Many of us want to lose weight, but did you know you can shed some unwanted pounds while you get your beauty rest? It sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me; all you have to do is sleep, and the pounds melt away. Of course, you will need to form certain habits to optimize your body for weight loss during sleep, but once you have them down, you can drop the pounds while you doze away.
Here’s how you can lose weight in your sleep:
Have protein before bed
According to a study done by researchers at Florida State University, men who had a protein shake with at least thirty grams of protein before bed had a higher resting energy expenditure than those who ate nothing before bedtime. Protein can also aid in muscle repair, greatly benefiting those who lift heavy weights or do other strenuous exercises.
Make your room as dark as possible.
According to a study in the Journal of Pineal Research, complete darkness allows the body to produce the hormone melatonin, promoting sleep and enhancing calorie burning. To fill your room with dark, get blackout curtains if you live near security lights, cover alarm clocks and other devices that emit light, and turn off the TV before bed. Even small lights can disrupt sleep, creating a peaceful, sleep-inducing environment to get to bed more easily at night.
Set a comfortable temperature for sleep
If we have to get up all night hours to adjust to the temperature, we will lose valuable time that we could’ve used to sleep. Before going to bed, set the thermostat at a comfortable temperature, no matter if you like it on the cooler or hotter side. According to doctors, study participants who slept in rooms with a temperature of 66 degrees burned seven percent more calories than those who slept in warmer rooms.
Their bodies had to work harder to raise their core temperature to 98.6 degrees, which helps burn calories. Seven percent equals about one hundred calories burned during sleep, so keep your room cool if you want to lose weight while you sleep!
Turn off technology
No surprise here, right? Laying in bed scrolling through Facebook, texting people, or watching YouTube videos makes our brains think we need to stay awake when we need to get to sleep. The bright blue lights from phones, computers, and tablets signal to our brains that we need to remain awake because out in nature, the light from the sun would tell us to wake up. So, naturally, any artificial light promotes the same response.
These lights disrupt the body’s melatonin production and impact metabolism. Researchers from Singapore also linked long television-watching sessions to higher triglycerides and lower adiponectin, leading to diabetes and difficulty in regulating glucose levels.
So, make sure to keep your time on technology to a minimum during the day and get as much natural light as possible.
Set a bedtime
Getting to bed regularly each night allows our bodies to get used to a routine. Sleep heals our bodies, allowing vital hormones to be released and cells to be repaired. Adults need around 7-8 hours of sleep per night, and one of the best ways to ensure you get adequate sleep is to stick to a schedule. Avoid staying up late binge-watching shows or scrolling through Facebook; you can do these activities, of course, but turn off technology a couple of hours before bed. Many studies connect sleep deprivation to weight gain, obesity, diabetes, and other health-related illnesses, so start up a bedtime routine to prepare your body for sleep each night.
According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who got adequate sleep burned twenty percent more calories after eating than those who weren’t well-rested. Also, they had a 5 percent higher resting energy expenditure, which tells us that sleep and calories burned undoubtedly go hand-in-hand.
Final Thoughts on How Sleeping Well Can Help Support Your Weight Loss Efforts
Doctors have long suspected that insomnia contributes to weight gain and sluggishness. Now research studies back up that hunch. So if you need to shed a few pounds to improve your health, remember to focus on improving your sleep quantity and quality. In the end, it will contribute to a healthier new you.
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