Lack of Sleep Making Me Fat?

Could not getting enough sleep be making me fat or keeping me from losing fat? I only get about 5 1/2 to 6 hours a night. I know that bodybuilders try and get a lot of sleep. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks

Not enough recovery, down ramped energy and hormone production. All leading to being less active and at the least running and moving in a less than optimal way. Having sub par daikly activity and w/o’s/ In short yes rest is very important and can lead to fat gain or halt in loss and more.

In addition to what Phil said, people who sleep less are awake more and tend to eat more.

One of the easiest ways to lose weight is to sleep more.

I know when I’m up for longer than usual (late nights on weekends and such), I end up eating a lot more food than normal. I noticed this especially last year on my flight to Hawaii. The 13-hour flight plus the six-hour time difference meant that I was up a lot more than usual and ended up eating 10-12 meals during that “day.”

As far as a hormonal response to not getting enough sleep is concerned: do you feel frequent carb cravings? Sleep deprivation will affect saratonin and I think leptin levels, which can make you crave carbs. Its not exactly scientific, you could be having carb cravings for other reasons.

not sleeping enough is a real bitch man.

When I was in that ‘sleepless zombie’ phase of college, I was taking Power Drive at least once a day, it helped a LOT to keep me going.

As far as getting fatter and putting on weight…

I think Nate Dogg hit it on the head by saying that it gives you more time to eat, which can bite you in the butt.

Also, weird sleep patterns effect hormone levels, it’s something to look into.

Yes for the reasons already listed.