The double whammy of staying up late and stress: Unveiling how sleep deprivation triggers your obesity "mechanism".

Consecutive sleepless nights and severe sleep deprivation. Sleep is supposed to be a time for the stomach to rest. Wanting to eat in the middle of the night is like cultivating stress. And of course, your weight gain triggers will be constantly activated.

For example, do you sometimes intend to go to sleep around midnight, but end up chatting on the phone with friends or sending emails and unknowingly stay up past midnight? Do you sometimes unconsciously watch late-night shows and then rush to bed? Or do you bury yourself in work or studying for an urgent exam, only to find it's already dawn when you look up? Do these things happen frequently?

These are all "mechanisms" that lead to obesity. There's an old saying, "A child who sleeps well is easy to raise," which could also be interpreted as "A person who doesn't sleep will become obese." For example, due to work commitments, there are times when I have to work late into the night. At those times, because I'm a little hungry, eating rice balls as a late-night snack is incredibly delicious. Even tea-soaked rice or instant noodles are incredibly tasty.

Eating something can indeed help improve your mood and drive away sleepiness, leaving you feeling refreshed. But what if you unconsciously overeat? "Even though I know it in my heart, but..." Have you also developed the habit of eating too much without realizing it? Of course, eating at midnight is a "fat trap." This is because at night, the human body operates under the parasympathetic nervous system, which relaxes the body and mind. This system converts as much of what you eat into fat cells for storage.

After a sleepless night, you'll naturally feel groggy and half-asleep the next morning. Then, you'll unconsciously eat or drink something aimlessly. Your mind will be foggy, and your body will feel weak and sluggish. In this state, you certainly won't feel the urge to exercise. When you're sleep-deprived, your brain is less alert. Even with a normal meal, your brain struggles to receive the signal of fullness, leading you to unconsciously eat more than you need.

Furthermore, the natural rhythm of life-being active during the day and resting at night-is what humans should follow. The more this normal rhythm is disrupted, the more prone a person is to obesity.

You easily feel stressed. External pressure can easily trigger internal tension, which is a major no-no for weight loss. Forcing yourself won't work. The secret to success is to have a sense of psychological comfort and enjoy the process while sticking to your weight loss plan.

For example, swearing "I will lose 5 kilograms in 10 days!" is putting pressure on yourself and won't work. Also, you shouldn't set too many restrictions for yourself. I tell people who come to me for weight loss advice, "Even if you're currently trying to lose weight, if you really want to eat what you like, just eat as much as you want." Everyone is quite surprised when I say this.

Weight loss begins with correcting your previous lifestyle. If you start by putting pressure on yourself, you're essentially opening the "gate" to obesity. Putting pressure on yourself creates a state of tension. While a certain level of pressure can increase motivation and enhance weight loss, the effects are mostly temporary. For those aiming for long-term, sustained weight loss, excessive pressure is absolutely unacceptable.

For example, when facing a very important meeting at work, visiting a client alone for the first time, or as a student on the eve of an entrance exam, most people will experience a lot of pressure without sufficient self-confidence. In such situations, it is very difficult to "savor the food carefully" or "enjoy it slowly."

However, "savoring carefully" and "enjoying slowly" are the most basic eating methods for weight loss. When you are stressed, you may not feel like you've eaten even if you've already eaten a lot. However, once you've eaten, it will definitely be stored as calories in your body.

When dieting, don't go to the extreme of "eating nothing at all." Instead, don't force yourself; gradually reduce your food intake at your own pace. There's no need to set restrictive rules for yourself. Stress can turn into mental tension, which in turn can increase appetite, leading to obesity.