Weight Loss - Sleep Issues

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175 posts

Master Geek

#1398917 2-Oct-2015 16:55

OK, mate. Enjoy your tart! But I am not sure why you started this thread. You have had a number of people give you very good advice, based on professional knowledge or personal experience. But you refute that advice, and do what you were going to do, before you started the thread. Good luck, but, whatever your body shape, you are probably overweight at 120kg or 111kg (unless you are 6ft 5in!).

k1wi

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Ultimate Geek

#1399193 3-Oct-2015 07:21

My 2c, 'because Internet':

tl;dr:
Even if you did something drastic like cutting a ton of salt out of your diet, losing a whole bunch of body weight over a couple of weeks isn't exactly a cause for calm.

--
My first assumptions are that your 10kg loss was measured consistently and with minimal rounding. That is to say under the same conditions, such as before breakfast following ablutions, pre/post. If not, 20% of your weight loss could safely be due to simply measuring yourself at different times of the day. Do note that a daily variation of more than 2-3kg indicates that you should be checked out for diabetes.

Given 10kg of fat = ~77,000 calories of stored energy, it's certainly not entirely fat loss. A rapid decrease in body water can occur as a result of dietary changes, i.e. a major reduction in salt. It can also occur due to the pathological concerns cited by others, or through chronic dehydration. Not one of those are guaranteed to be a good thing, even the salt reduction! Given you are experiencing additional symptoms such as sleeplessness, people are wisely advising you to go to a doctor. If you care about your body/health enough to go to the effort of losing a big chunk of weight, you should care enough to go to the doctor for a once over. They are probably able to assist you with your sleeplessness more effectively that an internet forum too.

So much weight loss in such a short period of time through calorie reduction and increased exercise indicates that there is also likely to be a deterioration in muscle mass. That will certainly make it harder for you to continue to lose weight or maintain your present weight loss. If you're doing it for sustainable health reasons, your goal should really be fat loss, rather than simply weight loss. If you haven't increased your consumption of lean protein you should look at doing so.

For what it's worth, I lost 10kg of weight by changing my diet and exercising more, so I have walked in those shoes. However, I did it over four months and it was hard work, because I was building muscle mass at the same time.

Batman

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#1399195 3-Oct-2015 07:30

Unfortunately there are no safe short cuts to weight loss, but hard work.
There are no short cuts to becoming fitter/healthier, but hard work.
There are no short cuts to sleeping better (well some people just sleep at the flick of a switch) for those not blessed with the switch, but careful planning, and hard work.

The amazing ADs you see on tv and the internet, well they are just stolen pics of very unhealthy people and very hardworking people side by side, there is no short cut.

Batman

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#1399196 3-Oct-2015 07:33

Don't take this as dogma, rather as a guide.

http://bollandbranchblog.com/2015/02/26/sleeping-in-the-digital-age/

nzkiwiman

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#1399950 5-Oct-2015 08:16

k1wi: My 2c, 'because Internet':

tl;dr:
Even if you did something drastic like cutting a ton of salt out of your diet, losing a whole bunch of body weight over a couple of weeks isn't exactly a cause for calm.

--
My first assumptions are that your 10kg loss was measured consistently and with minimal rounding. That is to say under the same conditions, such as before breakfast following ablutions, pre/post. If not, 20% of your weight loss could safely be due to simply measuring yourself at different times of the day. Do note that a daily variation of more than 2-3kg indicates that you should be checked out for diabetes.

Given 10kg of fat = ~77,000 calories of stored energy, it's certainly not entirely fat loss. A rapid decrease in body water can occur as a result of dietary changes, i.e. a major reduction in salt. It can also occur due to the pathological concerns cited by others, or through chronic dehydration. Not one of those are guaranteed to be a good thing, even the salt reduction! Given you are experiencing additional symptoms such as sleeplessness, people are wisely advising you to go to a doctor. If you care about your body/health enough to go to the effort of losing a big chunk of weight, you should care enough to go to the doctor for a once over. They are probably able to assist you with your sleeplessness more effectively that an internet forum too.

So much weight loss in such a short period of time through calorie reduction and increased exercise indicates that there is also likely to be a deterioration in muscle mass. That will certainly make it harder for you to continue to lose weight or maintain your present weight loss. If you're doing it for sustainable health reasons, your goal should really be fat loss, rather than simply weight loss. If you haven't increased your consumption of lean protein you should look at doing so.

For what it's worth, I lost 10kg of weight by changing my diet and exercising more, so I have walked in those shoes. However, I did it over four months and it was hard work, because I was building muscle mass at the same time.

Weight loss was measured at the same time each day; generally around 1.5kg heavier at night and even 150g heavier after a shower.
Over the weekend I did do a bit of reading over "weight loss plateau" and learnt about how the body does move weight (as you said, water, muscle and then fat) so your right in that I want to loose some fat not muscle.
Which is why over the weekend I got back into my weight training that I had neglected after figuring out how to deal with my sore shoulders and have been having fun adding additional exercises into my routine.

The next 10kg will be a challenge, but I look forward to it.

Regarding the reason for this thread - sleep issues
As expected over the weekend I slept like a baby, so I have no idea if the tart cherry has had any impact yet or not.

Batman

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#1400001 5-Oct-2015 09:45

Best not to know. Lest you find out the truth.

MileHighKiwi

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#1400009 5-Oct-2015 09:54

Magnesium can help with sleep problems. It's important, IMO, to have a good bedtime routine. About an hour before I want to go to sleep I have two magnesium tablets, a 'sleepy time' herbal team, and then reading in bed for at least 15 minutes. A hot shower can help, too.

Well done on the weight loss, keep up the good work.

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Fred99

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#1400018 5-Oct-2015 10:04

joker97: Best not to know. Lest you find out the truth.

For something like that (insomnia) then I'd rather have a safe and effective placebo than any "real" psychoactive medication - all of which have side effects.
It's amazing how lousy the efficacy is of many commonly prescribed drugs when compared to placebo in clinical trials.

nzkiwiman

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#1400020 5-Oct-2015 10:09

MileHighKiwi: Magnesium can help with sleep problems. It's important, IMO, to have a good bedtime routine. About an hour before I want to go to sleep I have two magnesium tablets, a 'sleepy time' herbal team, and then reading in bed for at least 15 minutes. A hot shower can help, too.

Well done on the weight loss, keep up the good work.

I've been pretty much sticking to the same routine for a few years
Shower at 9.30pm (give or take 15 minutes) - after the shower I do a set of stretches to relieve the "build up" in my thighs that made me really sore 2012-2013
Then its bed where I watch some YouTube videos and do some reading.
Typically "rolling over" sometime between 10.30 and 11pm

andrew027

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#1400041 5-Oct-2015 10:14

nzkiwiman: I've been pretty much sticking to the same routine for a few years
Shower at 9.30pm (give or take 15 minutes) - after the shower I do a set of stretches to relieve the "build up" in my thighs that made me really sore 2012-2013
Then its bed where I watch some YouTube videos and do some reading.
Typically "rolling over" sometime between 10.30 and 11pm

Dropping the YouTube (and any other screen activity) will help.

lxsw20

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#1400045 5-Oct-2015 10:18

Or at least install f.lux to remove the blues from your screen.

jonathan18

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#1400112 5-Oct-2015 11:00

lxsw20: Or at least install f.lux to remove the blues from your screen.

This got me interested, as I'm reluctant to giving up screen time every night before sleeping, so would like to try something to achieve the same results. However, mostly I'd be using a smaller device than a computer - ie iPad or Android tablet or phone, so it looks like f.lux isn't the answer in these cases.

With a little bit of digging I see f.lux can only go on a jail-broken iPad - is there any alternative app that can acheive the same results on an iPad? (I'm assuming not necessarily, going by how tied-down iOS is.)

I see there are apps like Twilight for Android devices that claim to do an equivalent thing (while others simply alter the screen brightness, which won't deal with the blue tint issue) - can anyone recommend an Android app for this?

Cheers and thanks

nzkiwiman

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#1400113 5-Oct-2015 11:03

andrew027:
Dropping the YouTube (and any other screen activity) will help.

Not sure about that; I've been doing this YouTube watching in bed before sleeping since 2012 and while I can't say every night has been perfect I can't recall insomnia to this level.

lxsw20: Or at least install f.lux to remove the blues from your screen.

Have on desktop, not available on Android (haven't looked for alternatives)

nzkiwiman

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#1400876 6-Oct-2015 11:26

It is actually possible that my insomnia is not related to weight loss but to nerves.
Hopefully now that I have been shot down, sleep will return.

As expected, weight loss has slowed significantly.
Currently at 109kg; currently having lots of fun doing a HIT based "exercise plan" (though there is no planning involved)

When I walk the dogs, I sprint small sections of the walk rather than walking it all
Or when I take the bike out, I again sprint small sections rather than taking a relaxing ride
Also following a weight exercise plan from the physio, while adding in a few extra items.

lxsw20

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#1400880 6-Oct-2015 11:28

nzkiwiman: Have on desktop, not available on Android (haven't looked for alternatives)

Seriously...google flux android, the first result is an alternative.

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