Lose More Weight (without trying)

It's Sunday night, and you have fully recommitted yourself to your diet and fitness program. Your fridge is full of skim milk, bottled water, and green leafy things. Your sneakers are primed by your bed for that morning spin class and you have your next vacation, bikini sans sarong, on your brain. You are ready!
However, life is stressful and you find yourself laying awake all night stressing instead of slumbering. You think about money, work, and soon your thoughts and worries spiral out further and further. Did you lock your car? What did your mom mean when she said that comment about your hair? Why can't you remember the last name of your high school chemistry teacher?
Monday morning rolls around and groggily you decide to skip the spin class. You wake up with voracious hunger and all you can think about is a sugary frappuccino topped with a glazed donut. You feel out of control, and find yourself hungry long even after you eat, enticed only by greasy, sugary, and starchy "comfort" foods.
You may chalk this up to your willpower, and blame yourself for another failed diet day. But, you should not blame yourself: blame your hormones.
Anyone who still believes that weight loss is a simple equation of calories in versus calories out is not aware of how complex the body truly is. Your body has an innate intelligence, and a strong survival urge, or else we would not survive as a species. If you think that willpower alone will outsmart your primitive human urge to not starve to death in a cave, think again. Each individual is a cumulation of genetic, psychological, and hormonal factors that have more control over your body than simply willpower alone.
The three hormones most responsible for appetite and weight control are Insulin, Ghrelin, and Cortisol. You may have heard of Cortisol being touted as a buzz word for "belly fat", which is partly true, but oversimplified.
Cortisol is not all bad, as it plays an important role in raising your blood sugar during fasting periods, such as sleep. However, when sleep patterns are disrupted, or your body is under stress and starvation, cortisol is over-secreted. High levels of cortisol release more blood sugar and insulin (which will store fat), cause too much "alertness" during sleeping hours, and increase appetite. Other pleasant effects include water retention (bloaty chub), muscle fatigue (crappy workouts), and decreased thyroid function (more chub).
Ghrelin sounds like an evil gnome from Lord of The Rings, and he can be an evil fat little gnome. His primary message to your brain: EAT. Not only does ghrelin cause intense hunger, but it causes cravings for simple to digest, high calorie foods. Ghrelin spikes after a short night of sleep, or after a bout of starvation (unhealthy dieting). This is why dieters tend to have intense binges, and why lack of sleep causes you to reach for the starchiest, fattiest, greasiest things you can find at a 6 am drive through window.
So, how can you control these hormones, and lose more weight without having to try? Hormones are a complicated picture, and vary by person, but one of the most simple things you can do is a no-brainer: Sleep. Adequate sleep (preferably the same time every night, by 10:30 pm) helps your body to wind down naturally and wake up refreshed, energized, and with your metabolism ready for action.
To help your body wind down, avoid sugar, caffeine, and heavy foods after 4pm. Try not to exercise late in the afternoon and overload your system with adrenaline that will end up being counterproductive for your weight loss.
To help your mind wind down, write your stressors in a journal and do not keep it in your bedroom. Take a slow walk, a bath, or simply sit in quiet and try breathing slowly. Also, kick the TV out of your bedroom. Your bedroom should be a peaceful place for two things: Sleep is one of them and TV is not the other!

For more info: To learn more about balancing your hormones for weight loss, look for Katie O'Neill's upcoming book "The Myth of Diets and Willpower: Why Fighting your Body Keeps You Fat".