How Sleep Can Impact The Weight Loss Process

Learn all of the affects sleep can have on your weight loss. Are you one of those people who says they will start working out tomorrow or do you start immediately? Whether you are doing it to be healthier or to improve your physique, it can be challenging to adopt new habits and start fresh. Because weight loss results might not come right away, many people get discouraged and give up. If you have adopted a healthier lifestyle and have started eating healthier foods and exercising regularly for months and still not seeing results, you may be missing one very important element to the equation. To effectively lose weight, you should optimize all aspects of your daily life, including your sleep. The relationship between body weight and sleep is complex. We already know that lack of sleep can trigger weight gain.  But what is the role of sleep in the weight loss process?  Could it actually hinder weight loss if one gets too little of it?

Is Poor Sleep Causing Bumps on Your Road to Weight Loss?

We all know that there are certain best practices we should follow in order to lose weight.   Eating healthy and exercising are the most known ones, but there is one more thing that is as essential, and that is sleep. People tend to underestimate the power of rest and start investing more in it only when they notice the side effects of their bad sleeping habits. Constantly not getting sufficient sleep jeopardizes our health, which is why people who are overweight should pay special attention to how much sleep they get. A recently published study questioned the relationship between poor sleep and the outcome of a weight loss process. The study followed a group of obese adults over 12 months to see how the duration of their sleep impacted  their weight loss. Researchers came to the conclusion that those people who were sleeping well lost more pounds than those who were not sleeping well. Conclusion, you need to turn off the television, shut down social media and your phone and make more time to get proper sleep starting now. For this study, researchers used a clinical trial called Predimed-Plus, which is based on a low-calorie Mediterranean-like diet and allows researchers to observe the changes over the course of 12 months. Almost 2000 participants who were obese or overweight, took part in this research voluntarily, and they all had either hypertension, low tolerance on glucose, higher levels of insulin, or dyslipidemia. During one year, the participants followed the same diet, increased their physical activity, and participated in support sessions with a goal to make behavioral changes.

Sleep-Related Problems and Excess Weight

Today, many adults are dealing with sleep-related problems or excess weight, and usually, these two go together. It is not a secret that many Americans are overweight; the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases reports that around 30% of adults in the United States are overweight. The statistics are pretty much the same for obesity, which can trigger many heart-related problems and other chronic diseases. Americans are also known as a sleep-deprived nation.  Contemporary lifestyles have taken its toll on our quality sleep, and that is why sleeping difficulties are spreading like an epidemic. It is recommended that you check out Kurated where they explain how much sleep you need to get if you want to maintain a healthy weight. Adults sleep at least 7 hours every night, but that seems to be an impossible mission for many. We tend to neglect our sleep pattern, and that is how it all begins. Insomnia, fatigue, daytime sleepiness, sleep apnea, circadian rhythm disorder are only some of the most common consequences of poor sleep hygiene. Sleeping less makes you crave sweet and salty food because lack of sleep has the power to put our hormones, leptin (satiety hormone), and ghrelin (hunger hormone), out of balance. If you tend to sleep less than 6 hours, your body will start producing more ghrelin, which will increase your food cravings. Because you are up late at night, you may begin eating foods that don’t support your weight loss efforts. Late-night snacking and overeating of simple carb foods are the leading causes of weight gain among sleep-deprived people.

How to Lose Weight Successfully

If you promised yourself that starting from now you are going to eat healthier and exercise, then add getting adequate sleep to the list. Sleep is critical because numerous vital and restorative processes are going on in our body during that time. Without proper rest, your weight loss results will more than likely stall. We know that the weight loss journey can be tough, both physically and emotionally. But, getting enough rest will improve your motivation and overall mood; you will feel more energized and ready to make a change. Your body will also have more energy to exercise and if you follow your workout program with consistency, eventually reach your weight loss goals. Remember, all good things take time, just have some faith in yourself, add getting enough sleep to your regimen and the results will come. Author Bio: Selena Thomas is a content writer who loves sharing tips on healthy lifestyles. A writer by day and a reader by night, she’s fond of writing articles that can help people in improving both physical and mental health. Also, she loves traveling and inspires people on her blogs.