Need sleep?

Today once again I ate almost two lunches...and a bagel for breakfast. I'm not sure why I am so hungry the last few days...I can go weeks without wanting food and then bam...i will go days and not have a moment that I'm NOT hungry. Then I wonder if its the commuting to work? or is it the different place of employment? Or maybe I just am over tired...even Weight Watchers says that sleep effects weight loss:

You walk into work, confused and dulled, excusing yourself to the colleagues you bump into with tales of all the sleep you didn't get last night. Sound familiar? Of course it does. In today's world of overwhelming responsibilities and lack of — what's that? Personal time? — sleep is often put on the back burner. And your body pays the price.

A night of no sleep (or even too little sleep), can leave you confused and exhausted all day. In this disoriented state, trying to face the already-difficult challenge of sticking to your diet hardly seems worth the energy.

When Your Body Screams "Sleep!"
Of course, if insomnia is a repeat occurrence for you, visit your doctor — it could be a sign of a number of ailments, including depression. But the occasional night of not enough requires some attention on your part, too.

"Lack of sleep is a stress on the body," says Karen Miller-Kovach, Weight Watchers' chief scientist. "When you don't get enough sleep, your body's in an after-stress reaction mode, and you go to eat." And this is the worst part: "You tend not to make good choices because your body is reacting to the stress with something called disinhibition."

In other words, you're tired, so you lose the motivation and desire that, under well-rested conditions, you usually have to make good choices. "Your body sets itself up in sleep deprivation mode," continues Miller-Kovach, "psychologically and behaviorally, it's a very vulnerable time."

And that's not even counting the physiological response. When you don't get enough sleep, your body reacts in a "fight or flight" way. There's a release of sugar as fuel so your body can run away from this terrible thing that's happening to it. That sugar is then converted into fat. Research also suggests that even temporary sleep deprivation can affect the body's ability to break down carbohydrates.

Plus, a lack of rest may destroy your resolve to fit some exercise into your lunch hour — those extra minutes of exercise that keep you on the road to successful weight loss. Well-rested equals more energized. Lack of sleep? A surefire precursor to scoffing at the idea of an invigorating power walk with your buddies after work.