In the Sunday Funday post today, I asked what people feel they would need to lose or add to be their ideal weight, with most talking about losing. I am the same and while I am not sure what my ideal weight would be considering I have a fait bit of muscle also, I could safely lose 10-12 kilos and be in a pretty good range. When I came to Finland I was 65kg and I have put on more muscle since then, so I suspect 75 would be better.
Make that lose 15-17 kilos.
As some might know, I don't sleep that much and that definitely has an weight loss, because it affects hormones by both making us feel hungrier and reducing the signals to say when we are full. And then there are more cravings for crappy food and (while most don't think of it), a reduced ability to say no to the cravings. There are other factors too like stress hormones and blood sugar regulation, metabolism in general, and the ability to burn fat and keep muscle. But I think the biggest factor for me is;
I eat more.
Pretty groundbreaking.
But because I am up for several hours after everyone else has gone to bed, even after a large dinner I get hungry again and will essentially eat another meal. If I were asleep instead, that would be a meal's worth of calories I wouldn't be eating and at that time of night, they tend not to be good calories. If I could just go to bed earlier, I would be able to skip the added meal, plus have a longer "fast" before the breaking of it in the morning. Five hours isn't really a fast, but if I could be in bed two hours earlier, I would be able to skip the worst of the hunger hours.
Tonight I made poke bowls for the family, this time with proper sushi rice and it was healthy and delicious. The girls made chocolate muffins, which were pretty good and unhealthy - but only small. However, it is now around 2230 and normally I would be up for another four hours, and I am already getting peckish. If I could train myself to go to sleep (and not wake up a few hours later) it would be fantastic, but I have struggled with going to bed early all my life. I think I picked it up when young because I didn't want to miss out on anything. I would stay up until I just couldn't stay awake. And with no one ensuring I went to bed at all, that just became the habit.
For the last almost decade it has meant I have been able to write a fair bit, since most of what I write has been in the evenings, but since I am not working that much at the moment, I might be able to break the routine of writing so late. The trouble there is, I tend to be more creative in the evenings, which is also when I tend to be more active. I go to the gym quite late also, if I can.
While sleeping earlier might help me with my fat burn goals, it would also help me in other factors also, such as my relationship with my wife. We rarely go to bed at the same time, which is stupid. Though, I can't go to bed as early as her and actually sleep. And while I don't have much experience with early mornings on a good night's sleep, maybe I would be more alert and struggle less to get moving. I don't think I will ever be a "morning person", but I could be less of a night person.
Since this week I will be leaving to a client location very early, I am going to try to make it the week of early nights also. Perhaps it will help me kickstart a streak so that I can make them familiar and feel natural to the point it is habitual. And I think that if I am able to maintain it, cutting out an extra meal of empty calories a day would probably give a boost to my fat loss results too.
I wish it was possible to have a piece of tech or an app that would give the ability to set all kinds of habits and feelings, like reducing the craving or enjoyment of sugar, or going to bed early, or making exercise attractive. That way, we could try out different habits and see how they feel and experience the results, without having to do all the work of actually creating a new habit. Unfortunately, that app doesn't exist yet, so I need to do the work.
Half a kilo a week would have me in a bikini body by next summer.
But how would I feel?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Be part of the Hive discussion.
- Comment on the topics of the article, and add your perspectives and experiences.
- Read and discuss with others who comment and build your personal network
- Engage well with me and others and put in effort
And you may be rewarded.