Tell ’em they are dreaming
OVER the years, people have attempted all kinds of eating regimes in an attempt to lose weight – scoffing down baby food, munching on grapefruits, slurping cabbage soup or adding vinegar to their diet.
But, when it comes to out-there ideas on altering your eating to lose weight, this one surely takes the cake (pardon the pun).
It’s called The Sleeping Beauty Diet and it’s all about sleeping more in a bid to avoid eating.
The idea is, if you’re deep in la-la land, you can’t exactly shove M&Ms down your throat at the same time.
In its most extreme form, some people are aiming to sleep for up to 20 hours at a time for days on end.
So how can anybody actually sleep that long, you may ask.
Well, here’s where it gets worse. These people are turning to sleeping tablets to ensure they’re getting extra hours of shut-eye.
Not surprisingly, sleep consultant and co-founder of The Sleep Hub, Dr David Cunnington, doesn’t support this notion.
“Taking sedatives to artificially sleep longer than normal to avoid eating is a bad idea,” he says. “Not only do people expose themselves to the risks of medication, there is no evidence that sleeping longer reduces people’s appetite or how much they eat.”
He’s right; even though the idea behind this ‘diet’ might seem solid – if you’re asleep, you can’t shove food down your gob and will therefore likely shed weight – it may actually do the opposite.
That’s what research from 2014 discovered. It found that “long sleepers” (people who slept more than 10 hours a day) were significantly more likely to have a greater body mass index. They were also more likely to have psychiatric diseases.
Besides, taking sleeping tablets to induce extra sleep is problematic as you can develop a dependency on the medication, so your ability to sleep without them can suffer.
In fact, Dr Cunnington says sleeping tablets should only be used under medical supervision for valid medical reasons.
Aiming to sleep your day away in order to prevent yourself from eating is also a terrible idea for, you know, living your life.
While you’re snoozing away those hours yes, you’re not able to eat, but you’re also missing out on actually living. This can then lead to social isolation, feelings of being disconnected and other factors that can increase your risk of mental health issues.