I have not been a very good sleeper the past couple of weeks! AND, I must say sleep deprivation kills my “health motivation” quicker than anything else! When I’m tired, I don’t feel like exercising and I’m not as judicious about the food I eat! Dang it!
Science has actually proven that lack of sleep=weight gain.
I am a believer.
When we are tired, two key hormones, Ghrelin and Leptin get out of whack. Ghrelin is the hormone that stimulates our appetite and tells us we are hungry. Leptin is the hormone that tells us when we are full.
When we’re tired, our body looks for things to give us energy! SO, it increases the production of Ghrelin. Consequently, we become hungry….we eat….we get more energy! When we’re tired our bodies especially crave things that give us quick energy and satisfaction; simple sugars and carbohydrates! These simple sugars give us immediate, yet short-lived energy and then we suffer a sugar crash and the cycle continues!
Also, when we’re tired our body produces less of the hormone Leptin, which tells us we’re full. So, we eat more food!! In the long run, we eat a lot more food, exercise less, our metabolism gets all jacked up and we gain weight!
Weight loss is hard enough….we don’t need to make it harder by messing with our metabolism and hormones! Geesh.
However, even though I know the science behind it and have personally felt the ill effects of sleep deprivation in my life…..I still struggle with it!!
On the flip side, when I DO get my sleep (especially several nights in a row!), I become a machine!! I eat well, exercise hard, check off everything on my “to do” list and I feel unstoppable! I love it!
Sooo, lesson learned….I’m going to recommit myself to get my sleep!
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On a brighter note, I made a yummy protein shake the other day I thought I would share!!!
I recently discovered that one of my favorite gym instructors writes a blog too! She’s in amazingly tip-top shape and is such a motivation to me! Anyway, I was reading one of her posts and it was full of so many yummy protein shake recipes. Here’s a link if you’re interested. The recipe at the very end of the post inspired me to make this protein shake. I love raspberries! Yum!
Here’s the recipe with my changes,
Raspberry Almond Protein Shake
- 1 C. Unsweetened Almond Milk (or liquid of your choice!)
- 1-2 scoops vanilla protein powder
- 1/2 C. frozen raspberries
- 1 T. almond butter
- 1 T. ground flax seed
- 2 BIG handfuls baby spinach
- 6-7 ice cubes
Put everything in the blender and mix!
Enjoy!
Nutritional Information (calculated using 1 1/2 scoops protein):
If you want to decrease the calories, you can cut down the amount of almond butter and only use 1 scoop of protein. If you are trying to build muscle or are drinking this immediately following a workout, I would highly recommend using 1 1/2-2 scoops of protein.
I hope y’all have a wonderful Monday!!
