Do you think there's something to this?

[piper]

I work out about 6 days a week. About over a year ago, I quit smoking and lost a lot of weight. After I lost all the weight that I could possibly lose, I joined a gym and starting lifting weights. I'm not a terribly muscular person, but I do have muscle tone. Plus I heard when you have muscle, you burn more calories, and not just calories working out, but burn calories while you're resting as well.

Anyways, I was wonder if there was something to this or is this just in my head. I've notice that sometimes (not all the time) if I happen to get enough sleep. Let's say over 6 ours, I would lose a little more weight than those times when I get less than 6 hours. What do you think?

[Xie]

Piper -it is almost too funny that you brought this up because have Lots of weight I NEED to lose .Ive yet to join a gym but have it under serious consideration..and have just started trying to get serious about a low carb lifestyle .

Anyway just yesterday I was having a similar conversation with a coworker about the sleep weight loss connection.. actually I was wondering aloud if my lack of 8 hrs sleep at night is sabotaging my efforts to lose weight and her answer was basically she thought I was nuts lol.

Im relieved that I am not the only one seeing a correlation lol BTW I'm glad to see there's another die hard Red Sox Fan amongst us.. maybe we can convert a few here and expand the Red Sox Nation lol

[Lesa]

Who would've thought?

Want to Lose Weight? Get Some Sleep

Other studies will be published soon that indicate sleep loss also has an effect on appetite and metabolism.

[piper]

I wish you well on your weightloss venture Xie. I suggest not bothering with weights at first and just concentrate on cardio. When I first started out, I did 15 minutes in the afternoon everyday. I had the stair thing in my house. An older one lended to me by my sister. Was religous about it too. Would try to do it everyday. Then I bought myself a bicycle and would ride it every morning, so I did 15 minutes of that in the morning, and 15 minutes on the stair thing. I also had a gazelle that I used too. Had meaning that I wore it out and broke it. LOL!

I lost 5 lbs in the first week then 10 and 15. Think it took me like 2 months to lose 40 lbs. 50 lbs was my limit to losing weight. I mean I'm 5'10" and 150 lbs right now. As far as diet, I cut down my meat and carbs. Would eat a salad and only use vinegar mixed with vegatable oil and some lettuce, tomatoes and cuccumber. For dinner, I did the meat and veggie thing. This was all last year. I then joined the gym in September of last year, and met with a trainer 3 times in October. Ironically, another Red Sox fan. LOL! She taught me the basics with free weights and the weight machine. Now like I said, I try to do 6 days a week. I alternate between doing cardio one day, and weights the next.

Sorry about me rambling Xie. I know it's harder for women to lose weight than it is for men. Wish you well. Yeah I agree, we should turn the whole Xena board into the Red Sox nation! LOL!

[Joxcenia]

The more muscle you build up in your body, the more calories you burn... even when you're asleep. Also, muscle weighs more than fat, so if you're working out with weights and your scale says you're gaining weight... it's most likely from the muscles that you're pumping up. So go by how loose your clothes are fitting as the months go by, not the scales. And give it a few months before you weight or measure, because the body always resists at first and can discourage you into quitting just when your hard work is starting to pay off.

The reason men lose weight faster and keep it off better is because they can bulk up their muscles bigger than women can. If women could get their muscles that big, they'd lose weight fast and keep it off too.

[piper]

Thanks for the article LG. That was a good read some interesting stuff there.

Joxcenia, I've never thought about the body resisting against muscle. That's interesting. Thanks for that bit of info.

[Lesa]

You're welcome for the article, Piper.

[Phalon]

Hhhmmm....I've noticed the past couple of years that it is harder to take the couple of pounds I put on over the winter when I don't work than it was in the past. This is about the time that my sleep habits changed from about six or seven hours to about five to six. I wonder if that extra hour has anything to do with it? And all this time I've been blaming it on my approaching over-the-hillness.

Dang, it's quarter to nine in the am. Maybe I can grab another hour.

Wishing you well, Xie, in your endeavor. A friend of mine has had excellent results with a no carb, (not low carb), diet, but she is way, way too obsessive about it, and I think borderlines on looking unhealthy - too thin. Another friend, (who IMO, looks much more healthy), read Dr. Phil, and has been following his recommendations, and has lost the weight she needed to also. Whatever you want to say about Dr. Phil, (strange little man), the suggestions in his book seem sound.