This blog was inspired by a question asked on a cooking group I am a part of. I believe it was posted there by mistake because she immediately deleted it. Her question was something along the lines of “I didn’t get any sleep last night, is there any point in eating since it probably wrecked my metabolism ?” I immediately dmed her. Let’s start with the facts
- Yes. Lack of sleep can lower your metabolic rate- but sleep doesn’t account for much of a difference. We all have “coma calories” which is a term I like learned from one of my teachers to describe the absolute minimum of calories an absolute couch potato needs. Even if someone were in a coma, they would still need to consume that amount of calories.
- The metabolic damage from sleep deprivation is easily fixed with a good nights sleep. Metabolic damage from food deprivation, while it doesn’t have to last forever, can take a long time with lots of hard work to repair and fix.
- Now for the opinion: The emotional damage to you and those who look up to you is so much worse than metabolic damage. It can take years of therapy to undo that type of thinking. This doesn’t just apply to you, but to the people who look up to you. It can also cause damaging behaviors and habits that over time, can take over ones life. While I am not a mental health professional, nor am I a substitute for having one, I help you work on those damaging behaviors and habits that you’ve created. This can help you create lasting change in a meaningful way