Belated 4/9/11 post...

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so...yeah. Sorry. I was tired and had been finishing up some school stuff. A girl needs sleep ya know! No, really. Sleep affects your body's production of leptin and ghrelin. What are leptin and ghrelrin? Well, they're hormones that are affected by how much deep sleep we get. Leptin is made in our fat cells and tells our brains when our bodies have enough stored energy. So really, it tells us when to stop eating so darned much. The question then is, do we listen? Ghrelin, on the other hand, is produced in our stomachs and tell us when to eat. Again, do we listen to it?

In order for these hormones to work properly, we generally need 7 hours of sleep per night. Jillian Michaels tells us in Master Your Metabolism that just two bad nights of sleep will cut our leptin production by 20% and increase our ghrelin production by 30%. So, by not getting enough sleep, our hormones will essentially tell us to start eating when we're not actually hungry and then wait extra long to tell us to stop.

So what does this mean to our daily lives? Well, it means that getting enough restful sleep is essential to maintaining a healthy weight. Think about what you know about sleep apnea. You probably know that experiencing sleep apnea causes people to wake suddenly from a sound sleep. Well, really it's when the sleeper stops breathing for a period of time. Luckily, our nervous system kicks in and wakes us up so that we'll start breathing again! Did you know that most people with sleep apnea not only do not get restful nights of sleep but are also overweight? Vicious cycle of ghrelin and leptin? Well, scientists aren't sure, but what they do know is that we all need a good night's rest on a consistent basis.

Banana before leaving the house...remember, this is the day after my terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad dentist's appointment. Trying to keep it mushy!

The elusive ham, egg and cheese on whole grain from Panera with a cappuccino (2%, you can tell by the foam)

Less than 1/2 a whole grain bagel with cream cheese. It was just too good to pass up!

Beautiful big salad for dinner!! Recognize the chicken from the other night? Well, there's also, lettuce, cukes, purple cabbage, carrots, red peppers, spaghetti squash and greek dressing.

Yeah, here's why I can't have sweets...I actually had three of these and they're 'sugar free'. For me, it's just the sensation of sweet that sets off a phenomena of craving.

And the cardinal mistake...nachos before bed. For all of you reading, do what I say, not necessarily what I do.