>> A lack of sleep means a lack of energy. You're body compensates by getting food energy.
I saw this ironically during military basic training. Lots of exercise, but very little sleep. The body compensates by keeping blood sugar levels high. I was one of the many that actually gained weight during basic training. The eating routine of three solid meals eaten very quickly also was not healthy.
My doctor wore one of those continuous glucose monitors for a while and reports something similar. He considers himself an endurance athlete and his blood sugar levels were always a bit high when he was regularly exercising, but once he took some time off, his blood sugar levels dropped to "normal" levels once his body realized it wasn't under so much stress.
that concurs with my anecdotal sample size = 1 study, where I have gone for 3.5 days without sleep before, and just keep feeling hungry and snacking every hour or so.
(for those asking what happened after 3.5 days, I basically started getting hysterical - literally just laughing at nothing - and when I was finally able to get to a bed, it took about 2 hours of staring at the ceiling before my body finally decided I was no longer under stress, and allowed me to fall asleep).
I saw this ironically during military basic training. Lots of exercise, but very little sleep. The body compensates by keeping blood sugar levels high. I was one of the many that actually gained weight during basic training. The eating routine of three solid meals eaten very quickly also was not healthy.