Month: July 2020

The swimming pools are finally reopening across the UK, and I have been embracing the opportunities to open water swim at my local reservoir. I felt it was a good time to write about why water, and swimming in particular, can make us feel so good. 

I intuitively know being in and near water makes me feel good. Indeed any of us who have been near a beautiful lake or gazed out at the waves on the beach know that:

“instinctively that being by water makes us healthier, happier, reduces stress, and brings us peace”. 

Wallace J Nichols Blue Mind

To find out why I decided to read Wallace J Nichols’s book Blue Mind: How water makes you happier, more connected and better at what you do. 

I’d recommend this book if: you are a lover of any water based activity, you are drawn to the water or you are environmentally conscious about our blue world (Nichols is a marine biologist and conservationist). Nichols takes us through a tour of the neuroscience of why water makes us feel so good and invites us into his blue mind world. He describes blue mind as:

“a mildly meditative state characterised by calm, peacefulness, unity and a sense of general happiness and satisfaction with life in the moment”.

Wallace J Nichols Blue Mind

The science of why being in or near water makes us feel good: 

Nichols notes that being in, on, or near to water can: 

• Reduce the effects of the stress state (sympathetic nervous system, or the “red mind” state as Nichols it). It can also decrease levels of the stress hormone cortisol. The red mind “fight or flight” response, including high levels of anxiety and stress, can be hard to escape in our modern world. Blue mind provides respite. 
• Increase feel good chemicals serotonin and oxytocin.
• Reduce our heart and breathing rate. Studies have shown that even looking at water can reduce blood pressure.
• Be an effective treatment for a range of disorders such as addiction, PTSD, anxiety and autism (see below for more on this).  
• Make us more creative and inspires our thought processes. 
• Encourage a more positive outlook: Images with water tend to elicit a more positive response in research participants compared to images without water. 
• Create a meditative effect: It invites a natural escape from the modern world. We are away from technology and screens.  
• Elicit an emotional response creating feelings of awe, peace and joy. People will often describe how water makes them feel. 
• Release the feel-good neurotransmitters: dopamine, adrenaline, endocannabinoids and endorphins. 
• Allow us to feel connected to something bigger as an effect of being in nature. 
• Improve our relationships, make us feel greater love and even have a positive effect on our businesses.

Swimming saved me during challenging times 

When I was in the midst of one of the most difficult and challenging periods of my life I had swimming as my anchor. Before Covid-19 hit I swam with a group of friends in the mornings before work. There were times back in 2013/2014 where I didn’t really know how I got out of bed but somehow I managed to get to the pool. Seeing my friends, having a chat in the changing rooms and then getting into the water and doing our swim sessions was grounding. It brought normality, structure, escapism, thinking time and all of the other amazing benefits physical activity has to offer. It felt as though the water was literally soaking up my troubles and easing some of my pain. 

Front crawl has always been my favourite stroke. As you glide through the water you are almost fully submersed. When my hand hits the water it felt as though all the angst, sadness and grief I was feeling at the time was transferring into the water. Being submerged in the water makes you feel weightless, and carefree – for me it’s utterly liberating.  

I love open water swimming and lidos because I can see the sky and trees every time I breathe to the side. It cleanses the mind and it also allows me to process my thoughts and and be creative: I came up with the name of my business when I was in the water. 

As Roger Deakin says in his famous book Waterlog:

“When you enter the water, something, like a metamorphosis happens. Leaving behind the land, you go through the looking glass surface and enter a new world in which survival, not ambition or desire, is the dominant aim.”

Roger Deakin, Waterlog:

Swimming as therapy

Alexandra Heminsley talks about how swimming provided therapy for her when she was going through difficult times in her life in her book Leap In. 

In Dip: Wild swims from the Borderlands Andrew Fusek, who lost his father to suicide, talks about how wild swimming provided mindful respite from the “thought-torture” of his depression:

“Diving into wild water is the great bringer-back of reality. A perfect present tense, a right-here, right-now moment. The senses are so filled by the trees, the light, the sound of birds, of shivering leaves, the fierce squeezing clinch of the water – there’s no space for thought shadows”. 

Andrew Fusek, Dip

In Blue Mind Nichols discusses an interesting case study in California where a surf club has been set up as a successful treatment facility for drug addicts. The idea being to replace the high of drugs with the high produced by exercise, especially something like surfing which produces a natural dopamine surge. Surfing works by providing a different reward to addictive drugs in the brain. 

A swimming community

Alexandra Heminsley refers to the sense of community there is around swimming:

“however exposing the act of getting in the water in nothing but a swimming costume can be, the communities that swimmers have built truly cement my faith in human nature”.

Alexandra Heminsley, Leap In

The Kenwood Ladies’ Pond in Hampstead Heath, North London, is one of my most favourite places. There’s a real sense community there of women, with their individual stories, and reasons for swimming and what it has done for them. It’s secluded, tranquil and amazingly peaceful considering it is in the middle of London. There’s something really special about being somewhere where women have been swimming for almost 100 years all year round. It doesn’t quite feel like anywhere else in the world, it’s a total escape from normal life and is a place where you feel your troubles instantly lifting. There was recently lovely doumentary on the history of the ponds exploring the love people have for the Hampstead Ponds.

Swimming offers a sense of accomplishment and achievement

Nichols also talks about how swimming is a distinct skill we need to learn as children or adults and this is satisfying as it gives us an enormous sense of achievement and satisfaction (once the frustrations are passed). 

As Alexandra Heminsley says:

“To discover a new skill as an adult is like noticing a door, deciding to open it and finding an entire room in your own home you never knew you had. And I had done it – I had opened the door to the extra room. Now I wanted to be able to see water, anywhere in the world – oceans, lakes and pools – and sense not fear but adventure and peace”. 

Alexandra Heminsley, Leap In

Nichols also talks about the benefits of how we have to learn to swim and the cognitive benefits:

“This combination of cognitive effort and aerobic exercise has actually been proven to provide the greatest amount of what is called “cognitive reserve” – that is, the mind’s resilience to damage to the brain”. 

Wallace J Nichols Blue Mind

Swimming is one of the best forms of aerobic exercise

It might be a pain to get to a pool, get changed and get wet but it’s worth it for the great overall workout you get without adding any stress to your joints: 

“The resistance and pressure of water contribute to swimming’s role as one of the best forms of both aerobic exercise and muscle toning. Because the pressure of the water outside the body is greater than the pressure inside”. 

Wallace J Nichols Blue Mind

Swimming improves the respiratory system and every muscle is benefiting from a resistance training workout. 

Swimming as a stress buster

Catecholamines are a hormone in the body which regulates stress. Being immersed in the water can change the make up of catecholamines in the body in a way similar to relaxation or meditation – so just being in water can reduce stress and increase feelings of relaxation. 

As other forms of aerobic exercise do, swimming releases feel good chemicals endorphins and endocannabinoids again serving to reduce the body’s stress response and make us feel great. Swimming is also linked to an increase in the number of neurons in the hippocampus (see my earlier post on exercise and mental health). Nichols also writes that partaking in regular aerobic exercise can help the ageing process by maintaining our cognitive abilities.  

So get in the water whichever way feels good to you and see if it can make you feel better, lift your mood, increase your feelings of happiness, increase your creativity and reduce stress and anxiety! 

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Do you want to feel better in yourself? Have more confidence and energy, less stress and anxiety and generally be a happier, more content and fulfilled person? If the answer is yes, coaching could be the tool you need to feel your best self in your life. 

What is coaching?

Coaching can be a truly transformative process for an individual either within their professional or personal lives. Through a process of structured conversations it can enable positive change, through self-reflection, and help you to feel your best self. 

There are many formal definitions of coaching. I like this one…

Coaching is a way of: 

“unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance [by] helping them to learn rather than teaching them”.

John Whitmore, Coaching for Performance

There are also many types of different coaches focusing on different areas. For example: life coaching, relationship coaching, development coaching, executive coaching, business coaching, financial coaching and health and welbeing coaching. I’ll focus on life coaching and fitness and wellbeing coaching primarily in this post.

How can life coaching be beneficial?

So you might be asking how can coaching benefit me? Life coaching or wellbeing coaching can be particularly beneficial if you are: 

• Stuck in a rut and not sure where to go next 
• Feeling overwhelmed with too much to do 
• Not sure where your career or life is heading
• Feeling anxious or stressed about a particular area of your life
• Unsure about a relationship or what to do with a family dilemma 
• About to make a change, or just made that change, in your life such as moving house, having a family or changing jobs
• Difficulties or challenges at work (crossing over into Executive Coaching)
• Wanting to change your habits such as implementing a long term exercise or diet programme (see below for more on this specifically)  

How does it work? 

Life coaching usually consists of a one to one relationship between a qualified coach and an individual over a period of at least 4-6 sessions. These sessions usually last between 50 minutes to an hour and a half. Sometimes the individual has a specific goal in mind. For example: changing careers; going back to work after maternity leave; growing their confidence, self-esteem or resilience. Often a client may not know exactly what they want, or need, but they know something in their life needs to shift and change. The coach will work with the client, sometimes using tools and giving them homework, to devise goals and work towards where they want to be. 

Why is coaching right for you… 

A lot of people think it’s indulgent to invest in themselves but I think everyone can benefit from coaching and what it can offer. I can’t imagine there are many people who don’t want to grow and further themselves. Indeed, the evidence for the effectiveness of coaching at a personal and professional level is really strong across the board. 

How much does it cost? 

Coaching can vary in price enormously depending on the experience and skillset and expertise of the coach, where the coaching takes place and the length and duration of sessions.

My coaching is reasonably priced and I am happy to discuss the details with each individual. I will also offer discounts for those who cannot afford the usual rates at the moment. Generally coaches will price for blocks of 4-6 sessions. Most coaches will also do one off sessions for a particular issue someone might be facing. 

How coaching helped me

Studying for my postgradudate certificate in coaching at Birkbeck was a life changing and transformative process. As part of the course we took the role as coach and coachee/client from day one. This lead to an amazing journey of self-reflection and discovery for most people on the course.

Until you have experienced being coached, or have had therapy, I am not sure you can appreciate the value of dedicated one to one time with a professional listener. 

My sessions with my peer coach Meera Garratt have been instrumental in giving me the confidence to try new things with my business, push me forward, get me thinking of lots of new ideas and keep me on track. It’s really astonishing what 50 mins to an hour of focusing on your own agenda can do. Coaching can be instrumental in aiding greater self-awareness, personal growth and resilience.  

There are very few safe spaces where you can really explore in depth conversations in the way you can in a coaching environment. In the same way as therapy, coaching provides an unbiased, safe, structured and empowering space to explore ourselves. 

Misconceptions of coaching

• It’s about advice giving: A lot of people assume coaching is about a coach giving you advice. This is usually not the case at all and coaching is generally non-directive in nature. Often a coach may say very little and allow the client to explore their own thoughts, ideas and responses. The coach may guide the client by asking probing questions, picking up on what is said and importantly what is not said, and taking into account body language. The coach does not need to be an expert in the topic the client is exploring as generally the coach believes the client to have the answers within themselves. 
• Coaching is the same as mentoring: Coaching is often confused with mentoring. The main difference between the two is that mentoring is usually more aligned with advice giving and sharing the mentor’s own experience to influence and guide the mentee. A mentor will usually be more experienced, perhaps older (but not necessarily always) and have some background in the area the mentee is working on. 
• Coaching is the same as therapy: There’s lots of overlap between coaching and therapy and sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish. The theory of both disciplines comes from the same schools of thought (psychoanalysis, cognitive behaviour, people centred, solution focused etc). The main difference is that coaching is usually focused on future development and growing potential. Therapy is generally focused on analysing past emotions, feelings and traumas. This blog post explains it well if you want to understand the difference in more detail. If a coach is trained properly they will know when to distinguish between whether a client needs therapy or coaching and will abide by ethical guidelines (note, if you are opting for coach make sure they have followed a reputable route and are adequately qualified. This was very important to me and why I chose to study coaching at postgraduate level at a University). 

My coaching approach 

My coaching is usually non-directive in nature and based on a combination of different coaching approaches including cognitive behaviour, self-compassion and mindfulness based techniques. I take a whole person approach and I believe challenges experienced in our professional lives are not necessarily easily separated from issues in our personal lives and what we do in our personal lives can benefit our professional lives.

I am a member of the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC) and follow their code of ethics.

Coaching, exercise, body image and self-worth

My passion is for everyone to find an activity they love for life which will bring about positive change in every aspect of their lives to enable them to feel their best self. Coaching can play an important role here. 

I think the mistake most people make when taking on a new exercise programme, diet or regime to lose weight or get into shape is that they don’t fully consider the mindset, habit and the behaviourial aspect. We are fixated on the end goal rather than the whole process and system behind it (as James Clear talks about in his book Atomic Habits). We want quick fixes and fast results, which in reality are not possible, at least to sustain for the long-term. Especially in the world of fitness and weight loss.

Embarking on behaviour change for life is difficult and you need to work on sustainable and long term habit change for it to be a success. In a lot of ways it’s not actually about movement or food it’s a lot more complex than this. 

Feel your best self: what my coaching programme can do for you

My coaching programme takes people through all the stages they need to explore before they actually embark on the exercise programme, fitness regime or diet. It covers:

• What exercise means allowing you to explore how your past has shaped your attitude to fitness and exercise
• What the barriers are and how to overcome them 
• How you really feel about yourself and your identity and how you want to feel 
• What you really want to achieve, rather than what you think you want to achieve 
• Giving yourself permission to do what you want to do
• How to transform habits: stick to good ones and reduce bad ones
• The route to finding the activity which you will love for life
• How to fit this around your existing schedule, family commitments and work 
• How to get your family on board and supportive of your activity 
• How to actually commit to the plans for the long term 

If you don’t think it’s truly possible to embrace a new exercise regime or diet and fitness plan then I challenge you to take on my programme and see how truly transformational change can be.

Ultimately the aim is to create positive behaviour change for life which has a ripple effect in every other area of your life through to health, diet, weight loss, growth in confidence, purpose, self-esteem and self-worth. 

Contact me if you would like to explore coaching in more detail. I have slots available now!

Exercise as my coping mechanism

Exercise has always been my coping mechanism. It is my number one self-care activity. It’s my tool for managing when I feel down. It has helped me battle through depression, anxiety and get to a healthy relationship with my body after having an eating disorder. It has been a constant in my life through relationship breakdowns and divorce, through grief and fertility losses. It has helped me be the person I am, feel comfortable in my own skin, have energy, be creative and helped me get up in the morning. Exercise makes me feel my best self. See my previous post on the“flow” state for more on why I love exercise.

Those of us who love exercise know how good it can make us feel and we can’t live without it. I am passionate for others to find this and embrace the power of exercise for their mental wellbeing and resilience.

The mental health benefits of exercise 

We know that exercise has multiple mental health benefits including: 

• Reducing stress, anxiety and depressive thoughts
• Improving mood, self-esteem, optimism and confidence
• Increasing concentration, creativity and stamina 
• Nurturing connection, purpose and meaning in life 
• Increasing sleep duration and quality (leading to all of the other benefits we get from sleep – see my previous blog post on this topic) 
• Reducing the chances of developing degenerative diseases such as dementia 
• Making us less prone to loneliness 

Exercise is scientifically proven as a preventative strategy against developing mental health disorders as well as a treatment for existing disorders. This topic is slowly gaining more traction in the medical, health and wellbeing world and there’s lots of research out there to support this. But why is this the case?

Exercise can prevent depression, anxiety and stress 

Brendon Stubbs is head of physiotherapy at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. He’s also a lecturer and researcher at Kings College London specialising in helping people find exercise to alleviate and/or build up resilience to prevent mental health conditions. I came across Brendon through my favourite podcast Feel Better Live More podcast. I am fascinated by his work and his ethos. 

In his work Stubbs refers to a study, by Schuch et al, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2018 which followed 260,000 people and their exercise habits over 7 years. The study showed that people following recommended guidelines in terms of activity were 30% less likely to develop depression. Stubbs’s research has shown that even if you are predisposed in your genetic make up to develop depression, exercise can act as a preventative measure. 

Studies on sedentary behaviour have shown that after just a week of low activity, in people who were previously active, signs of stress, anxiety and depression start to emerge. This is something a lot of us know intuitively but it’s great to see the research base growing in this area. 

So why is exercise so good for our mental health? 

There are many reasons and it is a very complex question. From the reading I have done I’ve come up with 6 scientifically backed reasons: 

1. Exercise changes the brain

Exercise increases the flow of oxygenated-rich blood to the brain helping to produce new brain cells, a process called neuroplasticity. In her book, The Source, neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart talks about how exercise makes the brain more agile:

“Those who exercise have better higher brain functions like emotional regulation and flexible thinking, and are better able to quickly switch between tasks”. 

Dr Tara Swart, The Source

Brendon Stubbs talks about how exercise can produce real and significant growth and changes in the hippocampus in just 12 weeks of consistent exercise. This is the area of the brain which is important for processing emotions and consolidating memories from short to long term.

Research is also being done into the protein BNDF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). BNDF is important for brain cell health and repair, regulating mood and for processes such as learning and memory. People who do more exercise release more BNDF. Tara Swart notes that research has shown that those doing exercise they enjoy rather than seeing it as a chore actually release more BNDF. 

2. Exercise releases feel good chemicals and proteins 

Exercise releases a number of feel good chemicals: dopamine, endocannabinoids, norepinephrine, and serotonin. 

Kelly McGonigal in her book The Joy of Movement talks about the runner’s high. She discusses how some forms of persistent aerobic exercise such as running, cycling, dancing and swimming release endocannabinoids. This is the neurotransmitter cannabis mimics. It results in making us feel less anxious and worried, more hopeful and optimistic and increases pleasure from social contact.

See my blog post on The Joy of Movement for a more in depth summary of why endocannabinoids and what they do.  

Exercise can also trigger a rush of endorphins and dopamines which reduce the feeling of pain and create feelings of euphoria. Serotonin can boost mood and an overall sense of wellbeing and is also increased through exercise. Serotonin also has an important role to plan in improving appetite and sleep. 

3. Exercises reduces stress chemicals 

Exercise is proven to reduce the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline and regulate the body’s fight or flight response. It is also proven to increase norepinephrine which can help the body respond to stress. Exercise such as yoga is thought to correct a balance between the body’s parasympathetic state (the body’s natural relaxing mode) and sympathetic state (fight or flight mode). 

Mithu Storoni, in her book Stress Proof, refers to exercising influencing the effects of rumination after a stressful experience. Exercise can improve prefrontal control over the HPA-axis response (the body’s stress response axis). 

Dr Rangan Chatterjee, in his book, The Stress Solution says:

“exercise is one of the best ways to pull yourself out of a damaging stress state that’s been caused by too many Micro Stress Doses”.

Dr Rangan Chatterjee The Stress Solution

Research has shown that the brain chemical GABA is increased through exercise which encourages the brain into a calm state. Dr Chatterjee also discusses the role of telomeres (protective material found at the end of our chromosomes inside our genetic material). If your telomeres are damaged you will age more prematurely and experience more stress. A study conducted in 2010 with stressed out women concluded that “vigorous physical activity appears to protect those experiencing high stress by buffering its relationship with telomeres”. 

However too much exercise and overexerting yourself can have the opposite effect and actually increase stress in the body so make sure you get the balance right. 

4. Exercise can reduce inflammation 

Research has shown that exercise can significantly reduce inflammation and help the body heal itself as well as protect against infection.

Kelly McGonigal discusses how proteins called myokines are released by the muscles into the blood stream every time we move a muscle. There are 35 different types of myokines all producing positive effects on the body from helping muscles grow, regulating blood sugar levels, reducing inflammation, and reducing disease. See my blog on the Joy of Movement for more on myokines.

A type of myokine is a protein called Interleukin 6 (IL-6) which is released by the muscles during exercise. This protein plays an important role in fighting inflammation in the body. The longer your workout the more IL-6 is released.

5. Exercise has a powerful psychological and social impact 

Moving your body can have a powerful effect on your thoughts and mood as it can distract from painful emotions, worries and everyday stresses. Meeting workout goals or achieving a target such as running a 10K race or lifting a target weight can boost confidence and self-esteem, purposefulness and meaning in life. 

The physical side effects from exercise such as weight loss and improved body tone and shape can increase self-confidence and self-esteem. You will experience a renewed sense of energy and may even achieve other ambitions in your life as a result. If you build self-compassion and respect for your body through physical movement it is more likely you will want to nurture and care for your body and mind through nutrition, sleep, meditation and other important wellbeing activities. 

Exercising in groups with others can have an added benefit of boosting more feel good chemicals in the brain, increasing social connectedness and reducing loneliness. It also means it’s more likely people will be motivated to engage in activities if they are partaking with others. 

6. Exercise has a positive effect on mood 

Specific exercise has a different effect on the brain and body. As Kelly McGonical discusses, each form of exercise is uniquely personal in meaning to each individual. It creates a neurological feedback loop in the brain. For example, someone who loves lifting weights may get an empowering sense of feeling strong or in control. Perhaps a runner may feel a sense of freedom, a swimmer a sense of weightlessness and carefreeness. Dance and yoga might send out signals of joy and openness triggered by open arm gestures and body stance. 

5 minutes a day can make a difference!

The best news is that you don’t have to sweat it out for hours in the gym to feel these benefits. Even as little as 5 minutes a day can give you a positive boost to your mental health. If you want some help in getting to a place where you find the joy of movement and feel your best self in all areas of your life as a result then contact me! 

I’ve had Matthew Walker’s seminal book Why We Sleep on my reading list for months and I’ve finally got round to reading it. It’s an absolutely fascinating exploration of the wonders of sleep. Walker delves into the science of sleep in a clear and understandable way. He guides the reader through a complexity of topics including: why we need sleep; the benefits of sleep; types of sleep; why we dream and how to transform your sleep leading to a healthier and more enjoyable life. 

In this post I’m focusing on sleep and weight loss as well as how sleep impacts on exercise. 

But first a general summary of the importance of sleep

Walker says: 

Sleep is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body health each day

Matthew Walker, Why we Sleep

Astonishingly Walker reports that two thirds of people in developed nations are failing to get the recommended number of hours of sleep. After reading Why We Sleep it does seem baffling that the virtues of sleep are not more widely understood. The evidence is super clear how important sleep is for our wellbeing. It’s therefore surprising how sleep isn’t treated in the same way as other crucial wellbeing topics such as diet, weight loss, exercise and smoking. Hopefully things are starting to change. 

It’s not cool not to sleep 

Culturally we celebrate the virtues of not sleeping rather than the other way round. Sleeping equates to laziness. We admire people working non-stop and surviving on minimal sleep. We respect people doing all nighters and it’s deemed heroic to miss entire nights of sleep. As Walker shows, time and time again in his research, getting less than seven to eight hours sleep consistently over our lifetimes is absolutely detrimental to our health. 

Getting enough consistent sleep seems like such a simple solution and of course it isn’t for many people who perhaps have small children, sleep problems or health issues.

But I can function on less than 6 hours of sleep…

Walker says that a lot of people think they can function adequately on 6 hours of sleep, or less, but in reality they are damaging their minds and bodies:

Millions of individuals unwittingly spend years of their life in a sub-optimal state of psychological and physiological functioning, never maximising their potential of mind or body due to their blind persistence in sleeping too little.

Matthew Walker, Why we Sleep

He says only a very tiny fraction of people can actually function without negative consequences from this small amount of sleep. 

Benefits of getting enough sleep 

Consistently getting enough sleep (recommended 7-9 hours) has the most amazing overall health benefits. It…

• Extends the brain’s capacity for learning, consolidates memories and clears the mind of information we don’t need to retain so we can make new memories
• Allows us to make logical decisions and come up with solutions to problems (hence the term “sleep on it”) 
• Strengths and cements skills such as playing a musical instrument, performing martial arts or climbing 
• Heals emotional wounds
• Helps us to recognise emotions and facial expressions in others, therefore increasing empathy
• Regulates emotions and reduces angry outbursts 
• Reduces depressive and anxious thoughts and minimises risks of suicidal thinking 
• Helps to restore and repair our immune systems to protect against infection and sickness
• Protects against developing diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and cancer
• Regulates appetite and helps to control body weight 
• Maintains a healthy microbiome in the gut 
• Improves our cardiovascular systems, lowers blood pressure and helps our hearts stay healthy. Even reducing the chances of having heart attacks.  
• Allows our bodies to exercise more efficiently and recover adequately.

There’s tonnes of fascinating research and insights in Walker’s book and I’d highly recommend you give it a read if you want to understand the benefits of sleep.

Sleep and weight loss 

I wanted to delve more deeply into the effects on weight loss and exercise in this post as Walker’s research is fascinating in this area. He states:

The less you sleep, the more you are likely to eat. Sleeping less than seven hours a night increases your probability of gaining weight, being overweight or obese, and significantly increases your likeihood of developing type 2 diabetes. 

Matthew Walker, Why we Sleep

The shorter your sleep the more you will eat and the more weight you will gain 

There are two important hormones involved in controlling appetite: leptin and ghrelin. Leptin provides a signal telling our minds we are full. Ghrelin does the opposite and produces a strong urge to eat. Scientific studies have clearly shown that inadequate sleep decreases levels of leptin and increases ghrelin. As a result, we are less likely to feel full and more likely to still feel hungry if we have had inadequate sleep. 

Walker discusses a seminal study by Dr Eve Van Cauter where two groups of participants were divided into those being allowed a) 8 hours sleep and b) four and a half hours sleep for four nights in a row. They were given access to the same food and took part in the same physical activities. 

The shorter sleeping group consumed 300 calories more each day totalling 1000 by the end of the experiment. Walker estimates this to be in the region of 70,000 additional calories in a year causing between 10 to 15 pounds of excess weight gain a year. 

Shorter sleep leads to cravings for more calorific foods

Other studies have shown that sleep deprived people are more likely to opt for more calorific food than those who sleep adequately. Van Cauter’s studies have shown that cravings for sugary food, carb rich foods and salty snacks like crisps all increase by 30-40% when sleep is reduced by just several hours a night.  

Lack of sleep and dieting 

If you are dieting and attempting to lose weight then sleep is crucial. Studies have shown that weight loss comes from different sources depending on how much sleep you get. A study was done with a group of dieters who were divided into groups. The first group were allowed a full night of sleep and the second group five and half hours over a two week period. 

Both groups lost weight but the group who had less sleep lost 70% of their weight from muscle and not fat. The group who had adequate sleep lost 50% of their weight from fat and preserved their muscle mass.

When not getting enough sleep the body becomes especially stingy about giving up fat. Instead, muscle mass is depleted while fat is retained. 

Matthew Walker, Why we Sleep

As Walker summarises: 

Short sleep will increase hunger and appetite, compromise impulse control within the brain, increase food consumption (especially of high-calorie foods), decrease feelings of food satisfaction after eating and prevent effective weight loss when dieting.

Matthew Walker, Why we Sleep

Sleep and exercise

Regular exercise has benefits for sleep. People who regularly exercise tend to enjoy deeper more sound sleep. Studies have shown that exercise frequently increases total sleep time and the time it takes to fall asleep is reduced. Sleep is also crucial for restoring muscles and repairing the body after exercise.

Research shows that bad sleep is detrimental to exercise performance:

When sleep was poor the night prior, exercise intensity and duration were far worse the following day. 

Matthew Walker, Why we Sleep

Sleep and exerCIse performance

Getting less than 8 hours sleep can have seriously detrimental effects on exercise performance.:

Obtain anything less than eight hours of sleep a night and, especially less than six, and the following happens: time to physical exhaustion drops by 10 to 30 percent and aerobic output is significantly reduced.

Matthew Walker, Why we Sleep

It also increases the risk of injury and has a detrimental effect on performance. In comparison when sleep is sound exercise performance is enhanced. Evidence is also clear that a sedentary lifestyle does not help with sleep. It’s a positive cycle: exercise will aid sleep and sleep will aid your fitness performance. It’s also true that the sleepier we are the less energy we have and are therefore more likely to be sedentary rather than doing exercise to burn additional calories. 

Walker notes that you should avoid exercise two hours before you go to bed. Exercise increases core body temperature which can make it difficult to fall asleep. 

Sleep and obesity

Based on evidence gathered over the past three decades, the epidemic of insufficient sleep is very likely a key contributor to the epidemic of obesity. 

Matthew Walker, Why we Sleep

So if you are trying to lose weight and shape up now is the time to start paying attention to how much sleep you are getting!  I’ll write about tips on how to ensure optimal sleep in a later blogpost.