10 Reasons Why Getting Enough Sleep May Help You Lose Weight

If you want to lose your excess unhealthy weight and have been trying to do it for some time without much success, it might be because you are not getting enough sleep. For weight loss, the proper amount of sleep is as important as having a healthy diet and regular exercise.

Does Deep Sleep Help To Lose Weight?

Due to stress and other unfortunate circumstances, a lot of people don’t get enough sleep at night. Indeed, some studies show that many adults sleep less than six hours most nights, which is certainly not a good habit to develop.

10 Reasons Why Getting Enough Sleep May Help You Lose Weight

Do you know what’s more interesting? There is evidence that shows that lack of proper sleep is one of the main reasons why people have to struggle with losing weight. Here are a few reasons why getting enough sleep may help you lose weight:

1. Poor Sleep is one of the Main Reasons Why People Gain Excess Weight 

Lack of proper sleep is one of the key factors in the occurrence of weight gain and obesity. Poor sleeping habits have been associated with an increased body mass index (BMI) again and again.

Everyone has different sleeping requirements but according to some research, when people sleep less than 7 hours at night, the changes start to occur in their usual weight.

Furthermore, there are many sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, that can get worse as you start to gain weight. It is like an endless cycle that can be hard to break. You get poor sleep, which increases your weight, and this, in turn, can further deteriorate the quality of what little sleep you manage to get.

2. Bad Sleeping Habits Can Increase Your Appetite

There have been some studies that show that people who do not get an adequate amount of sleep at night feel hungrier than normal. It increases their appetite. This perhaps occurs due to the effect of sleep on hunger-related hormones, including ghrelin and leptin.

Levels of ghrelin increase when your body needs food and once, you have eaten, the levels come down. On the other hand, fat cells release leptin, which suppresses your appetite and sends the signal of fullness to your brain.

So when you are having poor sleep, your body starts to generate more of the ghrelin hormone, and less of leptin hormone. It will leave your body hungrier.

Other than these two hormones, lack of good sleep also impacts cortisol, which is a stress hormone. It can also increase your appetite.

3. Good Sleep Lessens your Unhealthy Cravings and Encourages you to Make Better Choices

Lack of good sleep can affect your brain functioning and concentration. It can lead to unhealthy cravings and bad food choices. You might find it hard to resist unhealthy foods such as fast food.

As a result, sometimes when you are struggling to sleep, a bowl of your favorite ice-cream might seem more enticing and you might find it difficult to work your self-control. You might want to eat food with higher and unhealthy calories, carbs, fats, etc., which could certainly put a damper on your weight loss efforts and progress.

Poor sleep can reduce your self-control and impact your decision-making ability, and your brain’s reaction to unhealthy foods.

4. Poor sleep Means an increase in your calorie intake

When you are not getting enough sleep at night, it might increase your calorie intake the very next day. It might be because lack of sleep makes you hungrier, and as mentioned in the previous point, you might be tempted to make bad food choices due to poor self-control.

When you are not getting proper sleep, you are spending those hours awake. That means you will have more hours to eat. It is quite common for people to eat midnight snacks when they could not sleep. You might spend the night sitting idly, watching TV, and consuming lots of carbs and fats.

Some research suggests that intake of sleep supplements can put an end to your sleep deprivation. You can also read our Resurge deep sleep review to get better sleep at night.

5. Lack of Good Sleep can make a Negative Impact on your Metabolism Rate while Resting 

Resting metabolism rate (RMR) is the number of calories your body burns when your body is completely relaxed and resting. It is usually affected by your age, weight, gender, height, and muscle form. Researches have shown that the poorer your sleeping habits are, the lower RMR is expected to be. On the other hand, some studies show that sleep deprivation has no impact on metabolism. Only more research can answer it correctly. But for now, it won’t hurt to get good sleep if you want to lose weight successfully.

Furthermore, it also seems that lack of sleep can also lead to loss of muscle mass. Muscle burns more calories when your body is resting and loss of muscle means your metabolism rate will go down.

6. Sleep can help you improve your physical activities 

When you don’t get enough sleep at night, the next day you are going to feel exhausted and less moved to exercise and do other activities. Even if you start exercising, you will be feeling quickly tired and discouraged.

You must have heard from your favorite athletes or sportspersons that how they go to bed early and wake up in the morning feeling fresh and energized to take on the day. When you are sleeping for sufficient hours, it can give a significant boost to your athletic performance and give you a better mindset to do other tasks.

Now, you must know that to lose weight you would have to exercise and do other physical work. By getting better sleep at night, you will feel revitalized and alert the next day. Even your mental concentration will improve as well.

7. Sleep helps in preventing insulin resistance 

Insulin resistance occurs when cells in your body stop responding to the insulin naturally produced in your body and are unable to convert glucose in your blood for energy. It increases your blood sugar levels. Sleep deprivation can result in insulin resistance in the long run.

When your body goes into the state of insulin resistance, it produces more insulin. The rise in the levels of insulin will make you hungrier and the fat will accumulate at a faster rate. Insulin resistance can lead to weight gain and type 2 diabetes.

8. Poor sleep can affect your social interactions

Having only a few hours of sleep every night can affect your social behavior. Sleep can impact your emotions and social communications. Some studies have confirmed that those who don’t get proper sleep at night can have difficulty in reading people’s expressions of ire and contentment.

When you lack the necessary skills to interact with people, it might make you feel lonely and awkward. There is always a risk that you will try to fill your loneliness with carbs and fats. Lack of a social circle can affect your weight and make you lose control over health-related habits.

9. Sleep helps in reducing stress 

When your body is not getting enough sleep, it can lead to stress. Many experts believe that stress is one of the reasons for the increase in weight. As mentioned earlier, cortisol, the stress hormone, can get affected due to your lack of sleep and it can increase your appetite and you might develop unhealthy eating habits that will ultimately affect your weight loss efforts. Quality sleep can help you let go of your stress and do better weight management.

10. Sleep might help with preventing the state of depression 

Sleep affects many naturally produced chemicals in your body along with serotonin. When your body is suffering from serotonin deficiencies, you might suffer from depression. Serotonin also works as a hunger suppressant in the body. It is effective in curbing untimely cravings and eventually helps with weight loss. Hence, depression can affect your eating habits and you might even start overeating. Getting proper sleep at night can help you prevent depression and in due course, lose weight.

How to get better sleep at night? 

With today’s hectic lifestyle and constant handling of mobile phones, it can be very difficult to have a good sleep at night. People are mostly spending their days staring at the screens of their computers, tablets, smartphones, etc. Here are a few tips and tricks that can help you get better sleep at night and manage your weight successfully in a stress-free environment:

• An hour earlier before you go to sleep, shut down your PC, mobile, tablet, TV, etc. It will relax you.
• Keep your bedroom cooler during hot days as it will help you release exhaustion and have a peace of mind.
• Don’t consume caffeine at night.
• Try to reduce untimely hours of sleep during the day. That way, you will sleep better at night.
• Keep consistent hours of going to bed and waking up in the morning.
• Build bedtime habits to de-stress, such as taking a warm bath before sleep, meditating, reading, etc.
• Do not consume heavy meals when you are about to go to sleep in an hour or so. It might make it difficult for sleep to come.
• Turn off the lights and sleep in the dark.