The Truth Behind Sleep Deprivation

We have heard to a lot of individuals who says that a person who experience sleepless nights lose weight.

You would want to laugh at me because I believe in this myth. 

photo via  naturalsleepingsolutions.com

Just to share with you, I am one of those who experience episodes of insomnia...

photo via http://wallpaperdj.com/

So at the back of my mind, I can just use this "insomnia thingy" to my advantage. I told myself that even if I sleep late, I could probably benefit from it and lose weight - - I thought it would help me speed up my aim to slim down. Such a loser huh!!...

You guys might think that I'm overweight or something. No...  I am not.

Actually I recently started practicing yoga, I choose what I eat and I watch my carb intake - It's just that, I may be crazy stupid at times or most of the times I guess... And, I was just late to realize that I do place my health at risk.

Then- I stumbled upon a tweet earlier today from The Fashion Spot about the surprising
LONG- TERM EFFECTS that come from lack of sleep. Here are the highlights from what I've read.

WEIGHT GAIN  - It was noted in the article that weight gain has long been associated with consistent experience of little sleep.

Okay!!! So where was I? What was I thinking! How come I have been stupidly believing that it would make me lose weight. Oh my gosh!!!

It was also noted that one single night of sleep deprivation makes the person more inclined to eating high -calorie junk foods.

Another check! This explains why I always crave for salty snacks in the middle of the night -  oh, wait! Most of the time actually :(

SLOWER THOUGHT PROCESS - Apart from making someone less active or alert, lack of sleep does make someone less apt to reason, concentrate and solve problems effectively.

Friends, you would want to take note of this: "it has been shown to impair your short term memory, making it more likely that you'll do things like misplace your keys."

I have been experiencing this for quite sometime  -  and take note, I do not misplace just my keys, but a lot of things too.  And I keep on blaming it to the epidural anesthesia shot given to me when I gave birth :-( Tsk! Tsk! ....  [I'm sure there are a lot of moms out there who can relate].

BAD SKIN - Sleeping late causes the body to release stress hormones that could break down skin collagen which makes the skin smooth and healthy. Add to that the dark circles, puffy eyes, and wrinkles.

Oh my! I still don't want to look old. I am aware of the skin break-out effect actually. I didn't know that it could cause wrinkles too :(

MOOD DISORDERS - It has been noted that one night of little sleep can already cause irritability. Long - term mood disorders such as depression and anxiety are results of continuous or consistent lack-of sleep.

No wonder I always feel irritable and masungit!

NO PLATEAU - "The effects of sleep deprivation are cumulative and never plateau, so while someone who is consistently sleep deprived may say they are not sleepy after awhile, that's not because they are no longer affected by their lack of sleep, but rather due to the fact that they no longer realize the negative effects that lack of sleep is having on their mind and body."

Oh my gosh!!! This is so true and this is so meeee.

CHRONIC DISEASE - It was noted that it can develop and increase the risk of having a heart disease such as heart attack that could lead to stroke, type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Lastly, it lowers the life expectancy of individuals who habitually sleep five hours or less.

Another Oh my Gosh!!! I don't want to acquire all of these effects. I'm still young - full of life, full of hopes and dreams for my family and for myself.

It's not yet too late for me to change and TODAY is the right time....

Same with you, (who might also be experiencing all these)... TODAY is the time.

No more BUTs or IFs.