Sleep and Weight Loss

Get your Zzzzzzz's!

Most people know that getting a adequate sleep (7-9 hours) is vital for a healthy body and mind, however so many people do not get enough sleep - or not enough good quality sleep.

When you don't get enough sleep you wake up feeling drained and end up relying on caffeine and sugar to get you through the day which can lead to consuming a lot more calories than you would normally!

Here is why it is vital (from a weight loss point of view) to get enough sleep!

1. You End Up Eating more and don't feel as satisfied!

The amount of sleep you have drastically impacts 2 hormones in your body that affect your appetite.

• Ghrehlin - this hormone enhances appetite and therefore can lead to weight gain
• Leptin - this hormone represses appetite and can support weight loss

When you do not get a good night sleep the balance between these two hormones is affected. A poor night sleep (not enough or poor quality sleep) leads to an increase in ghrelin (your apatite is stimulated) and a decrease in leptin levels (you don't feel satisfied after you eat) for many this leads to weight gain.

2. You cant train as intensely/as long as you normally could

It has been proven that adequate sleep can help improve your athletic performance. How? Well not getting enough sleep affects your body's ability to store less glycogen (this is what is needed for endurance).

As a result, if you do manage to get train when you are tired it is likely that you will not be getting any PB's!

3. You are more likely to break your diet!

When I am tired I find myself eating things that I normally wouldn't, for me its usually because I am so tired that I don't care which leads me to feeling crap about it the next day!

Dr. Sanjay Patel, a lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School and an associate physician in sleep medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston stated


Say you’re sitting in a room with a cookie, If you’re well-rested, you might say, ‘I know it tastes good, but I’ll regret it longer term.’” When you’re tired, on the other hand, you’re more likely to simply give in to impulse".

4. You are less likely to hit the gym! 

This is not rocket science, although exercise has been proven to increase energy levels you are much more likely to blow off the gym/run/training when you have had a bad night sleep the night before!

Now you are aware of how important sleep can be for your weight loss, have a read of tips to ensure you get a good nights sleep!

Some additional reading

https://www.kaylaitsines.com.au/blog/2014/8/14/beauty-sleep-is-not-a-myth

http://www.poliquingroup.com/Tips/tabid/130/entryid/1807/Tip-501-Get-Enough-Sleep-For-Better-Body-Composition-Hormone-Regulation.aspx

http://www.lifestylebypoliquin.com/Lifestyle/LifestylebyPoliquin/TabId/203/PostId/23/Sleeping-Beauty.aspx

http://www.livestrong.com/article/74796-sleep-important-weight-loss/

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/lose-weight-while-sleeping