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Early to bed and early to rise,Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
Franklin, Benjamin, Poor Richard's Almanac Maxims

The Sleep Diet

Have you ever experienced a sleepless night followed by a day when no matter what you ate you never felt full or satisfied?
If so, then you have experienced the workings of hormone imbalance-- more specifically, the hormones ghrelin and leptin. Heres how it works... Good sleep helps control the hormonal balance which help control appetite.

A study which followed 68,000 women for 16 years showed that women who sleep only five hours a night or less were one-third more likely to weigh more—up to 30 pounds over the course of the study—than those who sleep seven hours a night.

Another Stanford study finds that men who slept less than eight hours a night had lower levels of the hormone leptin , higher levels of the hormone ghrelin and higher body fat than those who got adequate sleep.
Ghrelin, a metabolic hormone is produced in the gastrointestinal tract. It stimulates your appetite.Leptin,another metabolic hormone is produced in fat cells. It sends a signal to the brain when you are full.

When you don't get enough sleep, your leptin levels decrease which means you don't feel as satisfied after you eat. It also conversely causes your ghrelin levels to increase which stimulates your appetite so you want more food !

Another factor affecting sleep and weight is this: when you are tired, your body will crave high carbohydrate and hight sweet snacks to keep you alert. Over a period of time, this results in weight gain.

The final and simplest explanation as to why the less you sleep the more you eat is that people who are awake more have more hours in which to eat. If you're sleeping your can't be eating. (dreaming about food does not count)

The next time you just can't seem to get full, check the amount of sleep you got the night before.

Committed to your Health!

Much like emotions, exercise, cleansing, food cravings, and self-esteem, sleep is one of the topics addressed in the Harmonic Health and Wellness program. It is a ground-breaking 12 week on line program that finally addresses the multiple physiological, emotional, social and psychological factors associated with weight gain. Registration opens today so sign up now and start to feel better again about your health and your weight.
Enjoy the newsletter!

Cathy Morenzie

Exercise of the Week

Exercise Description:

Muscles Worked:

Instructions:

1. Start by getting into a lateral plank pose with your hips off the ground.
2. Your only ground contact points should be your feet and elbow.
3. Holding this position raise your outside leg keeping it straight until you reach full range of motion.
4. Return your leg to the starting position and repeat for the desired repetitions.
5. Switch sides and repeat.

About Cathy Morenzie

Cathy Morenzie is a certified personal fitness trainer, fitness instructor, and Pilates instructor. She specializes in providing creative fitness solutions for people on the go. She has trained thousands of clients and trainers over the last 15 years. For more FREE tips like these, contact us or call 416-410-8517 to schedule your complimentary session. Can't fit personal training sessions into your schedule, no problem - try our online personal training and receive the benefits of one-on-one personal training at a fraction of the cost.