A strange question - but do any of you find it hard to lose weight?

[sphil]

I've said I'd ask this question on here for a friend of mine. She has a severely autistic son whose sleep is terrible - she rarely gets more than 3 hours sleep a night and even that not always in one stretch. He is very challenging indeed, so her stress levels are high.

She has been going to Slimming World for 5 weeks in an attempt to lose some weight. Despite sticking to the diet absolutely rigidly she hasn't lost any weight at all. She runs 17 miles a week (and has always done so) so is pretty fit.

I was wondering whether her metabolism has been wrecked by her lifestyle - the sleep deprivation and stress - and whether this would affect weight loss? Has anyone on here experienced the same thing? She is really depressed about it and she really doesn't need an extra source of depression.
Oh and she's young as well - early 30s - so it's not middle aged spread/ hormones like me!

ds's dietician told me that there was a study done on overweight people who get less than 6 hours sleep every night, apparently their appetite increases by 15%, which explains a lot....i've put on about 3 stone in the last 3 years of being a single parent therefore the only one having to get up every night!

I know from experience that sleep deprivation makes me compulsive and comfort-seeking, which includes reaching for the easy fix of food and wine (quite often without thinking - sometimes without realising I'm doing it until it's too late).

However, if she's running, dieting and doing everything right, she should be losing weight so I'm not sure why not. It's harder to shift weight when you are older so perhaps it's her age?

heres the science bit!

Um, thyroid? I know being awake more does make it harder to lose weight, but it might be worth her getting her thyroid levels checked out.

So that's why I have been stuffing my face this week.

Although my first thought on reading you post was the same as ouryve- she needs her thyroid checked.

Well, stress raises your cortisol level which needs fat to metabolise with the adrenaline released at the same time. This process also increases blood sugar levels.Even after the adrenaline wears off the cortisol lingers and makes you hungry. If you are in a constant state of stress this gets pretty much stuck in a loop. To meet the demand for energy the body responds to this constant stress by laying down fat stores, especially around the waist area, as a supply for the cortisol/adrenaline release.

It also makes you tired and lethargic due to the constant fight or flight adrenaline response needed to get through the stressful period.

Did I make sense? It's early still and I've only had 1 coffee. I am sure there must be something on the net about it but I am too befuddled to look at the mo.

I have breast fed for 17 months and not lost a bean! I'm also on the high stress no sleep train!

Yes. Sleep deprivation, stress, tiredness all playing havoc with sugar levels. Plus lack of time/mental space to plan and cook or sometimes even eat well. Plus comfort food is an easy comfort fix. Plus more likely to have chronic health problems that make it harder to lose weight - IBS for example. So yes!

Yes.. Severe sleep deprivation and stress for nearly four years and put on four stone in that time. Even when I try to be mindful of what I'm eating and exercise more nothing happens much so I give up pretty quickly.. We have a saying in our house if a night has been particularly bad.. " We'll just have to eat our way through the day!" I stagger through those days which are pretty frequent lunging from sugar high to sugar high..

What Chickpeas says makes a lot of sense too.. Fat stores around the waist area is definitely me!! Problem is I'm often too tired to care enough about it to make it a priority - yet it is becoming a health issue.

( As an aside I would guess that as a group we parents of sn kids probably have quite a lot of complex health issues caused by their situation. But that's maybe for another time..)

It's also harder to cope with all the physical demands involved with having an sn child if I'm overweight.. Lifting my evergrowing dd gets harder the heavier I get too!!

I sympathise but no real answers, because it sounds like she's doing all she can so may be an idea to seek further help to check out her individual situation.

hiya i have over active thyroid, diagnosed 6 years ago after i put on 5 stone, when i started the thyroxine i stopped putting weight on, but six years on still cant shed it, so impossible, i think it must be stress and lack of sleep