Is Lack Of Sleep Killing Your Motivation?

As any mum knows, balancing family life can feel overwhelming. With so much on your plate, it’s easy to overlook your own health—especially when it comes to getting enough sleep. 

And when you lack sleep you can also lose your motivation to exercise and eat well.  Understanding this connection can shed light on how sleep deprivation affects your physical well-being and how addressing sleep issues can empower you to reclaim your health.

The sleep deprivation dilemma

Sleep isn’t just a time for catching Z’s; it’s when our bodies work their magic. While we snooze, our bodies repair themselves, balance hormones, and recharge our brains. For busy mums, lack of sleep is a frequent reality, and when you don’t sleep, everything else starts to feel a bit more challenging.

When we don’t get enough sleep, two key hormones—ghrelin and leptin—go out of whack. Ghrelin is the hormone that tells you when to eat, while leptin tells you when you’re full. If you’re sleep-deprived, ghrelin levels go up, making you feel hungrier, while leptin levels drop, meaning you don’t feel satisfied after meals. 

This hormonal chaos can lead to cravings for all the wrong foods—hello, late-night snacks!

The mental effects of being tired

Lack of sleep doesn’t just affect our bodies; it takes a toll on our minds too. When you’re tired, it’s easy to feel stressed, anxious, or just plain cranky. 

That can make even the simplest tasks, like deciding what to eat or finding the energy to exercise, feel overwhelming. You might find yourself thinking, “Do I really have to cook dinner? Can’t I just order pizza again?”

When your brain is foggy from lack of sleep, planning healthy meals or sticking to a workout routine becomes a major challenge. Instead of hitting the gym or whipping up a nutritious dinner, it can feel way easier to just curl up on the couch with a bag of chips.

The Unhealthy Cycle

The tricky part is that this lack of sleep and unhealthy eating can create a vicious cycle. When you’re not sleeping well, you’re more likely to reach for quick, unhealthy snacks. This can lead to weight gain and feeling even more sluggish, which makes you less motivated to exercise. On the flip side, getting regular exercise can actually help improve your sleep quality, making it a win-win.

Feeling exhausted is something that mums know about all too well, so it’s no surprise that a lack of sleep can truly kill all motivation.

Eating healthily and exercising can be really tough at times and with so many mums not getting enough sleep it can be even tougher. But here are some top tips to help you through!

Six tips that may help when you’re sleep deprived or lacking motivation

1. Take things slowly for a few days.

   If you’re really exhausted, choose light exercise over something really strenuous. And when it comes to food, if you can, pre-prepare a few meals and keep them your freezer so you don’t have to do lots of cooking. Here are eight healthy meals to freeze for some inspiration!

2. If you fall off the “wagon” don’t stress about it

   Stressing is the easiest way to lose motivation as you’ll dwell on what you haven’t done when it comes to exercise or the incorrect food choices you may have made. Always remember that tomorrow is a new day.

3. Have you made big AND small goals?

   If you have, get them out and read through them again. Tick off the ones you’ve already achieved – great work! And look at how much closer you are to getting to the big goals. Every little bit counts so ensure you have plenty of small goals to achieve e.g. “walk for 20 minutes every day” as these will add up to getting you closer to your bigger goals. Here’s how you can set SMART goals.

   

4. Customisable meal plans

   With these, you can really make the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge as easy or involved as you like when it comes to meal prep. So on those days when you’ve been up all night with the kids, choose more simple meals to prepare. Customise with five ingredients or less or use leftovers to make a healthy and easy meal.

5. The Healthy Mummy Smoothies

   Our smoothies which come in a range of delicious flavours are perfect for those really busy or exhausting days. Not only are they full of nutrients and breastfeeding-friendly, but we have some amazing recipes that you can check out here!

6. Remember you are only human

   Not feeling like a cheerleader every day is completely normal. Take things slowly when you’re having a bad day and your motivation will soon return – you’ll feel great that you haven’t just given up totally.

Get support, advice and tips from The Healthy Mummy Motivating team and community in our private support group.

BELIEVE in yourself. You have totally got this. You CAN do it!

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