Do you have some days when you feel hungry all day, no matter what you eat? That might be because you didn’t get enough sleep the night before. 

What does the amount of sleep have to do with your weight? According to Harvard Medical School, the lack of sleep along with lack of exercise and overeating is now being identified as one of the most common risk factors for obesity.

No doubt you’ve noticed that it’s harder to lose weight post-menopause. Not sleeping enough can hinder your weight loss efforts even more.

Several studies have linked insufficient sleep to weight gain, with people who normally sleep fewer than six hours per night being much more likely to be overweight. A lot of this has to do with how much of certain hormones your body makes.

Inadequate sleep can make weight loss after 50 even harder in 5 important ways.

You’re Hungrier

Not getting enough sleep – or sleeping poorly – affects the hormones that regulate your hunger levels. If you don’t get enough sleep, your body makes more of the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates hunger, so you’re hungrier.

The hormone leptin, which tells you you’re full, decreases, so you eat more. The combination of too much ghrelin and cortisol, the stress hormone, shuts down the areas of your brain that make you feel satisfied after a meal, so you may feel hungry all the time.

If you have those “hungry all day” days, notice whether they’re related to the amount of sleep you’ve been getting.

Your Metabolism Suffers

If you are sleeping badly, your body is more inclined to store fat. When you’re sleep deprived, your body suffers from “metabolic grogginess,” according to researchers at the University of Chicago. That means that your body can’t use the hormone insulin properly.

When insulin functions well, your fat cells remove lipids and fatty acids from your blood and prevent them from being stored in your liver and on your body. But when you become more insulin resistant, those fat cells circulate in your blood and your body makes even more insulin.

That’s not a good thing because to lose weight, your body must burn stored fat for energy, but when there is insulin in your blood, your body doesn’t use that fat.

You Crave Junk Food

Poor sleep leads to an increase in the hormone cortisol, which is your stress hormone. This affects both your appetite and your mood. To counter the extra cortisol, your body produces more serotonin, which is a feel-good hormone.

This may be what makes you crave fat and carbs in the first place, because they lead to the release of serotonin. When you eat because you’re upset and feel better briefly afterwards, it is partly due to that serotonin spike.

Harder to Make Healthy Food Choices

Sleep deprivation causes changes to the parts of your brain that govern eating. In one study, after a single night of sleep deprivation, participants wanted more unhealthy foods than when they got enough sleep.

Also, sleep-deprived people were less able to make intelligent, reasoned decisions to overcome their urge to eat junk food or overeat. Sleep deprivation also makes you choose bigger portions. I’m sure you can figure out what happens when you eat more and bigger portions of unhealthy food!

Your Workouts Are Undermined

Not enough sleep interferes with your body’s ability to make muscle, which causes muscle loss and maybe even injuries. It also makes it harder for your muscles to recover after exercising by slowing down the production of the growth hormone, which is produced during deep sleep.

Plus, you may be too tired to get to the gym in the first place.

I know I’ve been talking about a lot of studies, but here’s one more, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

This one concluded that women who are sleep-deprived are a third more likely to gain 33 pounds over the next 16 years than women who get seven hours of sleep per night. 33 more pounds! And that’s based on the amount of sleep alone.

But here’s one tip: Don’t eat after dinner. There are two good reasons for this: First, you’ll sleep more soundly when your body isn’t busy digesting food.

Second, eating will cause your body to produce more insulin, which will prevent you from burning fat during your natural fast between dinner and breakfast. So it goes without saying that midnight snacks are a really bad idea.

If you make getting enough sleep a health priority, you will likely find that managing your weight will become a little easier.

Do you think you get enough sleep? Will knowing how sleep affects your weight change your sleep habits? What are some thing you do to make sure you get enough sleep? What do you think are the keys to weight loss after 50? Please join the conversation below!

According to a report by Crunchbase, just one percent of venture-backed founders were Black in the last five years. One percent. A whopping 77.1 percent of founders were white regardless of gender and education. For about a million reasons, it’s always important to support minority-owned brands but now more than ever, we’re putting the focus on Black-owned founders. That’s why we rounded up some of our favorite Black-owned beauty brands at Target that you should add to your cart, like, now.

Trust us—these brands did the work to bring you quality products at reasonable prices. We’ve tried them all. The best part? You can grab them on your next Target run. Shop ultra-pigmented makeup from Coloured Raine and The Lip Bar, hydrating haircare for textured hair from The Doux, Alikay Naturals and Mielle Organics, grooming products from Scotch Porter and wellness ones from The Honey Pot.

Of course, this isn’t an extensive list of all the Black-owned brands from Target nor is it a list of all the products great for Black hair and skin. There are many more brands at the retailer who cater to textured hair but are owned by huge companies such as Procter and Gamble and Unilever. That doesn’t make them bad products, of course. Some of them, such as Shea Moisture, are our favorites. But here, we’re focusing on Black founders to boost their success in the industry. And with these stellar options, it’s a win-win for us, too.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Image: Target.

The Doux

Stylists Maya and Brian Smith own a salon in Macon, GA, of the same name. Their “real results without the hype” approach to haircare means you get professional quality haircare without the price tag. The Doux products were created for textured hair when it’s worn straight, curly or somewhere in between.

Image: The Lip Bar.

The Lip Bar

Founder Melissa Butler might have gotten rejected from Shark Tank but who’s laughing now? The vegan and cruelty-free lipstick brand hit Target and fans are going crazy for its vibrant shades for all skin tones.

Image: Target.

Alikay Naturals

CEO and founder Rochelle Alikay Graham-Campbell launched her haircare brand right in her kitchen when she was just 22 years old. Now, we all scoop up her natural, organic haircare free from petroleum, mineral oil, alcohol, parabens, sulfates or silicones.

Image: Target.

Coloured Raine

Founder Loraine R. Dowdy left her job in the financial industry to launch a makeup line dedicated to self-expression and diversity. Pick up lipstick, eyeshadow and highlighter in ulta-pigmented tones now at Target.

Image: Target.

Scotch Porter

Calvin Quallis, founder and CEO, started with a small barbershop in his neighborhood and moved on to develop grooming products for textured hair made without common toxins.

Image: Target.

Mielle Organics

Registered nurse Monique Rodriguez used her science background to create products for women to finally achieve hair and scalp health.

Image: The Honey Pot.

The Honey Pot

This wellness brand was started by Bea Dixon after she suffered for months from bacterial vaginosis. Her period and vaginal health products are made from certified organic ingreidents.

The master plan called for selling the family home once the last kid was out of high school and off to college. We’d both be over 60 and ready for the next chapter.

You know the drill: buy a smaller place with fewer rooms to clean, less yard to keep, fewer things to go wrong. And think of all that extra money we’d have for traveling, a new car, simply enjoying life!

The more we planned the more our excitement grew. Netflix binges were soon abandoned for hours spent on Zillow and Redfin, searching for the perfect “forever home.”

Then my husband got cancer. Not just any cancer, mind you. The worst of the worst: pancreatic. I will save the awful details of that journey for a later time, but needless to say, the “master plan” required an overhaul by the time my daughter threw her mortarboard in the air that warm night in June.

Stuck

That was almost a year ago. I should have been getting the place ready to sell for at least six months before I finally buckled down and had it painted and refreshed, called the junk haulers (twice), and made what seemed like my 100^th trip to the veterans’ center to donate the beautiful suits and crisp white shirts my husband loved so dearly. (I kept the second-hand tuxedo he wore when we were married, though; moth holes and all.)

Finally, it was ready. Gleaming, in fact. Ready to be photographed and showcased like a supermodel. And yet, I couldn’t do it. I called the financial planner endlessly, just to be sure I couldn’t stay a little longer. He said I could, but did I really want to keep spending so much on a house that no longer fit?

He had a point. I will never go a day without missing my husband, but I was grateful to have gotten to a stage where I could look forward to the future again, and laugh, and yes, enjoy life. So, what was I waiting for?

New Chapter

I sold it. As it turns out, escrow closed in the nick of time. I moved out four days before the state of California (where I live) was put on lockdown, and my offer on a new, much smaller house had been accepted.

The first few weeks were rough. I missed my “real” home, the neighbors, the proximity to old friends. It didn’t help that I was spending virtually every minute in this unfamiliar prison because of a global health crisis.

I resolved to stay the minimum amount of time necessary to recoup my moving expenses and sell the joint.

My daughter’s world tightened, too. She was forced to move back home – all her college classes taught online for the foreseeable future, no friends to see, no parties to attend.

Miserable and unmotivated, we moved boxes stuffed with non-essential dishes and assorted housewares to the side rather than unpack them. At a certain point they became invisible, more like an art installation than a nuisance we simply walked around.

Unexpected

Little by little, it got better. I can’t pinpoint how or when it happened, but I can now say without reservation that I like, maybe even love, my new home.

It’s far from perfect, of course. I sit in my home office overlooking a raggedy “garden” literally dying for care. There has been no landscaper to the rescue, no handyman over to fix the jiggly door handles and the cranky stove.

No steady stream of friends dropping by to offer decorating tips and potted plants. Turns out impromptu barbecues thrown to meet the neighbors are frowned upon during a pandemic.

The funny thing is, my daughter and I are getting along better than ever. She’s a pretty cool kid, not to mention a great unpacker and organizer, two in-demand skills here at the new place.

Needless to say, the dogs are over the moon to have two humans around constantly. They never bicker or complain about toast crumbs on the counter or laundry left in the dryer – they’re the only ones praying the lockdown lasts forever.

As for me, I’ve attended a few virtual cocktail parties with my old friends and gotten to know my new neighbors through socially distanced chats. I’m writing again and staring at that raggedy garden, breaking from this post now and again to Google “Gardening for Dummies” or search for YouTube University videos on DIY plumbing. It actually looks kind of fun.

Maybe the dogs are onto something.

Have you downsized your home or life lately? What are you doing to keep your spirits up during the lockdown? Please join the conversation!

We are an interconnected world, as we’ve discovered more powerfully than ever through the pandemic, and if that interconnectedness sometimes brings unwanted offerings, such as the virus, it also brings treasures, like that of kindness.

Because of the pandemic, we are, for the most part, kinder to each other. Neighbors check in on neighbors to make sure everyone is all right. People offer to do errands for those who can’t leave their homes. Others share whatever paper goods they have with those who are lacking.

Yes, we observe social distancing out of self-preservation, but also out of respect for one another, out of basic human kindness.

We are more conscious of others’ necessary personal space as well as our own, more considerate of letting people go first if they seemed more needy. We share information about how to make masks, how to deal with home-schooling, how to wash our vegetables.

Just as interconnected sing-alongs raise our happiness level higher than solo singing in the shower, kindness to each other breeds more kindness.

What if this mind-boggling global crisis leaves in its wake a kinder humanity? What if we continue to be more considerate of each other, mindful of one another’s well-being, sharing and caring more than ever before? What if we consciously make this a better world post-Covid?

The Great Kindness Challenge

Recently, I discovered The Great Kindness Challenge, started by Jill McManigal of Carlsbad, California. It encourages school kids to be kind to one another (and to themselves) by performing as many acts of kindness as possible every week, chosen from a list offered by the Challenge, free of charge.

Performing these acts helps the children be more conscious of how they are treating themselves and others. This has already proven beneficial in creating a more joyous and harmonious environment for the children and, in turn, is conducive to a better learning environment.

Now then, what if we – adults and children alike – took on a similar challenge, to help us continue the forward progression into greater kindness? All it takes is becoming more conscious of how we treat ourselves, and how we behave toward others.

Not just towards the significant others of our lives, like spouses, boy/girlfriends and family, but towards the people we encounter in our day-to-day lives.

Many of The Kindness Challenge items would work just as well for grown-ups as they do for children, anywhere, anytime, such as “Smile at 25 people,” “Compliment 5 people,” “Make a new friend,” “Hold the door open for someone, “Pat yourself on the back.”

Making the world a better place most often starts with each of us making our own world – the one we live in day after day – a better place.

Take, for example, Pat Taylor, who, at 80, is once again battling ovarian cancer, which she had beat several times since her first round in 2004.

Yet Pat continued volunteering five days a week with a local elementary school (until schools shut down because of Covid-19), doing whatever was needed in the cafeteria that always seemed to be a person short.

It didn’t matter whether she was peeling potatoes or chopping vegetables or cleaning up the kitchen, Pat refused to let her health challenge get her down. Her love of life is expressed in every act of kindness she performs to the great benefit of all she serves, as well as to herself.

Kindness Is Simple

Kindness doesn’t have to be complicated. You can tailor your kindness challenge to whatever fits best for you. My personal challenge (given my passion for appreciation) is to thank people who don’t expect to be thanked.

For example, the grocery-store employee who sanitizes the carts (“Thanks for helping us stay healthy!”), the police officer taking a Starbucks break (“Thanks for keeping us safe!”), the workers who remove the mudslides on our post-rain California roads (“Thanks for cleaning up our roads!”). I get an awful lot of surprised looks, almost always followed by a very pleased smile.

Different from performing random acts of kindness (as wonderful as those are), a Kindness Challenge targets specific people. There’s nothing random about it.

Above all, what it accomplishes is to increase our awareness of the impact we have on others, an impact we have grown so much more aware of during these Covid months.

Thank you, Kindness Challenge, for reminding us of the power of ordinary, everyday kindness.

Do you make a special effort to be kind to strangers? How? Any pleasing reactions from others when you showed them unexpected kindness? What acts of kindness have you found that generate the most positive response? Let’s have a conversation!

Kyle Richards’ White Ruffle Off The Shoulder Dress

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 10 Fashion

Kyle Richards’ white ruffle off the shoulder dress is perfect for any housewife. It’s also perfect for any soon-to-be wife. Summer is coming up which means summer/fall weddings are arriving (fingers crossed some of you can still have them). This dress is seriously so cute for any of the festivities leading up to it, like a bridal shower or a rehearsal dinner and even a second, easier-to-dance in dress for the reception. When I first saw it I really thought to myself “aw this would be cute for my wedding events”. No I’m not getting married, but it’s always good to start planning early. Very verrrry early in my case.

It’s a bummer this particular dress is sold out, but that’s the amazing thing about our Style Stealers. Per usual they are here to save your big day.

Sincerely Stylish,

Jess

House of CB Selena Dress is Sold Out

Originally posted at: Kyle Richards’ White Ruffle Off The Shoulder Dress