Yes, the title of this article may seem strange to some people. This is because people often equates losing weight with activities like exercising to burn calories, and since sleeping more is an inactivity, how can we lose weight that way? Well, science has indeed shown that adequate sleep is very important to your general health and can help overweight people to shed their excess body fat.
So if you want to lose weight then have 8 hours or more sleep every night. If you are not having enough sleep, then that could be the reason why you are not losing your excess weight. If that is the case, then the weight loss diet that you are on and exercise routine that you are doing everyday may be sabotaged by your sleep pattern.
Several studies has shown that long term sleep deprivation is linked to being overweight and also to diseases like Type 2 diabetes. The studies showed that inadequate sleep can affect your hormones that affect weight management. So by depriving yourself of having enough sleep will affect your insulin sensitivity which has an effect on controlling your appetite as well as the amount of calories that you burn for daily activities. So when the hormones go haywire, it can cause you to put on weight because of insulin resistance and this will lead to the onset of diabetes. Scary isn't it?
Not having enough sleep not only affects your insulin sensitivity but also raises the level of your stress hormone called cortisol. Your cortisol, influences your blood sugar levels and known to make you gain weight, especially on your belly. So if you like to have belly fat, then sleep less.
Sleep deprivation also makes you produce higher levels of ghrelin which is a hormone that triggers off your hunger pangs and slows down your metabolism. That means that you will get hungry easily and so tend to eat more and at the same time burn fewer calories.
So if you can see the big picture caused by not having enough sleep, such as becoming insulin resistant that can damage your pancreas, high cortisol level that makes your body break down your muscle tissues and storing fat and the lowering of your metabolism making you much less effective in burning calories, then you can then see why you are not losing weight even though you are on a diet and work-out regularly..
Some of you may have a problem about falling asleep and so here are some ideas to send you into dreamland faster.
Same Bed Time Every Night - Always go to bed at the same time every night so that you can establish your sleeping biological clock. When your body is accustomed to this, it will signal you to become sleepy at the time of the night naturally.
Bedroom Is For Sleeping Only - Use your bedroom for its intended purpose only and that is to sleep in. Do not do your office work or surf the internet in your bedroom. This is to impress upon your brain to feel sleepy and think of nothing else but sleep when you are on your bed.
Yes, occasional sex is acceptable, after all, there are evidence to show that love making can make you sleep more easily. But that is for another article.
Pitch Black Darkness - Keep your bedroom really dark during when sleeping. Close your window and draw your curtains so external light cannot penetrate into your room. Several studies found that you can fall asleep faster in the dark. Your body will also produce more melatonin to help you to sleep more soundly and the quality of sleep is also enhanced.
If you still find it difficult to fall asleep, then do consult a sleep doctor or have alternative treatments like doing relaxing meditation or undergo sleep inducing hypnosis. When you have enough sleep, not only you are better able to control of your weight, your general well being and health will also improve.
Chris Chew is a sought after health and fitness consultant. If you really desire to lose weight, then read How to lose weight and Diet To Lose Weight
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