Sleep and Stress Management for Weight Loss When you think of weight loss, you probably think of nutrition and exercise first. While eating balanced, colorful meals and being active are key components to weight loss, there are other strategies that help support your weight loss goal. Oftentimes, sleep and stress management are not considered weight loss tools, but they have a big impact on metabolism and hormone regulation. Think about your current sleep habits and stress management practices. Do they align with your weight management goals? Sleep and Weight When you get 7-9 hours of sleep per 24-hour period, you give your body time to perform essential functions involved in weight loss. For example, sleep is needed for hormone regulation. Hormones like ghrelin (hunger hormone) and leptin (fullness hormone) regulate your appetite. You may notice that when you don’t get enough sleep, you reach for more calorie-dense and less healthy foods. Your hunger and fullness cues may not work correctly if you don’t get enough sleep, leading to not eating enough or overeating. Getting enough sleep also increases insulin sensitivity. Insulin is needed to transport energy to your cells. If you don’t get enough sleep, this can lead to increased resistance. Getting enough sleep also regulates cortisol, your stress hormone. Think about the food choices you make when you are stressed compared to when you aren’t – this can impact your nutrition plan related to weight loss. You may also skip physical activity when you’re stressed, which can create a domino effect and slow your progress. All of these elements may lead to you feeling sluggish and unmotivated without enough sleep. Stress Management and Weight Just as high levels of stress can lead to weight gain, managing your stress can help with weight loss. As previously mentioned, cortisol is the stress hormone that can impact how you feel and what health behaviors you engage in. Cortisol increases your appetite, especially for calorie-dense foods. These foods are typically processed and contain higher amounts of sugar and fat. With high levels of cortisol, you may engage in emotional eating, which can lead to increased fat storage. With a goal of weight loss, managing stress is a key component of reducing cortisol and improving your overall health. There are many activities you can use for stress management, ranging from a few minutes to hours. Physical activity is one of the best ways to manage stress. It’s also an essential practice with a weight loss goal. Other stress management tools include breathing and mindfulness exercises. These exercises can take under a minute to perform, especially if you’re tight on time. Finding the Balance Creating new healthy behaviors is hard, especially around sleep and stress management. Both require you to slow down and prioritize rest, which isn’t always easy with work and personal life demands. If you find you don’t reach the 7-9-hour threshold, find inventive ways to ensure your body gets the restoration it needs. You should also take into account the quality of your sleep. Make sure your environment helps you fall and stay asleep. Learn more about ways to support a healthy sleep routine. Building time into your busy schedule for sleep may feel difficult at first, especially since it requires more time management. If you have a set time to be up in order to make it to work on time, you likely need to adjust your bedtime. Identify ways to incorporate all of your day’s priorities, including sleep, into your routine. If you are new to stress management practices, it’s helpful to habit stack, or add a stress management exercise on top of a behavior you already perform. For example, taking one minute before each meal to complete a breathing exercise or performing a body scan (i.e., recognizing tension and looseness in your body from the top of your head to your toes) when you lie down to sleep. More evolved practices can include different types of meditation, including mindful movement (e.g., meditation hike, stretching), as well as engaging in hobbies you enjoy and prolonged breathing exercises. Start with small changes and build your practice from there. Incorporating more sleep and stress management techniques into your routine may feel daunting at first. As a Warfighter, you have a unique work schedule, job demands and exposure to stressors many civilians don’t. To support mission readiness and stay fit to serve, explore how improving your sleep schedule and prioritizing stress management benefits you. Other people in your unit may struggle keeping a sleep schedule and stress management practice. Hold each other accountable and work toward your weight loss goals as a team if you need the extra boost of encouragement! Additional ResourcesHuman Performance Resources by CHAMP - “Sleep & Stress”Warfighter Wellness - “Sleep, Stress & Resiliency”ReferencesCenters for Disease Control and Prevention - “Managing Stress”Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - “Steps for Losing Weight.”Chaput, J-P. & Tremblay, A. - “Adequate sleep to improve the treatment of obesity”Elder, C.R. et al. - “Impact of sleep, screen time, depression, and stress on weight change in the intensive weight loss phase of the LIFE study”Harvard Medical School - “Snooze more, eat less? Sleep deprivation may hamper weight control”Mayo Clinic - “Weight loss: Gain control of emotional eating”
