Have you heard about social jet-lag? This was a new-to-me term that I heard on the radio yesterday AM.
According to German researcher Till Roenneberg, the disconnect between our social calendars and our biological clocks is creating a kind of jet lag — he’s dubbed it “social jet lag.”
Warning – video has annoying alarm clock noises!
A consequence of the disconnect– expanding waistlines. According to Roennberg, “The larger the discrepancy between social time and what your biological clock tells you to do, the more likely it is you are [overweight or obese].” (Source)
The people most succeptible to social jet-lag are those whose weekday schedule is very different from their weekend schedule. For example, you wake up at 5am and go to bed at 10pm Monday-Friday but wake up at 10am and stay out until 2am Saturday and Sunday. That schedule difference can cause feeling, signs, symptoms of the jet lag you’d feel if you had switched time zones!
In his paper, published in Current Biology, Roenneberg estimates that for every hour of social jet lag, the risk of being overweight or obese rises about 33 percent.
“As sleep researchers, we do believe that there’s an intimate relationship between insufficient sleep and the drive to store fat,” Dr. Helene Emsellem of the Center for Sleep and Wake Disorders in Chevy Chase, Md., told NPR. Our bodies have a hard-wiring to store fat when sleep-deprived because the body reacts that there’s something wrong/danger is at-bay.
Bottom line – try to sleep more and stay on a schedule. Sleep longer and better. Easier said than done, right? I’m drinking my AM caffeine as I type this after being wide awake from 1am-3am. That’s not normal for me but it happens.
Someone who doesn’t have trouble sleeping:
Do you stay on the same schedule weekdays and weekends? I’ve always been an early riser and do tend to stay pretty consistent with rising and shining 7 days/week.
Apples and Arteries 
this is so interesting and something I know I have felt when I have to do it. I am all for going to bed earlier and waking up earlier on the weekends as well! More fun during the day!
I listened to that same show on NPR yesterday morning. Oh if we knew in our 20s what we know in our 30s!
I just read that article. It was in Glamour? Or was it Fitness? I was reading magazines in the car while we were house hunting. The traffic was bad in Denver. Lol. We definitely stay up later on the weekends!! And I definitely feel the jet lag!!!
Oh I definitely deal with this over the weekends. However, I will continue to do so because my friends would call me lame if I went to bed at 9:30 on a saturday… ha ha. I deal with the “jet lag” by making Sunday a true day of rest in every way possible…
Really interesting! My wake up and sleep time is pretty similar on weekdays and weekends- sadly, I still wake up at 6 (naturally) and get “can’t keep my eyes” open tired by midnight on weekends– so lame….sometimes I wish I could stay up later more often…but guess it’s actually a good thing!
i usually have a 5 am weekday wake up, and 7 am weekend wake up. sleeping in doesn’t happen much for me anymore!
I usually sleep in a little bit on the weekends. I’m impressed that you get up early on the weekends. I wish I could and then I would get more done! I totally get social jet lag and so does my husband. Maybe it’s because we are more introverted too, so spending time with people just wears us out.
I am very guilty of the weekday vs weekend schedule difference. And there are certainly days I feel jet lagged between work, working out, kids activities etc some days l sm completely mentally fatigues. Great post.