Sleep the Weight Away

Sleep the Weight Away

Getting plenty of sleep is an important part of losing weight. A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that people who got more than eight hours of sleep lost more excess fat compared to those who slept for only five hours. The ones who had only five hours lost valuable muscle mass weight rather than weight from fat. Losing muscle mass is thought to hinder weight loss efforts because muscle is a vital fat burning mechanism. Another study in the International Journal of Obesity states that lack of adequate sleep leads to poor selection in terms of food choices.

Sleeping Away the Right Kind of Weight

A recent study compared the weight loss of several participants who ate the same diets and exercised the same amount over a certain period of time. The only things the groups did differently were sleep longer or shorter hours. Researchers found that all of the participants lost some weight while they slept, but the type of weight they lost was different depending on how long they slept. Participants who slept at least 8 hours nightly lost 100% body fat, while those who slept 5 hours nightly lost up to 75% muscle weight. Losing fat is exactly what a dieter needs to do, but losing muscle actually impairs your ability to lose weight in the long run. Sleeping just a few more hours every night can be the difference between successful dieting and frustration. When you lose muscle weight, you will need to spend extra time building that muscle up again when you exercise, which makes your entire diet plan less efficient.

Hormone Works to Burn Fat during Longer Sleep

The fat and muscle weight loss during sleep is driven by a hormone called ghrelin. Ghrelin is involved in the body’s hunger processes. Researchers believe that sleeping longer hours every night gives your body a chance to produce more ghrelin, which will trick the body into thinking it is hungry and cause it to burn calories from the fat that has already been stored. If you sleep shorter hours, the body has a harder time burning the calories from fat cells so it burns through muscle weight instead. Your body seems to need at least 8 hours to complete the fat burning process that is caused by ghrelin.

Exercise and Diet Are Not Enough

Dieters who are frustrated with their inability to shed pounds while they observe a strict diet and exercise regimen might be shooting themselves in the foot by getting less sleep than they need. Even the best diet regimen cannot produce good results if the body continually burns muscle weight rather than fat weight overnight. Muscle tissue is an important part of the fat burning process. If you reduce your muscle mass, you cut out one of the most efficient parts of your weight loss program. A good night’s sleep is necessary to gain the most benefit from a diet and exercise plan.

Lack of Sleep Leads to Poor Choices

Sleep also plays a large part in your ability to stick to a healthy diet during the waking hours. When your body does not get enough sleep, it tries to compensate for the lack of energy by craving foods that are high in sugar and fat content. Lack of sleep could help you make poor food choices because you simply don’t have the energy to resist the foods that are the most detrimental to your weight loss plan. The tendency to eat the wrong type of foods only enhances the muscle weight burning of a short sleep so that it is even harder to drop weight.

Plenty of Sleep Helps Reduce Stress

Research also indicates that a high stress lifestyle makes it difficult to lose weight regardless of diet and exercise. If you can get at least 8 hours of good sleep, you can cut your stress levels dramatically. A good night’s sleep makes it easier to find the energy to fight the day’s battles so that you can put them behind you rather than allowing them to add to your overall stress levels. High stress can be as bad as low energy for tempting you to eat sugary or fatty foods for comfort, which is terrible for meeting a weight loss goal.

Reduce Sleep-time Distractions

Since sleep has been proven to be an important part of any weight loss diet, you should approach it the same way you would schedule your trip to the gym or organize your weekly menu. Plan to go to bed by a certain time every night, and reduce the distractions around bedtime as much as possible. Turn off the television and dim the lights half an hour before you want to go to sleep so that your body is relaxed and ready to drift off. Schedule the day so that nothing interferes with your 8 hours of rest.

Sleep is the Easiest Part of a Diet Regimen

Compared to exercise and sticking to a food diet, sleep is the easiest thing you can do to lose weight. Remember that you are burning stubborn fat cells every time you sleep 8 uninterrupted hours. It will be easy to reserve those 8 hours of sleep every night if you think of them as quiet fat burning sessions instead of wasted time that could be spent doing something else. Sleep needs to be included as an integral part of your daily workout.

Source:  http://lowfatdietplan.com/low-fat-diet-plan/sleep-the-weight-away