Sometimes gaining weight can creep up on us. Especially when stress or a lack of sleep are involved. Being a busy person myself I have learned over the years a few helpful tips that keep my weight stable in the range that I like. What I mean when I say range is that my body weight goes up and down in about a 6 lb window. There are times in the year that I admit I have hit “my upper six.” I know you all know what I mean. It’s looking down after putting my pants on and acknowledging that the muffin top has arrived. Instead of buying new pants here are 2 quick tips that help me adjust my habits and jumpstart my weight loss:
Harmony Method Tip #1: Last meal is before 6pm and it has little or no animal protein.
Eating your biggest meal of the day close to when you go to sleep creates a few stressful problems on your body. One, your digestion will be active during sleep which will not allow you to fully get into a deep sleep along with taking energy away from repairing your cells. Two, in order to properly digest food we need a little thing called gravity- when you lie down after a meal or to sleep for the night, digestion slows down which creates a major backup along with fermentation in the small intestine, especially when eating animal protein or other harder to breakdown foods. By exerting all this energy throughout the night towards digestion along with not being able to fall into a deep, restful sleep you wake up tired, stressed and a lot of the time bloated. Remember food = fuel= energy, a good question to ask yourself is how much energy do I need right before I go to sleep?
Hot Harmony Tip: I suggest eating your biggest meal at breakfast, brunch or lunch with proper food-combing Harmony MethodÒ principles. Sometimes life doesn’t allow you to have your last meal before 6pm i.e. family, business, friends, etc. If you have control over your schedule, plan your dinner for before 6pm. When you have to go with the flow, then I recommend having a very small meal comprised of a Harmony MethodÒ grain and non-starchy vegetables. I get that you don’t want to be the weird one at the table not eating. Set yourself up for success and eat a smaller portion of food with others.
Harmony Method Tip #2: Get to bed earlier.
Sleep can really improve the waistline and improve stress levels. A reason for this is the hormones Ghrelin and Leptin. Ghrelin stimulates hunger and Leptin signals fullness to the brain and suppresses appetite. Lack of sleep is associated with decreases in Leptin and elevations in Ghrelin. After a night or even a week of not sleeping well, you feel the effects on your energy, appetite, weight and stress levels.
Hot Harmony Tip: If getting to sleep earlier is hard for you, I suggest turning off all electronics two hours before bedtime (Okay busy one, try at least a hour to start). Yes, that means no emails or TV. Create a nighttime ritual. Take a hot bath or shower, read a book, have a warm cup of tea, meditate or anything else you find that is relaxing. The consistency of a nighttime ritual lets your mind and body know that it is time to slow down and transition gracefully restful sleep.
