If losing weight is your resolution for the year and you are already on a diet, then sleeping is another area that you should focus on. Yes, you read it right.
Sleeping can affect your weight management if not done in the right way.
A good amount of sleep is as important as dieting and exercising. However, not many people today get their appropriate amount of sleep.
People today are more stressed due to work and this is the reason why many people today sleep for less than six hours at night.
Table of Contents
- Inadequate sleep can result in weight gain
- Proper sleep can help in decreasing your appetite
- Sleeping helps in fighting cravings
- A good night sleep can help in decreasing calorie intake
- Blissful sleep can help in increasing resting metabolism
- Adequate Sleep helps in enhancing the Physical Activity
- Sleep Helps in preventing insulin resistance
- How can you sleep better?
People who do everything and stick to their diet but still face the problem with weight loss, then inadequate sleep can be a reason. Here are a few reasons why sleeping properly can help you in losing weight.
1. Inadequate sleep can result in weight gain
Poor sleep is directly related to higher body mass index and obesity.
Sleep requirement is different for different people. It has been found that people who get less than seven hours of sleep face change in their weight.
Research has found that sleeping for a few hours has caused obesity in 55 percent of adults. Weight gain can also worsen the sleeping disorders.
2. Proper sleep can help in decreasing your appetite
People who enjoy sound sleep of six hours have a normal appetite. The relation between sleep and appetite depends on hunger hormones, ghrelin, and leptin.
Ghrelin levels are high when you have an empty stomach and low when you have eaten already. Leptin, on the other hand, is responsible for suppressing hunger feelings and gives ‘fullness’ signal to the brain.
If your body gets enough sleep, the body will make more leptin and less ghrelin. This makes you feel full.
Another hormone, cortisol is also directly related to getting enough sleep. It is a type of stress hormone and can increase if you do not get enough sleep.
3. Sleeping helps in fighting cravings
Your brain does not work properly if you do not get enough sleep. It can get difficult to resist unhealthy food and choose decisively.
Lack of sleep is responsible for making the front lobe of the brain dull. This, in turn, impacts decision making and self-control.
So if get enough amount of sleep every night, it will be easier to resist a tempting bowl of ice cream and increase your self-control. It will be easier to choose healthy food items over high-calorie food that is rich in carbohydrates and fats.
4. A good night sleep can help in decreasing calorie intake
People who get adequate sleep tend to consume fewer calories. Increased intake of calories is directly related to increased appetite and choice of unhealthy food.
Another reason for increased calorie intake is related to the time period you remain awake and spend eating.
Watching TV or spending time on the laptop and eating unhealthy snacks can lead to this. Inadequate sleep can also contribute to your ability to choose a bigger portion size of meals that you eat.
5. Blissful sleep can help in increasing your resting metabolism
Resting Metabolism Rate (RMR) means the rate at which your body burns the calories while it is at rest.
This differs from person to person and many factors affect it such as- height, weight, age, and sex. If the body doesn’t get enough sleep, RMR gets lowered.
6. Adequate Sleep helps in enhancing the Physical Activity
If a person is a sleep deprived, the body will remain inactive and you will be less motivated to exercise.
Even if you get motivated to exercise, you get tired easily during your exercise.
So if you get adequate sleep it will help you in increasing your performance.
You will be able to work out for a longer period and fatigue levels will also decrease.
7. Proper Sleep Helps in preventing insulin resistance
We all know how stress can lead to serious illnesses such as diabetes.
When a person doesn’t get the required amount of sleep and is under stress, they can develop insulin resistance.
Insulin is a hormone which helps in moving sugar from the blood into the body’s cells for energy. But if the cells in the body become insulin resistant, the sugar will remain in your blood and the pancreas will, in turn, produce more insulin.
Insulin in excess increases your hunger and lets the body to store calories as a fat layer. So it will impact your weight as well as make you type 2 diabetic.
How can you sleep better?
Today we all live stressful lives. We work all day and during the nights we remain in front of our laptop or Mobile screens and keep working. This impacts our sleep in a huge way.
You can always enjoy a blissful sleep just by adopting these simple habits.
- It is better not to take your phone or laptop to your bed. Turn off your phone and computer at least one hour before sleeping.
- The bedroom should give peaceful vibe rather than the stressful environment. Keep a relaxed environment in the bedroom and avoid any electronics or gadgets in there.
- Making a proper schedule and sticking to it helps in organizing waking up and sleeping time
- Avoiding heavy meals for dinner helps in sleeping better.
- Turning off the lights in the bedroom helps the body to release the hormone melatonin which helps in sleeping. While lights prevent the release of this hormone.
- Doing things which eases the mind and body helps in sleeping. Rather than finishing an office job, it is better to do something else such as meditating, sleeping, or taking a warm bath. It helps in relaxing the body.
Eating right and exercising regularly is not enough. Getting adequate sleep is also as important as other things to manage weight.
Lack of sleep directly impacts the way our food is accepted by our body. It increases our appetite and mismanages the portion size of the meals.
Temptation towards unhealthy snacks increases and impacts the weight gain. So it is better to develop healthy sleeping habits and manage weight in a better way.