One of the most overlooked problems with getting great sleep is having too much body fat on your frame. Being overweight causes severe stress to your internal organs, your nervous system, and disrupts your endocrine system like few things can.

 

Your endocrine system (aka your body’s hormonal system) is responsible for producing hormones like melatonin, serotonin, and cortisol that we’ve talked about in relation to sleep.

 

Let’s take a look at the impact that being overweight has on cortisol for example. Research presented by Deakin University in Australia showed that after consuming a meal, overweight individuals secreted radically higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. People with a healthy weight showed a five percent increase in cortisol levels after consuming a meal, while cortisol levels of overweight and obese individuals increased by a whopping 51 percent! These high cortisol levels translate to higher blood sugar, lower insulin sensitivity, and increased levels of inflammation.

 

The biggest issue is that cortisol is as close to an anti-sleep hormone as you can get. Having higher levels of these stress hormones in your body will inherently damage normal function, no matter what time of day the meal is eaten. To know that each time you eat a meal that your stress hormones are shooting through the roof is scary. This is one of the most important reasons to get the weight off, because it’s killing you softly like that old Fugees song.

 

One of the more obvious issues that being overweight can have on sleep quality is sleep apnea. The term sleep apnea refers to a sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing or infrequent breathing during sleep. Each pause in breathing, called an apnea, can last from at least ten seconds to several minutes, and can occur from five to thirty times or more an hour. Basically, you stop breathing, and that results in abnormal blood pressure, depressed brain function, and dozens of other problems.

 

Margaret Moline, PhD states that, “As the person gains weight, especially in the trunk and neck area, the risk of sleep-disordered breathing increases due to compromised respiratory function.” Currently, 18 million Americans have sleep apnea and several million more have severe organ stress and breathing problems due to the excess weight they’re carrying around.

 

One of the common treatments for sleep apnea is to hook yourself to an assisted breathing machine known as a CPAP when you get into bed. It basically makes you look like Bane from The Dark Night Rises. Cool if you’re into that look, but it will likely have a negative impact on your love life.

 

The real solution is to not treat the symptom, but address the underlying cause of most sleep apnea in the first place. Get that excess weight off your frame! When we talk about weight loss, we’re talking about an issue that plagues millions of people worldwide each year. Good people, smart people, truly determined people, it doesn’t matter. If you give a determined person the wrong map, they will inherently end up at the wrong destination.

 

That’s what I’ve found to be the biggest problem when it comes to weight loss. A serious lack of honest, safe, and effective information. You have to understand that the weight-loss industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, and it doesn’t work well if there aren’t lots of people struggling and pumping out cash.

 

By using those backwards methods taught by most health gurus, the majority of people lose the weight and then they proceed to find it again. They work so hard to get the results they want, then eventually put the weight back on, and often times a little bit more than they started with. If this is your story, then it’s time now to step up and stop letting this happen to you.

 

I’m about to make this so easy that chances are you’ll take it for granted. I’ve helped people lose thousands of pounds collectively and keep it off long-term. What I’m going to share with you works. But, you’ve got to make the decision to implement it.

 

The Low Down

 

If you’re focusing on cutting calories to lose weight, then you might as well go and buy yourself some larger-size clothes right now. Research shows that up to 70 percent of the weight you lose through traditional calorie restriction is coming from a loss of your lean muscle tissue. As mentioned in Chapter 11, your muscle is your body’s fat burning machinery, and if you lose it through dieting, you’ll depress your metabolism, and set yourself up for long-term weight gain.

 

The problem is that people are thinking in terms of weight loss instead of body-fat loss. You don’t want to lose weight. You want to lose fat. When it comes to this, it’s all about the hormones. You’ve got to incite your body to secrete hormones that use stored body fat for fuel, and it’s really as simple as that.

 

So how do we make this happen?

 

The first thing to understand is that you are either burning fat or storing fat... there is no in between (Sounds very Zen doesn’t it?). If you’re activating hormones that store fat all the time, then you’re automatically throwing yourself out of the game, even if you’re carefully counting your calories.

 

Your body’s major fat-storing hormone is insulin. You may think of it only in regards to diabetes, but it’s one of the most important hormones to your survival (and it can make you very fat if you don’t know how to turn it off).

 

Now comes the easy part. The number one thing that insulin reacts to is carbohydrates. This includes all starches like bread, pasta, and potatoes, refined sugar products like cakes, candy, and soda, and even healthier carbohydrates like fresh fruit. To your body, it doesn’t matter. These carbs come in and insulin is turning on.

 

To shift your body into more of a fat-burning state, you need to put more of your focus on the other two macronutrient groups: protein and fat. A study published in the Journal of Nutrition showed that increasing protein intake led to enhanced weight loss and improved blood fat levels. And a study in the New England Journal of Medicine split 132 people (many of which had metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes) into either a low-carb group or a low-dietary fat group for six months. The low-carb group lost an average of 12.8 lbs while the low-fat group lost only 4.2 lbs. The lower-carb, higher dietary fat group literally lost three times as much weight!

 

It’s not about having a low-carb diet necessarily; it’s about having a better ratio of all three macronutrient groups for you and your unique metabolism. This seems pretty simple, right? So why aren’t people doing this?

 

I was there on the front lines. I was sitting in the nutrition classes in college and being told repeatedly by my professors that we need to eat less fat and more carbohydrates to be healthy and maintain a healthy weight. You heard that right. They told me to have my clients do the exact opposite thing of what actually works. Side note: my professors were overweight, as are many dietitians who follow that advice. If they’re not overweight, they’re usually struggling mightily with it, and keeping their own health and weight issues to themselves. The political reasons of why they promote this are not as important as you getting this information and using it to your advantage right now.

 

By eating a higher ratio of protein and healthy fats you’ll enable your pancreas to produce more glucagon instead of insulin. Glucagon triggers the breakdown of stored fatty acids for fuel, and is essential to utilize if fat loss is your goal.

 

I want to keep this on the topic of sleep as much as possible, so I’m not going to get into too much more detail here. If you’ve had a history of weight problems, or you simply want to be the leanest, healthiest version of yourself possible, then I highly recommend you head over and check out the Waist Reduction Quick Start Plan at www.QuickStartPlan.com. From there I'll be able to send you additional training, complete with nutrition and exercise strategies that can be catered to your individual needs as you progress.

 

We are all unique, and understanding this is one of the most critical components when it comes to what works and what doesn’t for weight loss. At the same time, there are still some consistent things to pay attention to across the board, because if you are human, then they are essential to you.

 

The Micronutrient Secret

 

There is so much talk today about the macronutrients we need to be in great shape that the amazing micronutrients are often overlooked. Micronutrients are things like the vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, phytonutrients, and enzymes that all enable our body to function at its highest level. Simple mineral deficiencies like low magnesium can lead to over-eating regardless of your macronutrient focus.

 

Also, micronutrients are essential to achieving healthy hormone function, and remember, fat loss is all about the hormones! Eating micronutrient-rich foods can trigger your body to secrete more leptin (the satiety hormone) to keep you balanced, healthy, and in control. This is the exact opposite of most diets that restrict calories and advocate the use of micronutrient-deficient diet products like instant shakes, bars, and reduced calorie pre-packaged snacks.

 

It doesn’t matter that your pack of “healthy” processed cookies are only 200 calories. What is the quality of those calories, and what are they doing to your hormones? I’ll tell you. They’re basically kicking your hormones in the groin.

 

Where do you get all of these micronutrient rich foods?

 

Easy: Just eat real food!

 

I told you I was going to make this easy, right? But, how can you know if something is a real food or not? Well, I’ve put together a special little list for you.

 

Here’s a simple list of things to help you know if it’s a real food or not:

 

If you can’t tell where it comes from, chances are it’s not real food (i.e. a bagel doesn’t have any resemblance to a strand of wheat).

 

If it comes through a drive though window, chances are it’s not real food.

 

If there are more than four or five ingredients, chances are it’s not real food.

 

If it even has to list the ingredients on it, chances are it’s not real food.

 

If it has a mascot or a special toy for buying it, chances are it’s not real food.

 

 

 

Bottom line... to get the body you want to have, you have to get reconnected to nature again. Your genes literally expect you to eat certain things. Once you get yourself reprogrammed through real food and smart exercise, there’s literally no limit to how good things can get.

 

For more on real food recipes and resources, be sure to visit my website www.TheShawnStevensonModel.com.

 

I Know You Are, But What Am I?

 

Being overweight or obese is a double-edged sword. Not only does obesity contribute to sleep problems, but sleep problems can also contribute to obesity.

 

A study out of Stanford University showed that when individuals were sleep deprived they ended up with significantly decreased levels of leptin in their system. Again, leptin is known as the “satiety hormone” because it plays such an important role in regulating appetite. Chances are, when you’re tired or sleep deprived, this is the hardest time to resist the junk food that you know you should be avoiding.

 

When you’re physically and mentally tired, your brain is looking for extra calories to keep everything functioning at a baseline level. Your brain knows that it can find those calories quickly and easily in chips, cookies, ice cream, and other kiddie foods that your grown-up butt suddenly can’t resist. It’s not an issue of willpower anymore, it’s an issue of survival because the story goes deeper than this...

 

Researchers discovered that sleep deprivation reduced the “higher order” functions of the brain, and created excessive response in the primitive parts of the brain. Brain imaging scans done at UC Berkley showed that sleep deprivation caused more brain activity in the amygdala, an area associated with motivation to eat. The amygdala is very much a more emotional, reactive, survival-based part of the brain. Study participants that these scans were taken from did, in fact, make poorer choices in food.

 

Tie this together with reduced activity in the frontal cortex and insular cortex, the parts of the brain associated with evaluation, self-control, and rational decision-making. With these two changes in your brain due to sleep deprivation, you’ve got a surefire recipe for struggle and failure.

 

You see, it isn’t always about our willpower. So many really amazing and strong people fail at weight loss because they’ve unknowingly stacked conditions against themselves. By being sleep deprived, your inner incredible hulk highjacks your brain and you can’t resist doing the very activity that you promised yourself not to do.

 

Are the past diet failures your fault? Well, it really isn’t a failure until you make an excuse. And, it doesn’t really matter if it was your fault if you were unaware. But, now that you know these critical insights to changing your body, you’ve got to consciously stack the conditions in your favor to make future failures impossible.

 

Eve Van Cauter, PhD, called sleep deprivation “The royal route to obesity.” Now understanding the fact that sleep deprivation decreases your insulin sensitivity, disrupts your hormonal cycles, and depressed your brain function, we know that her statement is 100 percent true. It’s time to put all the excuses to the side and give your body the sleep it requires to finally lose the weight and get the body and health you truly deserve.

 

 

 

 

 

Lose Weight While Sleeping Power Tip #1

 

If you really have to have something closer to bedtime, have a high-fat, low-carb snack. This will ensure that your blood sugar stays stable. Whereas if you eat a higher carb snack before bed, your blood sugar will spike, and the impending blood sugar crash can be enough to wake you up out of sleep. This is why, in our culture, we have the concept of waking up to get a “midnight snack.” But hey, that’s why they put a light in the refrigerator in the first place, right?

 

If you want to get truly restful sleep, one of the worst things you can do is eat right before bed (especially if you’re overweight, because cortisol levels go much higher). Give your body a solid 90 minutes (more is better) before heading off to bed after eating. Again, this is especially true if you’re eating carbs, because if you’re asleep when hypoglycemia hits, it will likely wake you up and give you difficulties falling back asleep.

 

 

 

 

 

Lose Weight While Sleeping Power Tip #2

 

Have your first meal be an epic one. Start your day off smart. Most people in our modern world have been programmed to start their day by having dessert for breakfast. Oatmeal, toast, pancakes, bagels, cereals, fruit smoothies, and more. You’re starting your day with a huge insulin spike and setting yourself up for a day of fat-storage because of this.

 

Here we have one of the biggest secrets to long-term fat loss: keep insulin down through the first part of your day. The morning is the ideal time to get in your real food, superfoods, and healthy fat supplements because you’re right next to your cabinets at home. A breakfast of a vegetable omelet, sliced avocado topped with kelp granules (a sea veggie that’s great for thyroid function), and some omega-3 supplements is a hormone healthy way to start your day.

 

I’m not villainizing all smoothies, by the way, but if fat loss is your goal you want to keep the fruit to a minimum (even though it’s better than glazed donuts, it’s still going to spike insulin if you’re not careful about it). Instead, if you’re going to make a smoothie, then make a green smoothie with a focus on the green. Load that blender up with a ridiculous amount of green leafy vegetables like spinach, some berries, protein powder, some cacao powder (real chocolate powder), cinnamon, unsweetened almond milk, and maybe half a small banana or stevia to make it taste nice. The greens and micronutrients will help to keep that insulin response to a minimum.

 

Even though green smoothies are okay, the best option for most people is to go with some protein (like eggs, steak, or salmon), veggies (cooked or raw), and some healthy fats (like avocado, coconut, olives, or nuts and seeds). Stop having breakfast look like a meal served by Willy Wonka. If you want to lose fat, redefine your definition of a healthy breakfast, and start your body off in a fat-burning state, instead of a fat-storing state.

 

Note: Everyone is unique, and uncovering the ideal breakfast and other meals for your unique body type is a centerpiece of what I teach through my website. The info that I want to share with you about nutrition and fat loss in this chapter can take up an entire book, plus weeks of additional training. That's why I created the Waist Reduction Quick Start Plan as a starting point, and provide additional support for you along the way from there. Visit www.QuickStartPlan.com.