Social Jetlag

[exiledgator]

Heard this on the morning drive.

The basic premise is we throw our internal sleep and eat clocks off by 'traveling west' on Friday night and 'traveling east' on Sunday night. i.e., We get up at 6 and go to bed at 9:30 Su-Th, but on F/Sa (some) go to bed at 3am and wake up at 10am - as if you'd flown west three - five time zones.

The effect (argued) is that this throws our body's schedule off and our body naturally stores fat during times of reduced / inconsistent sleep as it relates this with trouble and the need to store fat.

I do think sleep and a consistent sleep schedule is super important, but I'm not so sure I sign on for the cave man physiology theory of bad sleep = more fat retention.

Thoughts?

[Dreamliner]

My wife is what I'd call an intuitive sleeper. Sometimes she's up until 1am and rises around 6am. Another day she might retire at 9am. By rights she should be pudgy. She goes around 5-7 120.

Your body doesn't magically put on fat in response to stress or erratic patterns of behavior. Rather, the above factors can and do increase hunger and this can certainly lead to adiposity.

[Zendra]

I think that we should get adequate rest on a daily basis. We do not really need to follow a schedule when it comes to having a good rest. But when I mean adequate rest, it would mean not sleeping too late. It also must include a good 6-8hours of sleep. This will greatly help our body's cells regenerate.

[LeafUF]

My sleep schedule is even more messed up when you consider that I have been living out west on pacific time since last August and working from home on an eastern time to be available for my client. Plus lots of travel and when I do go out I regularly get home just in time to sign on for work.

I am a notoriously bad sleeper and have been since college, I dont think it has made any difference at all in my body composition. What does effect me the most is my eating habits which do not seem to change based on my sleep habits, though I cant say I have ever thought about it before to be honest.

[Dreamliner]

I'm a bad sleeper too. But it doesn't seem to have any bearing on my exercise performance. It certainly doesn't have any bearing on my body composition. And though I have not been sleeping well lately, I took my blood pressure at the local pharmacy and it was 110/66 and my pulse rate was 54.

Maybe I should just cut out sleep altogether.

[exiledgator]

Originally Posted by LeafUF

My sleep schedule is even more messed up when you consider that I have been living out west on pacific time since last August and working from home on an eastern time to be available for my client. Plus lots of travel and when I do go out I regularly get home just in time to sign on for work.

I am a notoriously bad sleeper and have been since college, I dont think it has made any difference at all in my body composition. What does effect me the most is my eating habits which do not seem to change based on my sleep habits, though I cant say I have ever thought about it before to be honest.

Eating habits were also listed as being altered due to 'social jetlag'.

I will attest to eating more when I'm really tired than I would if I were well rested.

[LeafUF]

Originally Posted by exiledgator

Eating habits were also listed as being altered due to 'social jetlag'.

I will attest to eating more when I'm really tired than I would if I were well rested.

Well like I said I certainly have not noticed it and if social jetlag was altering my eating habits then I would have expected to be in worse shape now than I was when I moved to Las Vegas and the opposite is true. Granted one example certainly does not negate a study and social jetlag may have more of a negative effect on others.

[Dreamliner]

Sleeplessness may affect people in the way exercise affects people. For some people characterized as "non-responders", exercise only increases food reward. This is why exercise 'causes' them to actually gain weight.

[Dreamliner]

That said, I'm not willy-nilly on sleep. My sleeplessness may well be affecting areas of my health I'm not yet aware of. It's just not apparent at this point. It hasn't affected the usual health markers.

[Zendra]

I only feel sleepy after 1AM. This means I sleep for 5 hours on workdays and 8 hours on weekends.

[Dreamliner]

Had my worst night in awhile. Took my blood pressure (after two cups of coffee) and it was 109/64.

That's it. For the sake of my health ... no more sleep!