The Importance Of Sleep In Weight Loss
The importance of sleep in weight loss isn’t understood by many people.
To lose weight, we’ve all heard we’re supposed to work out, watch what we eat, drink water, buy [insert bullshit product], blah blah blah. But with all the weight loss advice out there, how often have you been told to sleep more?
Yeah, that’s it.
Sleep more.
Sleep is when the body has the chance to repair the microscopic tears in the muscle produced by training, making the muscles bigger and stronger to better withstand the stress when next exposed to it. This is why you should make sleep a priority if you’re trying to build muscle.
But to lose weight?
Yup!
According to researchers, sleep is just as beneficial for weight loss as it is for muscle building.
With that, let’s now turn our attention to the growing body of evidence in support of sleep’s role in your own growing body!1And boy is your body growing! Like, you really need to do something about your weight there!!!
A much cited study conducted in 2010 examined a group of participants placed on a calorie-restricted diet. They averaged a loss of 3.1 lbs of body fat and 3.3 lbs of lean body mass during the two weeks they slept for 8.5 hours per night under observation. Compare that to the 1.3 lbs of fat and 5.3 lbs of lean body mass they lost during the two weeks sleep was limited to only 5.5 hours of sleep per night. The evidence is clear that the body holds onto fat in favor of muscle when it’s sleep-deprived!
Still not convinced?2Fuck, you’re hard to please!
In a more recent study, researchers studied a group of participants over the course of a year. The subjects were placed in an intensive weight loss program involving a Mediterranean diet, physical activity, and behavioral intervention. At the completion of 12 months, those who had irregular sleep patterns lost less weight than those who slept the same number of hours every night. Another finding leans more towards body fat levels, as participants who slept less than 6 hours didn’t lose as much around the waist as those who slept longer.
There are many more studies like these two, all showing a link between sleep and weight management, from the likelihood of obesity to one’s success in their weight loss efforts.3Adults who sleep fewer than 6 hours are 50 percent more likely to be obese than adults who sleep more. The odds are markedly higher for children at 90 percent. I may have made that stat up or I may have gotten it from HERE
But what’s the reason?
The reason why sleep, or the lack of it, has such a large effect on weight isn’t known, but there are some possible explanations:
• Not getting enough sleep may make you too tired, resulting in a decrease of calorie burn via physical activity.
• If you sleep less, then you’re awake for more hours than someone who gets adequate rest. That then provides more opportunities to eat and thus take in more calories.
• Sleep deprivation influences the production of ghrelin and leptin, hormones responsible for hunger and satiety, respectively. With increased ghrelin and decreased leptin levels, you’re not only likely to eat more because of a greater appetite but foods higher in fat and calories are more likely to be consumed due to feeling less full.
There’s clearly something going on pointing to the importance of sleep when it comes to losing weight, as well as not gaining it.
So you now understand that you need sleep, at least 8-10 hours of the stuff.
But you know how it is.
You lie in bed, close your eyes…
…and E-V-E-R-Y bad decision in your life replays itself with dramatic effect.
Like really, why’s this major fuckup playing back in my head in slow-motion?!?!
Trust me, I can empathize with you.
I too have had difficulty going to sleep. Tossing and turning at night and then beginning the new day not even feeling close to refreshed is a problem not only affecting us both but millions of people as well.
Sure, you could just go to bed at, let’s say, 5 o’clock in the evening so by the time all the bad decisions replay in your head you’ll finally be sleepy at 11, the time you should be going to bed.
But because you’re not a fucking senior citizen, going to be at that hour just won’t do!
Nope, you need more time to unwind and scour the web for porn after a long day of scouring the web for porn at work!
So how do you make yourself go to sleep to get the weight loss benefits without crimping your oh sooooooooo active social life?
With the following actionable tips, of course!
ONE
Try to keep a regular sleep schedule.
That means that you go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. It also means you can’t take long naps during the day. Yes, you have to pull an all-dayer!
Allow me to explain the rationale before you go screaming “FUCK THAT!!!” because you love getting shitfaced on Friday and Saturday night then sleeping your hangover off the following morning.4Or because you look forward to sneaking away to your secret hiding spot at work in order to take a few winks on company time.
Not that I’m guilty of this, but I used to work construction as a sheet metal mechanic. On days when I was stuck working out of the shop instead of working at a job site, I may or may not have secreted away to a very remote part of the shop and caught up with my sleep. Ahhhhhh, memories of things I may or may not have done!
Avoid sleeping in and taking long naps during the day because both can throw off your circadian rhythm once you’ve begun maintaining a sleep schedule, which fixes your body’s internal clock to times when it can expect rest and activity.
To get into the routine of a sleep schedule that will have you always falling asleep at a certain time, set an alarm for when you want to arise and then hit the hay at the time that you usually feel fatigued.5If you need the extra nudge, set an appointment with your bed via another alarm. As soon as the alarm rings in the morning, try your best to climb out of bed without hitting the snooze button.
After doing this for a while, you should find yourself not only going to bed and falling asleep at the same time every night but also waking up at the same time in the morning without the aid of an alarm.
Do that and you should find yourself feeling well-rested upon waking. Rising naturally like this allows the body to get up on its own, usually at the end of a light sleep cycle. Rising naturally also removes the stress caused by an alarm shrieking in your ear and waking you up prematurely during the deeper stages of sleep, which makes you feel groggy.
TWO
Be mindful of your sleeping environment, as well as what you do ahead of beddy-bye time.
That includes
• not drinking coffee, consuming alcohol, or eating a heavy meal too late in the day;
• making sure that your mattress and pillows are comfortable; and
• maintaining a cool bedroom temperature of around 60-67 ℉.
Additionally, because light — both artificial and natural — is responsible for the brain not secreting melatonin, a hormone that plays a role in making you feel sleepy, it’s important to eliminate or reduce ALL light sources in order for the sleep-wake cycle to work properly. That’s why it’s suggested that you shut off smartphones, tablets, e-readers, computers, TVs, and other bright screens at least an hour before laying your head down.
It doesn’t stop there, either!
Not only should you cover the LCD displays of digital alarm clocks and the glowing lights from DVD players, routers, and other plugged in electronics, but you should draw blinds and curtains to block out the moon, street lamps, and other light that can come from windows. Make the room as dark as possible! If that proves difficult to achieve without great effort, try a sleep mask.
Remaining on the topic of accessories, earplugs or an ambient noise generator may be used to dampen noise — e.g. barking dogs, street traffic, the nightly domestic dispute between your neighbors — that can prevent you from falling asleep or interrupt it once you’re chopping wood.
THREE
If neither of the above work because you’re either too lazy to try them or they just don’t do anything for you, Dr. Andrew Weil’s 4-7-8 breathing technique might be just the ticket!6For the technical mumbo-jumbo explaining why the technique is supposed to knock you out, you might want to check out that link — or don’t, if you’re not into that learning new stuff shit.
(1) Press the tip of your tongue against the hard ridge of tissue behind your upper front teeth and keep it there.
(2) Exhale all of your breath out.
(3) Inhale, quietly, through your nose for four seconds.
(4) Hold that breath for seven seconds.
(5) Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whooshing sound, for eight seconds.
(6) Repeat the cycle four times.
Being a card-carrying member of #TeamNoSleep is cool if your lot in life is to type in a sequence of numbers on a computer and press “execute” every 108 minutes to prevent the end of the world.7If you’re lost, that’s a reference to Lost, a television series that had many of its viewers lost at why they wasted so much of their time watching it when the dud of a series finale aired.
But if you’re trying to do anything worthwhile with your body, it’s not so cool.
You need sleep.
It’s as important a part of weight loss as diet and exercise, so you should do everything to improve the quantity and quality of rest if sleep is a problem and you’re serious about your goals.
From my own experience, the tips work.
Well, at least the first two.
Personally, I’ve never tried the 4-7-8 breathing technique…
…but I think I’ve stumbled upon something just as effective.
During my adventures of idleness, I’ve experienced an instant snoozefest on multiple occasions of simply listening to J. Cole’s Forest Hills Drive, Born Sinner, Cole World, or basically anything with J. Cole at the helm. So if all else fails for you, give his discography a spin.
It’s straight audio Nyquil.
Thank me later!
Glossary: calories, diet, exercise, fat, goal, hormones, muscle, priority, weekend, work out
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