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I wrote that I had problems with sleep and that the amount you sleep could influence weight loss – read this article.  But scientists also suggest that some of us might mean a little more than others.  As I will come to, personality also has something to say about it.  In this article I will share personal experience of my struggle with sleep.

What does that mean for those who are hoping to lose weight?  Feasibly it could mean that, when combined with my suggestion that lack of sleep causes weight gain indirectly, that if you need more sleep than others, and yet try to survive on less, you could be more prone to putting on the pounds.

My personal problem with sleep though doesn’t rest in my needing more sleep, I actually don’t like sleeping all that much.  Einstein apparently needed 11 hours, where as Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady, needed only 4.  Churchill needed catnaps. but could keep going for days like that – he had a cot in his office.

Now I’m not saying that I can go with hardly any hours, but I can get by on 5 to 6 hours if I can grab an afternoon ‘power-nap’ of 15 minutes.  And if I can sleep as long as I want to, I still only sleep for 7 hours.  Whereas my wife can sleep for 8 or more quite happily.  And it’s a good job I can survive on that because I have an awkward part to my personality: I am an extrovert.  On the scale of extroversion, I am at the extreme end.

People don’t always understand what introvert and extrovert means, often giving them negative connotations of being ‘very quiet’ or ‘aren’t they noisy’ kind of labels.  Which is sad, because it simply is the western dislike of extremes.  It’s important to realise that one of the most important points of being introvert or extrovert is simply how they gain their energy.  For introverts their own company is how they recharge  - me time.

For extroverts they love being with people.  When I am with people I wake up.  But it has a real negative affect: if I go and visit anybody in the evening then I recharge, not the thing to do when you hope to sleep that night.  As a minister much of my life is made up of evening meetings, so if I have a late meeting then I can’t get to sleep sometimes as late as 2am! And then I’m still up early.

The result is that I can then end up collapsing as soon as I sit down in the afternoon, and I certainly don’t feel up for any exercise.  And if I have worked the morning, and have another evening meeting and can afford the time, I can sometimes sleep really heavily.  Thankfully although my day can be crazy with catnaps if needed, all my work gets done, even if it does occur at odd times.  But it doesn’t lend itself to getting on the bike, and getting off the pounds.

Now there are a few things that I do to try to reset, or at least manage, this condition.

1) Nap in the afternoon, not in the evening.  Then for only 15 minutes at the most.  Longer creates disturbed sleep patterns.  Sleeping in the evening is a bad idea altogether.

2) I can reset my body clock with my Elite SAD light box.

But in the end, it can still be a vicious cycle that ends in weight gain, not weight loss.

What do you think?  Do you agree or disagree?  Have you had similar experiences?  Please leave a comment.

 photo credit: alancleaver_2000