You are literally holding your eyelids open on the drive home from a long day at work. Your stomach starts churning, you might even need to pull over and it dawns on you – can lack of sleep cause nausea?
You are stuck in the daily grind, the constant hustle of commuting, working full time and doing all the things for everyone!
It’s not like you don’t WANT to sleep but there just isn’t enough time in the day.
When your head actually does hit the pillow, your mind can’t settle and it’s still RACING while you lie down in the quiet.
This isn’t something to feel guilty about. Our hustle culture and value for productivity can make it really hard to give yourself a break, let alone find the space to REST.
It may surprise you that as a registered dietitian and certified Intuitive Eating counselor, I actually help clients consider how sleep impacts their GI symptoms (like nausea) as well as overall nutrition, fitness, and health.
Your drive for perfection and pleasing everyone can do more harm than good and may cause you to miss out on treating underlying diagnoses that can relate to sleep.
symptoms of sleep deprivation
Sleep deprivation and deficiency occur when you don’t get the sleep your body needs.
If you’ve fallen asleep in front of the TV, or worse – in the middle of a work meeting – then you are like 40% of adults who report falling asleep during the day without meaning to at least once a month (1).
Sleep needs vary from person to person, but generally, experts recommend adults get 7 to 8 hours a day (2).
Are you getting enough? Consider how you feel when you wake.
If you feel refreshed when you wake, don’t feel drowsy during the day, and don’t rely on caffeine during the day, then you could say you’ve had enough sleep (3).
You could also use this scale to help evaluate your sleep practices and determine if you’re getting enough sleep.
What if you aren’t getting enough sleep? What can that mean for your health?
effects of sleep deprivation
Not getting enough sleep can put you at risk for physical problems like nausea, vomiting, pain, blood sugar disturbances, and hallucinations. It can also lead to mental health problems, a higher risk of injuries, and an even greater likelihood of death (1, 4).
As an Intuitive Eating dietitian, I think about sleep deprivation and its effect on your ability to hear and connect with your inner signals.
Intuitive Eating is an evidence-based self-care model that helps you decide what, when, and how much to eat guided by your internal cues and values.
Internal cues include:
- Hunger
- Fullness
- Pleasure/satisfaction
- Emotions
- Physical sensations – like fatigue!
You can’t connect with your body and hear your internal cues when you are too tired to function.
In order for you to be more in tune with your internal cues, you need to be well-rested. When we work together, we work on fine-tuning your body’s ability to sense itself.
Instead of focusing on “what to eat” or “what time to go to bed” (which can be stressful to think about), I work with you to consider what you need to feel safe in your body.
By letting your inner cues guide what you do, you actually feel motivated to do so, versus getting bogged down in obligation and feelings of guilt.
Many of my clients have been dieting and guilting themselves over wellness for YEARS.
I take a different approach from the rigid, unhelpful plans of your past. You can listen to one of my past clients, Summer, about how she broke free from diet culture and finally found food freedom after working with me 1:1.
Addressing your sleep is just one of the things you can do that will have an impact on your ability to feed yourself and feel connected to your body.
When you lack those abilities, what effect will it have on your weight?
does lack of sleep cause weight gain?
I’ve heard so many of my clients blame their weight on lack of sleep but I want to discourage you from going down that road.
I’m going to share some client stories that may help you reflect on your own weight and sleep practices.
Sleep success story 1
When Kelly came to work with me, she had serious issues with a lack of energy, which she thought was due to her bigger body.
We worked together to think more holistically and look at all aspects of her health.
I encouraged her to get evaluated with a sleep study and guess what?
She got a diagnosis of sleep apnea and needed treatment immediately.
Once she was treated, she began to feel so much better. As she became better rested, she realized her weight was not the culprit of her low energy.
As her energy came back, she felt more connected to her body. What followed was her increased desire to choose nutrition and movement – that made her feel even better still!
Sleep success story 2
Eliza shared with me that she had a habit she was so ashamed of but she couldn’t figure out a way to stop. She kept waking up in the middle of the night to eat.
She also had a family history of diabetes and was so scared that her night eating would lead to problems down the line.
Again, looking holistically, we discovered her medications hadn’t been updated in a while, and she also pursued a sleep study.
She worked along with her psychiatrist and sleep doctors to make adjustments that helped her get better rest.
She and I also talked about what to do if night eating started, and how to slow it down.
At her last doctor’s visit, Eliza’s A1C level (a blood level looking at average blood sugar) was right in range.
If you are like Eliza and concerned about your weight with the risk of diabetes, read my blog on how to reverse your prediabetes (without a diet). It will get you thinking less about your weight and more about your behaviors to improve your health.
You and Eliza can share success stories by removing the focus from weight and diet.
Sleep success story 3
Vicky was recovering from an eating disorder when we met. It had been years since she’d restricted, but she still struggled with disordered thoughts around food.
On top of this, anxiety made it hard for her to fall asleep and she wasn’t getting quality sleep.
We discovered that stress from her daily life and some of her internal disordered eating thoughts were making it hard for her to feel motivated and find ways to include movement in her life.
Instead of falling into the trap of blaming her weight on a lack of motivation, we focused on getting her deeper mental health support and got creative with ways to find more rest.
She started finding ways to move her body, on her own accord, without using guilt!
In the client stories I shared, weight stigma was an underlying theme and blocked them from seeking care.
sleep and weight stigma
I’ve seen firsthand how clients are too scared to go to the doctor and explore underlying sleep issues for fear of getting blamed for their weight.
Weight stigma in the medical space is real, and can often cause underlying diagnoses (like sleep disorders) to get ignored.
I help clients just like you find fat-friendly doctors. I also give you support in communicating with your healthcare team so you get the more comprehensive, responsive healthcare that you deserve.
You deserve to be treated for your health concerns and not just your size. If you have a doctor that has shamed you for your weight, download my free guide on how to talk to your doctor about health at every size so you can get your doctor to stop harping on your BMI.
The reality is that you can’t eat or exercise your way out of a medical diagnosis. So if you tend to blame your low energy or sleepiness on your weight, ask yourself – what would a thin person do in my situation?
They may adjust their lifestyle habits, but they’d also get evaluated by a doctor. You deserve not to be dismissed and told to go on a diet.
a word about dieting and sleep
Chronic dieting may be impacting your sleep more than you know! Surprised?
Think about this cycle, can you relate? You feel uncomfortable in your body and you are tired of not feeling cute in any of your clothes.
You decide to go on a diet…again. Even though they’ve failed you in the past, this time is going to be different. You are going to “be good” and follow all the “rules”.
You feel “proud” of your nutrition and movement while you’re following your diet.
But inevitably, you face a circumstance where you “cheat” on your diet and guilt sets in.
Going to extremes is taking its toll on your mental health and you’re losing sleep over all the stress of sticking to your plan.
You have to wonder – is this cycle really all that healthy? Isn’t your sleep and mental health as important as everything else?
Consider the effect these extremes are having on your health.
When you’re on a diet, you may experience:
- Aches and pains from overexercise and have disrupted sleep as a result
- Getting “too activated” by exercise late in the day, making it hard to wind down and rest
- Feeling too hungry as you fall asleep, and being preoccupied with what you will (or won’t) eat the next day
- Increased agitation, lower mood, and less life balance, impacting sleep as you try to be “perfect”
And when you’re off a diet:
- You shut down entirely and stop moving entirely because – “what’s the point if I’m not trying to lose weight?”
- You experience binges again, or eat late at night, which keeps you up in discomfort (especially if you suffer from acid reflux)
- You get into “cheat day mode” and choose foods that don’t mix well with your gut, causing you to feel uncomfortable and unrested
- Your mind shifts to an “all-or-nothing” attitude around habits – you stop paying attention to nutrition, movement and sleep. You stay up later and later, and let go of all routine
I help my clients find the middle ground with food, nutrition, sleep AND mindset that won’t keep you up at night.
Not many people talk about how dieting (and the binge-restrict cycle) negatively impacts sleep. But if this resonates with you, know that you are not alone. And – YOU’RE NOT STUCK!
next steps
When you work with me, I help you consider types of self-care that connect you with your body (including sleep).
We also work on habits that are disconnecting you from tuning into your internal cues.
I teach you Intuitive Eating principles that you can use to create a more sustainable relationship with food and find food freedom.
If you’re ready to pursue a path to better sleep and reconnect with your body, hop on my client waitlist so we can find time to meet and provide you a full nutrition assessment!
Feel in control, find health and respect your body, 24/7, starting with a good night’s sleep.
