You Snooze. You Lose. (In A Good Way.)

I  love to sleep, I need my sleep and that is the end of that. I can see it in my face when I don’t get enough sleep and I just feel blah. And apparently not sleeping the recommended 7-8 hours a night does a lot more than just that. Not getting enough sleep can actually make you fat.

Sleep Your Way To Slim.

Recent studies show that sleep deprived people make less than desirable food choices in comparison to their well rested counterparts. This is due to the fact that the less rested groups have higher levels of an appetite stimulating hormone called Ghrelin, which makes them hungrier. When people are tired and hungry they will reach for anything to give them some energy. Coffee with cream and sugar, maybe a donut or a candy bar, all bad choices but when we are tired this is how it goes. Since the sugar rush never lasts we soon crash bringing us right back to tired. Too tired to go to the gym, too tired to make a healthy dinner. Between a slow metabolism and bad food decisions the weight gain is inevitable.

Now if we get the correct 7-8 hours of sleep we will have plenty of the hormone Leptin, which tells us we are full in turn causing us to eat less. Plus if we are sleeping more, we will not be as tired and desperate for energy in turn causing us to make better food choices.  Getting 7-8 hours of sleep allows our metabolism to function correctly, when this occurs so does weight loss. Good food choices plus a happy metabolism means weight loss.  If you are already sleeping 7-8 hours a night don’t expect to lose any weight without eating well and exercise. Now if you are only sleeping 5 hours on the regular and you decide to bump it up to 7-8 then you should expect to lose a few pounds once your body gets acclimated to its new, positive change.

Catch Those ZZZ’s. Lose Those Lb’s.

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/lack-of-sleep-weight-gain WebMd Article.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090518172444.htm Science Daily.