If I get sleep deprived the previous night and lack energy to cook or eat outside and it’s the weekend, I will give myself permission to be lazy and order healthy food online. It is more expensive but that is the price for my decision to be sleep deprived and not plan my activities properly the previous day.
When we are sleep deprived, reaching for donuts, chips, or ice cream is so tempting but it sparks a downward cycle of despair. This is because when we are sleep deprived, the reward-centers in our brain goes on overdrive and we start craving high-calorie foods.1 And not only that, when sleep deprived, our ability to resist impulses goes down.2
My brain gives off the signal saying, “We need more nutrients”, and what do I do? I buy donuts. My brain says, “We still don’t have the nutrients we need. Fire more of those signals to tell this guy to get more food”. And then what do I do? I now buy one box of ice cream. There’s the cycle. So in order to avoid that hopelessness, I’ll do the first sentence instead.