Feature: The Outside Looking In

Weight Loss Challenge Nears Goal If Sleep Doesn't Interfere

Author: Carol Richtsmeier
Published: April 17, 2012 at 7:17 pm
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Since my last fitness challenge update was put in another spot on technorati, some of you may have thought I had given up and jumped onto the bandwagon instead of walking beside it.

Fear not. I'm still at it although weight loss has slowed to a snail's pace with just under a half a pound duly recorded this week. The good news is that I am just 1.5 pounds shy of my original weight loss goal since I started my "Frying-in-my own-fat" Weight Loss Challenge on Aug. 15. Even better news is that I think I'm going to try and lose an additional 5 pounds after I knock off that last 1.5 pounds.


Of course that means I'm going to have to pump it up a notch and be more vigilant. Sadly, Howard the Shelter cat is not helping at all with this endeavor preferring to steal and play with the tape measure, and more or less scoffing at my weight loss attempts.

Despite searching for new articles for weight loss inspiration this week, I find only the same old stuff being rewritten, restudied and regurgitated. According to  recent article, a supposedly "new" study shows a connection between interrupted and lack of sleep to obesity. Both are problems for me, and both ideas we've covered before here.

Apparently an irregular, restricted sleep schedule continued over a year period can amount to more than a 12 pound weight gain.

One of the articles quotes Orfeu Buxton, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who headed the research, as saying, “Getting adequate sleep is what we’re calling one of the three pillars of health: sleep, diet, and exercise go well together, and they interact. If you don’t get enough sleep, it’s hard to get enough exercise. If you’re not getting enough sleep, people eat more food. That causes them to gain weight and make inappropriate food choices — sugary treats and snacks.”

Continued on the next page
 
 

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Article Author: Carol Richtsmeier

Carol Richtsmeier teaches journalism at a public high school in Texas where her students and publications have won numerous local, state and national awards. She chronicles her teaching escapades in her blog at mybellringers.blogspot.com. …

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