run hard six days a week when I was younger, meaning ages 25-45. Was in terrific shape. Then slowly, insidiously, my knees started to hurt. I finally went to a sports medicine doctor who smiled knowingly and said he sees people like me all day--middle age fitness freaks with patellofemoral stress syndrome. 

 Also known as an overuse injury. End of running career. I have been swimming for exercise ever since. Keeps me in shape, but what a bore, lap after lap. 

Not the same as running over hill and dale, feeling the wind in your face and the sun on your back. I always wonder what might have been if I had run a little less, and a little slower. Maybe I would still be doing it.

Mark, I switched to bicycling 20 years ago and haven't looked back. Can still feel the wind in your face, new vistas around every bend--and lots less knee/back impact. Plus I use the bike instead of a car for all my around town outings, so there are added eco-benefits. 

Getting a decent road bike is a key--makes it much more enjoyable. I have a Specialized Allez--low-end, but good enough for my purposes.

I believe it is good to try to push yourself, but best way for me is exercise in service of some distracting task, like heavy-duty yard work.

Carrying bags of topsoil, pulling weeds, raking, but esp. chopping down invasive, non-native shrubs that destroy forest biodiversity......I tend to push myself past exhaustion and actually enjoy it. At a gym I'd be counting reps, waiting for an hour to be over and hating every minute of it. Outdoors I lose track of time, a whole afternoon might fly by and I have to force myself to quit.

Maybe the difference is the sense of accomplishment, or even higher calling, that makes service to a task not only endurable, but highly rewarding.

A lot of very useful and intelligent comments for this article - just a few of the ranters which is such a relief. My take away is that you have to vary your routine what ever it is and add some extra minutes or reps or position or laps or blocks or whatever it is that you do to stay fit from time to time if you want to experience the best fitness. 

You also have to take into account your age and health. An intense workout for a 60 year old is not the same as for an 18 year old. 

Those who try to draw some conclusion that this or that exercise type is better ("aerobics are the best, weight training for dumb bells") completely miss the point.  

There are many ways to exercise and they are all good for some people at some age some of the time and not good for others. I wrestle at 60 and do weight training. Do I say that is right for everyone? 

No, what's right has to be figured out by each person trying out different types of exercise. The important thing is to do something, to push yourself sometimes and vary your routine. Pretty basic really but worth repeating with some new scientific evidence.

We already knew that intense exercise is good for you, in humans. The goal of the study was to understand how it does so. Good comment about beta blockers. 

I don't think it has been well studied if they interfere with performance gains, but beta agonists, like clenbuterol, certainly are performance enhancing, thoug we didn't know why.

Body fat is an indication of our overall health

These are just some of the posts I've found on nytimes that are very interesting.

Over the years I have struggled with my weight. As a child I never had a problem with my weight and even into my teen years. My mom’s side of the family was a bit on the large size. I thought I had this weight thing beat. Even after I had my daughter I lost all of my baby weight. I felt like I was doing well. About seven years ago my weight started to change. It started to increase, but I still had that mindset that I had this under control. I was wrong. In 2011 I became obsessed with working out. I was doing combat fitness at least two times a day with private training lessons on my lunch breaks. I had lost 35 pounds in less than four months. I have used body fat calculator and it worked.

My doctor told me that was too much and to slow down. My weight continues to fluctuate and there are days that it does get me down. I know there is no magic pill or magic remedy that will make me lose. It comes down to eating right and exercising. But why is this so difficult to do?

Doesn’t everyone want to be healthy? In the discussion of Human Natures Perspectives, Ethics in Human Communication (2008), the philosopher Kai Nielson states “We often ‘yearn’ for what not is good. (p.35)” Is this why it is so difficult to lose weight? I know what I need to do to lose weight and feel better, but why is it so hard?

Coming from someone who has never had a major weight problem, I can say I would have never looked twice at your weight numbers on paper. I would not have been the slightest interested. Although, I agree that was an invasion of your privacy. I am now 64 and have to eat half what I used to to be able to button my jeans. I do weigh every day. That is the only way I can tell over time if I am off course. Far better to track a few pounds each way than wake up 6 months from now 5 - 10 pounds over what I should be. I weigh around 110 so that is a lot for me. Weighing everyday is good because you become desensitized to numbers. For me, it's only a general guide.

I understand the need to want to abandon the obsession with the scale but as a nutrition and health professional, regular weigh-ins are useful in the prevention of a large weight gain. Isn't it better to know when you are up a few pounds and try to get that regulated vs 10 lbs or more? Yes, weight is just one tool that is used to evaluate body composition. Using BMI, percent body fat, waist circumference in combination are important tools used to assess and predict risk of chronic disease. It's not just about what you look like in the mirror.

Someone who is logging and journaling food and beverages on a regular basis is most likely weighing themselves on a regular basis, as well. True, the research says that in addition to regular weighing, keeping a regular food journal will increase your success at reaching and maintaining a healthy weight. There are ways to do both without making ourselves crazy, nothing is easy but it is possible!

Our society's obsession with being ultra thin and having model looks is another discussion altogether.

I recently lost 35 pounds due to a change in a medication i was taking. i'd been taking the medication for 17 years and was 40 pounds overweight throughout. i tried and tried, but i simply could not lose more than 3 or 4 pounds while on the medication. when i switched doctors, and my new doctor told me that i shouldn't be on this medication, saying that it wasn't good for long-term use, presto, the weight dropped as if by magic. now i am a healthy weight for my height. i cringe at the thought of all of the people who may have been thinking that i was "in denial" or "sad" or a "pig" or worse.

Is BMR rate a reliable number?

BMR is a static formula

BMR is calculated using a static formula which takes into account one's height, weight, age and activity level. It does not consider other factors such as bone density and the amount of body fat versus the amount of muscle mass.

BMR for an athlete person with less than 10 percent body fat can be very different than for a person with 30 percent of body fat, although both might be of same height and have the same weight.
But on average, BMR is a fairly reliable number, as not everyone is an athlete, nor an obese person.

So if you are curious what is your BRM rate (by the way, BMR stands for basal metabolic rate) you should visit this link and calculate your rate with a BMR calculator.

Eat at BMR rate to lose weight

Not quite true though. While eating less than your body burns is the way to lose weight, eating at BMR rate still isn't the most effective approach. It is recommended to eat 10 to 20% less than your calories consumption is. But this comsumption is not BMR alone. You need to add calories burned during your daily activities. For example - walking, standing up, sitting down, walking the stairs and so on. If you are active and do some kind of sports you need to throw those burned calories into the equation as well.

Rather eat 20% less than your daily calorie expenditure is, not the BMR rate

So, to make thins simpler. If your BMR is 2000 calories daily and you burnt additional 1000 that day that makes it 3000 total. Eating at BMR rate - meaning eating 2000 calories only - will give you a 33% deficit, which can, in turn, be bad for your organism, as such calorie intake is close to starving, and this is never good. Eat 2400 to 2700 calories per day if your daily calorie consumption is 3000 total calories. That's not so close to BMR, is it?

Always eat smart, not just less!

How many calories per day is enough, how many is too much?

Calories, calories, calories

Every person that has ever started weight loss knows that in order to lose weight successfully one must create a caloric deficit. This caloric deficit depends on every individual alone. There are factors such as height, weight, age and gender to take into account when calculating how many calories should I eat in order to lose weight.

Age, height, weight and gender

Women:
Women are physically weaker than men and therefore need less calories per day than man do. So, for a diet to be effective, women should eat less calories per day than they can burn. How much? About 20% less than daily maintenance is. How do you calculate daily maintenance value? It's simple - simply add to BMR you daily calories consumed for activities such as running / jogging / yoga or whatever it is that you do during the day. This is your daily calorie consumption. Take 20 percent off this value and there is your value. For example if you daily burn 2000 calories than you should eat 1600 calories per day to lose weight effectively.

Men:
It is very similar for men, too. Simply get your daily calorie consumption and get 20% off that value. Why 20 percent? 20 percent calorie deficit is recommended by professionals. If you go lower than that (30% or more) you might run into some problems, one of them being slowed down metabolism. Slowed down metabolism means a slower fat burning rate and this really isn't something you would hope for. So if you are still wondering how many calories should you consume per day your simple answer would be 20 percent less than you need per day.

How to create a caloric deficit without being hungry?

You can create caloric deficit in two ways. Either by eating less calories (less caloric foods) or by being physically active. But caloric deficit means you will be hungry as you eat below the maintenance rate (maintenance rate is the caloric intake at which you neither lose nor gain weight).

The solution is to eat fiber rich foods as such food will make you feel satisfied and not hungry for longer period of time.

Is it possible to hypnotize yourself?

Why would you hypnotize yourself?

Can you hypnotize yourself? Yes, it is possible. Totally possible. But why would anyone do this? Well, hypnosis is known to cure many problems, like depression, eating disorders, even insomnia. With hypnosis you connect to your inner self and become more aware and focused.

For many people, hypnosis is something unnatural. This is mostly due to the presentation of hypnosis in movies. Hypnosis is nothing unnatural at all. In fact, there is a great chance you have been hypnotized before, but you are not even aware of this. You don't agree? Here is a simple example. Remember when you watched that thriller and you didn't hear your brother or sister walk in the room because you were so focused watching the movie? Well guess what, you have been hypnotized. See? Hypnosis is nothing extra ordinary, just a state of mind / focus.

You were hypnotized before - but how can you hypnotize yourself consciously?

It's easy to hypnotize yourself, just follow the steps, describe on the hyperlink. Basically, all you need to do is to find a quite place / room where you will not be disturbed. The other thing you need is determination and faith in yourself. You cannot hypnotize yourself if you are skeptical. It's not possible because your mind must cooperate, otherwise there will be no results.

After you have found yourself a nice and cozy place find an object in the room and stare at it. It can be anything, from a dot on the wall or a small flower pot. Do not lose focus of it. Stare at it and repeat words like "I am going to fall asleep soon". Repeat that until you feel really comfortable. Once you reach this level you are in light trance. From here you have two choices. Either you wake up from hypnosis or you deepen your hypnosis. For a deeper hypnosis you will need to learn how to hypnotize yourself and induce a more intense hypnosis. If you decide to wake up this really isn't difficult. Simple decide to wake up and you will be fully awaken again. Remember, when under hypnosis you are in no way out of control. You mind still controls everything so there really is no reason why you would not wake up from a self-hypnosis.