#24 - How Sleep Influences Weight Management.
If you’re an avid reader of my blogs, you’ll know by now how sleep is such a strong tool for strength & recovery. Nothing else can come close to how much it positively affects our bodies. But did you know there is more to sleep than just resting & recovering?
Think about the last time you were robbed of your nights sleep late night flight - children sick or you had a big night out.
The day after, did you have sugar cravings, feel snacky?
did you drink more coffee & have a little chocolate just to keep you awake?
did you feel motivated to jump into the gym and hit a hard workout?
How was your focus that day, and abilities to do hard tasks or motivated to chase your goals?
It turns out that sleep is very significant to maintain a healthy weight, there are substantial evidence that show who sleep can influence weight loss, muscle gain and metabolism.
Yep, you read that right. It does. So, if you’re trying to adjust your weight and get back in shape, the amount of sleep you get may be just as a crucial part as your diet & your exercise.
In this blog we are going to cover HOW sleep affects your overall weight - as well as how you can start getting some good quality zzzzz into your life.
How Sleep Influences Weight Management
#1 It helps moderate your appetite.
As I’ve mentioned, sleep deprivation stimulates the appetite. So, getting enough sleep may help lessen it.
Studies have shown how people who are sleep deprived are reported to have a higher calorie intake, an increased craving & a bigger portion size when eating. This is likely because of sleep’s effect on the hunger hormones – ghrelin and leptin.
When you do get inadequate sleep, the body tends to make more ghrelin and less leptin, leaving the body hungry & wanting more.
#2 It helps you make better choices on food.
Completing the hours of sleep you need per day can help you make healthier food choices. You see, sleep can alter the way your brain works and affect your emotions & how you make decisions. Thus, when you lack it, you can already imagine the terrible choices you can make. There’s a higher chance for you to choose a giant tub of ice cream over a healthy plate of fruits.
Poor sleep decreases your self-control & increases your body’s reaction to food.
#3 It prevents late-night snacking.
A lot of research has found that one of the biggest reasons for gaining weight is eating midnight snacks. Late-night eating is associated with a higher weight gain.
Why? Because sleeping past bedtime means you’re staying up longer than you should, creating a larger window time for eating.
Ideally, limit your food intake 2-3 hours before bedtime.
#4 It enhances your physical activities.
Lastly, getting enough sleep can help enhance your performance in your day-to-day activities.
Sleep & physical activity go hand-in-hand. They have a very close relationship to one another. Lack of sleep decreases physical activity as lack of physical activity lead to bad sleep. One can’t go on without the other.
Getting enough rest, completing the hours of sleep you need can increase your motivation to move & work while the lack of it decreases your motivation & causes fatigue.
Ultimately, getting enough sleep is the key to living a consistently active life.
What to do about it?
It has been long proven by researchers that sleep deprivation can affect your inner balance, hormones and brain signals in a significant way. But at the same time its magical because the solution is “FREE” and readily available to all of us. You might not need to ADD any fancy equipment, only need to make some minor adjustments. Ready to look at what can we do about it?
In order to take full advantage of how sleep affects your body weight you need to practice a better & healthier sleep hygiene.
This can be overwhelming, in terms of where to start - So, here’s a quick guide.
Aim for minimum of 7.5 hours sleep opportunity, that is the time from when your head hits the pillow until you need to wake up.
Be CONSISTENT with your sleeping schedule. Find a suitable schedule that works best for you & stick with it. Go to sleep & wake up the same time every day. By doing this, sleep is reinforced into your body.
Switch off any gadgets that can distract you from your sleep. This is pretty self-explanatory. Turn of the TV, put your phone on sleep mode - or better yet place it outside the bedroom.
Limit your caffeine intake. As you may know, caffeine keeps us up and we need to be down into our beds. You need to limit the amount of coffee/energy drinks or caffeinated soda you consume especially later in a day. It is advised to consume no caffein 6-8 hours before your bedtime. (that also means no coke, coke zero, pepsi or other caffeinated sodas in the afternoon/evenings)
Drop the temperature on your bedroom down to 18-20 degrees to assist yourself fall a sleep better, and sleep deeper.
Make your environment sleep-friendly, whether that may be some comfy sheets & pillow or a dimmed lighting.
Whatever works to get you the best & enough sleep you need, do it.
IF you can’t fall asleep - get out of bed read/listen to audiobook until you feel drowsy again and try to lay back on your pillow. Do not lie in bed and roll around.
If you’d like to learn more about practicing a better sleep hygiene, read here:
Sweet Dreams! If you find this helpful in anyway make sure to share it with a friend.
Cheers, Eik
