Controlling weight is a key aspect of maintaining good health. A well-planned diet can ensure that you get the right amount of vitamins, minerals and fibre, while avoiding too many calories.
It is also important to avoid weight cycling, or losing and regaining weight multiple times. This can lead to poor health and slow metabolism.
Sleep
Scientists have found that people tend to eat more when they don’t get enough sleep. This is because lack of sleep changes appetite-regulating hormones, leading to higher levels of ghrelin, which increases hunger, and lower levels of leptin, which promotes feeling full.
In one study, subjects ate more calories when they were given 5.5 hours of sleep than when they got 8.5 hours of sleep. In addition, the 5.5-hour group conserved energy-dense fat more than the 8.5-hour group, so they ended up losing less weight overall and gaining more body fat.
Fortunately, this is something that can be changed with education and counseling. In fact, Frates and her colleagues have just finished a study where they helped people sleep more by offering personalized “sleep hygiene” coaching to teach them how to get to bed earlier, and by enrolling them in a trial of extra slumber. These subjects slept about eight-and-a-half hours per night, on average, and gained less weight than people who were given only education and no additional sleep time.
Stress Management
Stress can cause you to eat more, especially junk food that is high in fat and sugar. This can lead to a vicious cycle of belly fat accumulation, low self-control and decreased sleep quality.
It is important to identify and track the things that cause you stress. You can then use a variety of techniques to manage those situations, including meditation, yoga or controlled breathing exercises. These strategies will physically remove you from the situation and emotionally take you away for a short time, giving you some space to think about what is really bothering you.
One study showed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, higher stress levels were associated with less frequent engagement in weight-management behaviors, even after controlling for age and education level. This suggests that stress management could be an important adjunct to other treatments for obesity such as dietary intervention and bariatric surgery. The best way to control your stress is to find a balance between work, home and social life.