Why Sleep Controls Your Results

00:00When your sleep is off, your hormones are off. Poor sleep doesn't just make you hungrier, it actively creates a hormonal environment that works against you getting to your goals, against fat loss. You can be eating at a caloric deficit and you can still be struggling to lose fat if cortisol is chronically elevated from poor sleep. That's how significant this is. What's going on, everyone? Welcome back to another episode of The WarriorBabe Show, where on these episodes we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident.

00:35I am your host, Nikkie Stott, and welcome to episode number 347. And today we're going to dive into all things about sleep. Because if you feel like you could be, you're doing everything right, you're eating well, you're working out, you're trying to stay consistent, but you feel like, you know, you're fighting an uphill battle against your body every single day and you're not getting to where you want to be and it's been months on end and you've been putting in this work, look, it might not be your food, it might not be your workouts, it's probably your sleep.

01:07And I know, like, it's not an exciting topic to talk about. It's not as fun as chatting about macros or training programs or, you know, a nutritional overhaul and how to get from A to Z, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But guys, sleep is honestly, in my opinion, the missing piece that you're looking for, okay? And that a lot of people need and should dive into talking about more of it. First, I just want to completely shift the way that you think about sleep. Most of us think of sleep as the absence of doing something.

01:47So what I mean by that is you close your eyes, your body shuts down, you wake up and you go about your day and then you do it all over on repeat at the end of the day. This is not what actually is happening. When you sleep, your body is working incredibly hard. It is repairing muscle tissue from your workouts, it's regulating your hormones, it's producing or processing the food that you eat, it's managing your stress and it's consolidating, you know, memory, it's doing, your body is doing some incredible things while you sleep.

02:25Sleep is like the behind the scenes maintenance that keeps everything functioning on a daily basis. So it's so much more than the absence of doing something. It is so much more than you just close your eyes, your body shuts down, you go to sleep and you wake up and you do it all over again. Why it matters to for those of you guys that are on this journey of fat loss, sleep is one of the most powerful hormonal regulators your body has. Meaning the hormones controlling your hunger, your cravings, your energy, your fat storage, your muscle building, all of them are directly influenced by how much and how well you sleep.

03:05When your sleep is off, your hormones are off. And when your hormones are off, fat loss becomes an uphill battle no matter how clean you're eating or how hard you're training. You want me to say that again? When your sleep is off, your hormones are off. When your hormones are off, fat loss becomes an uphill battle. It doesn't matter how healthy you're eating, how clean you're eating, how much effort you're putting into trying to be better and being consistent and being clean, or how hard you're spending inside, how hard you're working out and spending, how long you're spending in the gym.

03:36It's not a willpower problem. It is a biological problem. And once you understand that, everything starts to make more sense. So I'm going to talk, I'm going to directly speak to what is happening hormonally so you guys can understand this from more of like a hormonal standpoint with backed by like the science aspect of it, because I hope this is where it actually really starts to click. Okay, so you guys have probably heard these hormones in the fitness space, ghrelin and leptin. These are the two hormones I want you to know. The first one is ghrelin, your hunger hormone.

04:11It tells your brain, we need food. When you are sleep deprived, your ghrelin shoots up. You wake up hungrier, you feel hungrier all day, your body is sending stronger and stronger and stronger feed me signals throughout the day. Just think back to the last time you got poor sleep. If this is you that gets poor sleep on a regular basis, just think about maybe it may not be every day, but just think about there's some days where you wake up and you are starving because this ghrelin is shooting up. The second is leptin. This is your satiety hormone.

04:45It tells your brain, we're full. We can stop. When you're sleep deprived, leptin goes down. Your fullness signal, it gets quieter. So you can eat a full meal and you still won't be satisfied. You still won't feel satisfied. You won't feel full. So you have more hunger signals firing throughout the day, which is your ghrelin, and you have fewer fullness signals firing, which is your leptin, at the same time.

05:16And that is a brutal combination to try and manage. Here's what it looks like in real life. Let's put an example. You had a rough night of sleep. You wake up exhausted and you suddenly are ravenous all day long. You're reaching for snacks that you normally wouldn't touch. You're like, I want sugar. I want carbs. I want salt. You're craving those things. You eat more than you planned that day and you feel so frustrated with yourself. And let me tell you, that is not a lack of your ability to have willpower

05:47or discipline or be consistent. That was your, this is science. A biology problem. Like I told you, biological, biology, biological, biology, biology. I think I said it's biological. Biology. That is your ghrelin and your leptin doing exactly what sleep deprivation tells them to do. So that is literally just science happening. Your ghrelin is going to go up. You're going to be hungry or all day, ravenous. And then that being fuller longer,

06:18keeping you full, keeping you satisfied, that goes down. And they're doing what they're supposed to do when this happens, when you get a poor night of sleep. Okay. And then, and then to add in another layer, because there's a third hormone in this conversation that doesn't get talked about enough. It's starting to get more, it's starting to get more light out there, but like also it's starting to get negative connotations. Like cortisol is, it can be positive, it can be good for your body in the right fashion, but you know, it's also getting bad rep,

06:48but it is your primary stress hormone. Your body releases cortisol when it perceives any kind of threat, whether that be emotional stress, physical stress from a hard workout, which is the good cortisol, or psychological stress of not getting enough sleep. And then when you're sleep deprived, cortisol rises even more. What elevated cortisol does is counterproductive for fat loss. First, it signals to your body to hold onto more fat, especially around your midsection. So those of you guys that are in your 40s, your 50s, and your 60s, and you know, you're thinking about menopause

07:20and the perimenopause and all those symptoms that you go through. Yes, it could be that, but it could also be how well you're sleeping and how much sleep you're getting. Because your body interprets high cortisol as a threat, and then fat storage is a survival mechanism. The second thing is it starts to break down muscle tissue for energy. So you're storing more fat and potentially losing muscle that you've been working so hard to build. So having these things, having a high cortisol, and this is, you know, in the sleep category is counterproductive to your goals that you want.

07:51And third, it makes you more insulin resistant, meaning your body doesn't process carbohydrates efficiently, and more of what you get, what more of what you eat gets stored as fat instead of being used as fuel. So poor sleep doesn't just, it doesn't just make you hungrier. It actively creates a hormonal environment that works against you getting to your goals, against fat loss. You can be eating at a caloric deficit and you can still be struggling to lose fat. Cortisol is chronically elevated from poor sleep. That's how significant this is.

08:22Hey, while you're listening, if you're getting value from this episode, take a moment to tap that review button or share this podcast with a friend. It's a small gesture that goes a long way in helping more women find their way to feeling stronger and more confident in their skin. I appreciate you so much for taking the time to support this show. And then muscle. When you train, you create those tiny tears in your muscle fibers, right? And that's literally how muscle grows. I always say that you don't build muscle

08:53inside the gym, you break it down. That's what you're doing. When you train, you're creating these tiny fibers. You're breaking down the muscle fibers. Your body repairs those tears during recovery. So you don't build muscle. You build in the gym, you build it post-workout by repairing the muscles to come back stronger. The majority of that repair happens while you sleep. Specifically during your deep sleep, when your body releases HGC or HGH,

09:24your human growth hormone. The hormone that's most responsible for muscle repair and growth. So if you're training hard and you're working out and you're consistent, which really isn't that hard for people to do, right? Working out is pretty easy. But you're not, but you're sleeping poorly. You're doing half of the work. You're breaking down the muscle in the gym, but not giving your body the conditions it needs to rebuild it. That is why you can have two women follow the same exact program and get very different results. Same goes to the example that I shared in the previous episode

09:55about macronutrients and calories. Sleep is a hidden variable most people completely overlook. Y'all could be in the VIP program with Warrior Babe and one babe could be getting four to five hours of sleep and her fat loss is going to take longer to get to the results she wants to. Whereas somebody who's getting seven to eight hours of sleep was just getting her results faster. Okay. Now, looking at this again, like a real life base or looking, just getting to real life for a second, because this part is going

10:26to resonate with you guys. Sleep deprivation doesn't just affect your hunger levels. It changes the types of foods that you create and the decisions that you make around food. So research has shown that sleep deprivation activates the reward centers in your brain. the same areas that light up with pleasure, seeking behavior. And it specifically increases cravings for high calorie, high sugary, high fat foods. So it's not a coincidence that after having

10:56a bad night's sleep, you're not craving healthy food, you're not craving a salad, you're not craving your protein, you're craving something comforting, something sweet, something that gives you a quick hit of energy. Your brain is literally driving you towards those foods. And on top of that, the sleep deprivation that you have impairs the prefrontal cortex of your brain, the part of your brain responsible for decision making and impulse control. So the cravings become stronger and stronger and your ability to resist them becomes weaker and weaker. You are fighting

11:26your own biology at this point when you try to eat perfectly on no sleep. And I want you to stop blaming yourself for that because if you are not getting enough sleep, this could be why you aren't getting the results. And it's not you. It's just this mechanism of sleep needs more attention. That's why sustainable fat loss has to include you having good sleep hygiene as part of the strategy. That's like, ah, this is nice to have. Ah, I'm typically, so I'm going to get six hours of sleep

11:56and I'm sleeping eight hours. No, it should be a non-negotiable for you guys. Literally, I remember back in the day when I was coaching women that were sleeping four hours a night and I was like, something needs to change. Not just because you're probably going to drive yourself into burnout in a few months because of all of the other responsibilities you have, but yo, we need to create some boundaries somewhere where the responsibilities that you have. And it's doable, guys. I don't want to hear that like, I can't find more hours

12:27in the day. You can if it means it's important to you. And so, you know, how many hours are we really talking about? The research is consistent. Most adults need like seven to nine hours of sleep per night to support optimal hormonal function, recovery, and your metabolism. And like I said, I've heard people say I function fine on five to six hours of sleep. Science is telling us that most people who believe that they've adopted or adapted to short sleep

12:57have actually just adapted to feeling okay on short sleep. Their performance or hormonal health and their body composition are still being impacted. It's because that's their new normal. They've just gotten their themselves to adapt to feeling okay on short sleep. Guys, it's like driving on a slightly deflated tire. Like, yeah, your car is still going to move but it's not performing the way that it should. It's wearing unevenly and eventually it's going to give out. It's going to burn out

13:27and you're going to be on the side of the road with a flat tire. And I want to acknowledge something like this. Like, I know some of you guys are moms. Some of you guys work night shifts. Some of you guys have life circumstances that make seven to nine hours like feel impossible right now. But, and I get that that's real. But if sleep is chronically limited in your life, it's, it is showing up in your fat loss results as well. And it's worth, you know, treating as seriously as your nutrition and your training. It's worth looking at this and seeing how you can prioritize, which I'm going to get into some practical steps

13:57you guys can implement. But it's worth looking at ways you can prioritize getting more hours of sleep in a day. Okay, so let's actually talk about that. Like, what can you actually do? Because, you know, information that I'm giving you guys about action doesn't help anyone. So you need to prioritize sleep consistently. Going to bed, waking up at the same time every day that includes weekends, one of the most powerful things that you can do for sleep quality. Your body has like this internal clock. You'll realize, I'm sure you guys know it. Some of you guys are like, yeah, I wake up and go to bed

14:28the same time and I can't, I have a hard time. I hear people say this, I have a hard time sleeping in on the weekends because I just have this internal clock. And consistency trains it to fall asleep faster and then, and reach deeper, more restorative sleep when you are in that type of consistency cycle. You should also build a wind down routine. Like, your nervous system needs to transition from go, go, go, go, go mode to rest mode. And I'm almost saying this too because like, I need to coach myself into this because, guys, I'm not perfect, right?

14:58In the 10 years of being in my journey or over a decade, you ebb and flow with these things. And you're reminded how important these things are when you're feeling the weight of not getting enough sleep. So I'm reminding myself that like, I can, I can go from go, go, go mode and I'm like, why are we trying to go to sleep? And I'm like, why? Because you can't go from go, go, go mode to rest mode. Even like 20 to 30 minutes of like, just low stimulation

15:28before bed, like no bright screens, no stress, don't doom scroll. You know, maybe some like light reading or some stretching, like signals to your body that it's time to shift and start to wind down. It doesn't have to be this elaborate thing. It just needs to become consistent. And then this is something that I've started to notice over the years of getting older is watching your evening nutrition, your caffeine intake. So large meals way too close to bedtime will disrupt your sleep quality. Alcohol.

15:59Even though it helps you to fall asleep, it actually creates, it fragments your sleep cycles and it reduces your time in deep sleep and restorative sleep. And it just like, you know, you fall asleep faster but then like you, you wake up and your heart rate's racing and like you're hot. And then caffeine has a half-life of about like five to six hours so that 3 p.m. coffee is still very much in your system at 9 p.m. And I know there's some crazy people out there like you guys can have caffeine and go right to bed. Yeah,

16:29you probably can do that but what does the quality of your sleep look like? Are you actually staying asleep? And there's some of you that can do that. There's some of you guys that maybe need to look at that and be like, yo, I need to stop that like 3 p.m. caffeine. And then there's something I love and I do is optimizing your sleep environment. So a cool room, like I love the room to be at like 67, 68. Oh, that feels so good. I, it's having, I blackout curtains,

16:59like even small amounts of light can disrupt the melatonin production so blackout curtains and keeping your phone out of the bedroom can generally move that needle faster on your sleep quality. Like my phone is in the living room. I don't bring it in my room. I don't have a TV in my room. So these are things to just think about and see how you can just optimize your sleep environment. And you don't have to implement all of these at once. I would just say pick one, start there, start small and then these small consistent shifts will create,

17:30you know, real results over time. Okay, so just to bring it all together, fat loss is not just about calories in, calories out. It's about, you know, how you, how you eat, how you train for your body. It's, it's, it's a, it's, it's about how you sleep. It's about your sleep quality. It's about your, having your ghrelin stay in check, how your leptin functions properly, how your cortisol is regulated, how your growth hormone does its job and your brain makes better food decisions naturally when those things

18:00are in alignment. When you don't sleep well, every single one of those things works against you and no amount of willpower or perfect eating will, will ever be able to fully compensate for that. Sleep sits right at the center of it all. It's full body, hormonal, it's a lifestyle process. Arnold Schwarzenegger used to say back in the day, sleep faster. Sleep's not lazy. Sleep's not optional. Sleep is, is a fat loss strategy. So start treating it like one. Get, get the, get the enough hours to get quality sleep.

18:30All right? This resonates with you guys today if you, if you're, if you're thinking like I need more information, I need a real plan, I need someone in my corner, I need someone to pay attention to my sleep, I need to pull all of these resources from sleep to training to nutrition to hormones, all in one category. That's exactly what WarriorBave VIP is for. Personalized one-on-one coaching, the whole jam, real accountability. It's not just about your macros, it's about a whole strategy built around your entire life. All right, so the link is probably in the show notes or you can go to warriorbave.com forward slash VIP.

19:01Check it out and if it feels like the right next step, then apply. Get yourself inside. All right, and share this episode with a friend who needs it and I'll see you guys in the next episode. Peace out. Real quick, if this episode resonated with you or gave you the push that you needed, I'd love for you to pay it forward. Drop a quick rating and review, share the podcast with someone who might need it and help me keep spreading the word. Your feedback not only helps the show grow, but it might just be the nudge someone else needs

19:31to kickstart their transformation. Thank you so, so, so much for your support.

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