Does Not Sleeping Make You Lose Weight?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the relationship between sleep deprivation and weight loss, exploring various personal anecdotes and opinions on whether not sleeping can lead to weight loss regardless of dietary intake. Participants share experiences and hypotheses related to sleep patterns, calorie burning, and health implications.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Personal anecdotes

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express skepticism about the idea that lack of sleep leads to weight loss, citing personal experiences and health risks associated with extreme sleep deprivation.
  • One participant recounts a case of a friend who stayed awake for 100 hours and faced serious health issues, questioning the effectiveness of such an approach to weight loss.
  • Another participant mentions a roommate who lost weight primarily due to reduced food intake while sleeping excessively, suggesting that sleep can indirectly affect weight through eating habits.
  • There are claims that sleeping burns fewer calories than other activities, such as watching TV, leading to questions about the overall effectiveness of sleep deprivation for weight loss.
  • Some participants argue that the body burns energy to stay awake, but express doubt about whether this leads to meaningful weight loss, especially if one remains sedentary.
  • Concerns are raised about the health consequences of sleep deprivation, with participants noting that it can lead to various health problems rather than being a viable weight loss strategy.
  • One participant highlights that the metabolic rate drops during sleep, which could further complicate the relationship between sleep and weight loss.
  • There are humorous remarks about unconventional weight loss methods, indicating a light-hearted tone amidst the serious discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the effects of sleep deprivation on weight loss. Multiple competing views are presented, with some arguing against the effectiveness of sleep deprivation for weight loss and others sharing personal anecdotes that suggest a connection.

Contextual Notes

Some claims rely on personal experiences and may lack scientific backing. The discussion includes varying definitions of sleep deprivation and its effects, as well as differing opinions on the relationship between sleep, calorie burning, and overall health.

ziad1985
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I have heard many times that lack of sleep(as in not sleeping at all for a long time) cause a person to lose weight no matter what the person is eating(I highly doubt this).
Anyone was dumb enough to actually try it?
just wondering if it's true.
 
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I know a girl who actually was dumb enough to do this, stayed awake for 100 hours.
She went to the hospital after that, serious problems, never knew if she actually lost any weight.
 
most likely not, especially if you are doing sedentary actions.

sleeping actually burns more calories than watching tv. unless you are also anorexic, it won't get you anywhere, and it is probably bad for your overall health. you die of sleep loss faster than starvation
 
Yeah I know, I remember that at the 4th day she was admitted in a hospital for liver or kidney problem I don't remember, crazy things people do to lose weight!
 
actually one of my roomates lost 25 lbs. from just sleeping. i think it was just because of the fact that instead of eating, he would just sleep. since he has no job or other responsibilities he would get to sleep for about 12-15 hrs. per day so basically he would just eat 1 meal a day. he did that for about 1-2 months and lost all that weight.
 
gravenewworld said:
actually one of my roomates lost 25 lbs. from just sleeping. i think it was just because of the fact that instead of eating, he would just sleep. since he has no job or other responsibilities he would get to sleep for about 12-15 hrs. per day so basically he would just eat 1 meal a day. he did that for about 1-2 months and lost all that weight.

wow. now i know what I'm doing with my summer
 
Pointing something here, The idea behind lack of sleep(as people like to think) that when when you are long since slept, the body burn a lot energy just to be able to stay awake and do normal functions, but still not convinced that it's actually useful.
actually one of my roomates lost 25 lbs. from just sleeping. i think it was just because of the fact that instead of eating, he would just sleep. since he has no job or other responsibilities he would get to sleep for about 12-15 hrs. per day so basically he would just eat 1 meal a day. he did that for about 1-2 months and lost all that weight.
Sweet, I love sleeping and I love not doing anything, But I don't need to lose weight.
 
beware though. it is much easier to lose 25 pounds if you are 50 lbs overweight, than losing 10lbs if you are just 10 lbs overweight.
 
ziad1985 said:
Pointing something here, The idea behind lack of sleep(as people like to think) that when when you are long since slept, the body burn a lot energy just to be able to stay awake and do normal functions, but still not convinced that it's actually useful.

Sweet, I love sleeping and I love not doing anything, But I don't need to lose weight.

it depends on what you are doing during those waking hours. you can either do some physically demanding activities which would burn calories and put you into further fatigue and cause more health problems, or you can sit around and be sedentary because you are too sleep deprived to do anything else that's physically demanding.

either way you aren't getting any bang for your buck and its hurting your health, so sleep deprivation is a lose-lose situtation
 
  • #10
Sleeping does cause a drop in your metabolic rate, and therefore you would be burning less energy while you sleep. However, if you just sit around doing nothing while you're awake anyway, then it wouldn't make enough difference to notice.
 
  • #11
Ki Man said:
it depends on what you are doing during those waking hours. you can either do some physically demanding activities which would burn calories and put you into further fatigue and cause more health problems, or you can sit around and be sedentary because you are too sleep deprived to do anything else that's physically demanding.

either way you aren't getting any bang for your buck and its hurting your health, so sleep deprivation is a lose-lose situtation

I wonder what they will come up with next, standing on one foot while holding your left ear with your right hand for 3 hours in a row will make you lose weight..
 
  • #12
ziad1985 said:
I wonder what they will come up with next, standing on one foot while holding your left ear with your right hand for 3 hours in a row will make you lose weight..

Actually, the next big thing is instead of playing tennis on your Wii, you can...

...go play REAL tennis at the tennis court and LOSE weight!
 
  • #13
http://health.discovery.com/tools/calculators/activity/activity.html"

it said i would burn 65 calories for sleeping an hour, while 72 for watching an hour of tv. do you really want to harm your health for those 7 calories?

also, i read in a newspaper that sleep deprivation and irregular sleep paterns are more likely to give you sleep paralysis, as well as other problems.

edit: turns out reading for an hour burns about 25-30 calories MORE than what you would get from watching tv. turn off the tube for a few hours each week and get out a good book and those calories will add up. lose weight through higher learning
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #14
I read a quote once that said the body can do without sleep or food but not both. I've found this to be true. If I am up for 20 hours i can't stop eating, and if I am resticting food, my sleep will double.
 
  • #15
JasonRox said:
Actually, the next big thing is instead of playing tennis on your Wii, you can...

...go play REAL tennis at the tennis court and LOSE weight!
Exercising... in... the... real world??!?

You could be onto something there... :biggrin:
 
  • #16
J77 said:
Exercising... in... the... real world??!?

It can't be done. People were already suspicious of the 'physically demanding video game' set up, they'll never accept the upgrade from virtual to actual matter! :biggrin:
 
  • #17
Ki Man said:
they'll never accept the upgrade from virtual to actual matter!

Graphics are not that cool in the real world , they are better with DX10!
 

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