- Good day guys!
It's Saturday here in Melbourne.
Hope you're doing well.
Just kicking back with a little beer,
watching the cricket.
So if I get distracted,
please forgive me.
But I've got a comment come
through on one of my videos.
That said, "The best way to treat sleep apnea
is just to lose weight."
Sounds really simple.
Doesn't it?
And I just thought I'd do a quick little video,
just on sleep apnea
and weight gain.
Cause it's one of those things where,
you really need to understand,
how sleep apnea does influence weight gain.
Because, you might be someone
who's really trying to lose weight.
And it's just not coming off.
And you might be thinking why.
And this could be the reason why.
So there's no doubt
that there's a huge correlation,
between being overweight,
and having sleep apnea.
And if you really think about it,
it makes sense.
The more weight we have in our neck,
the more pressure it's gonna put on our upper airway,
when we're lying there over nighttime.
Especially when,
our muscles relax in
those deep stages of sleep.
And when we go into REM sleep,
where we lose a lot of that muscle tone.
That extra weight can really have an impact,
and really put a lot of pressure on our upper airway.
And our breathing.
So why don't we just lose some weight then.
Hey and then,
that'll all be fixed.
Well, it's really challenging
if you do suffer from sleep apnea.
And it's for two reasons.
So number one is that,
when we have sleep apnea
our body is in quite a stressed state.
We're not sleeping well,
our heart rates up,
our blood pressure's up.
And because of this,
our body releases this stress hormone,
which is called cortisol.
And what cortisol does is,
it tells our body to hold onto our energy reserves.
Our fat basically.
And so,
it's very hard to lose that fat.
Because, this hormone is telling your body.
"You know, you're stressed."
"You need to hold onto that."
"Okay?"
The next one is,
and it's quite obvious.
That if you're not sleeping well,
you're tired.
And if you're tired,
you kind of want to kick back on the cash.
Don't you don't really feel like,
going for a walk or a run.
That's the last thing on your mind.
So we have this,
like positive feedback cycle.
Where, we're putting on weight.
And then because of that,
we're not sleeping well.
And then,
because we're not sleeping well,
we're having sleep apnea.
Our cortisol levels are going up.
We're tired.
We put more weight on.
The more weight we put on,
the worst we sleep.
The worst we sleep,
the more weight we put on.
And there's just this cycle,
that goes round
and round
and round.
So it's very easy to sort of say,
"Oh, you just go
and lose some weight
and you'll be okay."
But there's some factors there,
that are gonna make it really,
really challenging.
For you to lose weight,
when you are suffering from sleep apnea.
So the best advice I can give you,
Is to first treat your sleep apnea.
and get your sleep apnea under control.
And that way,
you can really tackle that weight loss head on.
And give it your all.
And then you will find that,
that positive feedback loop,
that's going like this.
Will start to shift in the opposite direction.
So you start to sleep better,
because your sleep apnea is being treated.
Because of that,
you're feeling better during the day,
you can start to exercise a bit more.
Maybe watch what you're drinking,
watch what you're eating.
You lose a bit weight,
your sleep gets better.
And you start turning that,
feedback cycle in the opposite direction.
Which is what you want to do.
Now it might not mean,
that you don't need a CPAP machine in the future.
But, it might.
Or it might mean,
that you can go to some other forms of therapy.
Maybe positional therapy,
where you just need to stay off your back.
Or get a wedge pillow,
and sort of sleep on a bit more of an angle.
Or it might mean you can,
get away with a mandibular advancement splint.
Which is a little mouth guard,
that goes in your mouth.
That sort of pushes your bottom jaw forward.
Or it might just mean,
that your CPAP therapy levels,
are a lot lower.
Which makes the therapy,
a lot more enjoyable.
There's less noise.
You don't have to wear a mask as tight.
And all that sort of stuff.
So that's just the little advice,
from me to you today.
Like I said,
it's not a long video.
A very casual one.
But if you are someone,
who's really struggling to lose weight.
And you are a bit overweight,
and you never had a look at your sleep before.
Maybe think about getting your sleep checked out.
Because,
you might have an underlying sleeping condition.
Which is gonna prevent you,
from really succeeding in your weight loss.
All right guys.
Look, I'll let you get back to your Saturday.
I hope you're having fun with your friends
and family wherever you are in the world.
If you enjoy the video,
I'd love the thumbs up to show your support.
And also,
please consider subscribing to the channel
and joining our little community.
Until next time.
Stay safe, stay well.
And look after one another.
All right.
See you later, bye.