Just as emotions affect your ability to sense hunger and fullness, sleep significantly influences how you behave.35,53-55 Adequate sleep keeps you mentally sharp, reduces the stress you feel and repairs the wear and tear the body receives during it’s waking hours. Inadequate sleep makes you less productive, slower in general and more stressed. The lack of sleep also weakens your immune system, making you more susceptible to illness, like a simple cold.56  You have less ability to access your coping skills when you are tired. So trying to figure out whether or not you’re hungry gets murky. Your sleep influences your sensitivity to the hormones ghrelin and leptin and the amounts of the hormones secreted.35,54-55,57  Physically, with less sleep, your body tries to adapt and give you the energy you are lacking. It tries to protect itself. So what does it do? It spits out more ghrelin to make you feel hungrier and eat more. And it spits out less leptin to make you feel less full and eat more. If you are trying to lose weight, eating more is working against you.54-55,57  In addition to feeling hungrier, the food you crave is higher in fat and carbohydrates. With sleep … Continue reading Rest the Incinerator