Why You Need More Sleep To Lose Weight
Why You Need More Sleep To Lose Weight
Ah, sleep! We love to get sleep, but we find in our adult lives, it can be challenging to get the required hours of sleep. From our jobs to kids, keeping up with our homes and the daily grind of getting everyone where they need to be. There is no wonder we lack sleep. We know we should be getting more of it, but every night, it's a struggle to get to bed at a decent time.
The alarm clock goes off, and you know the hustle is about to begin all over again. You feel sluggish, and you can only wish for a morning with no alarm clock, waking you from a deep slumber. What happened to the days of sleeping in as long as you wanted?
When you're aiming to get fit and lose weight, you feel like it's even harder to get to bed on time because now you've added yet another activity to your day. That hour can mean that your evenings are crammed full of housework, homework and keeping up with all of your responsibilities. But do you know and understand the effects of getting less than adequate sleep every night can have on your weight loss efforts? It may surprise you!
STRESS AND WEIGHT GAIN
Stress does indeed affect our bodies in several different ways. Stress can cause problems, not only internally, on a cellular level, but externally. It ages us, changes the way we feel about ourselves and affects the way we interact with others.
Several different factors can cause stress, but lacking sleep can increase our stress levels. When your body feels pressure, it allows the body to release a hormone called Cortisol. Cortisol leads to an increase in body fat, especially in the lower abdomen. So if you're working out diligently and not seeing a reduction in your amount of body fat, don't do more crunches, get more sleep.
If you're not getting adequate sleep and working out more or harder, you're working against yourself. Your body is an incredible machine, and you cannot fool it into thinking that you're well rested and ready for a hard workout. The body is much too smart for that.
The body requires sleep. It works hard for you while you sleep, repairing and restoring your organs, muscle tissues, hormones, and brain. It's vital that you start adding more sleep to your daily life to lose weight.
If you're extremely stressed, try to find ways to destress yourself so that you can get to bed, relax, unwind and get a night of deep sleep.
Doing any of these things for just a few minutes a night will let your mind settle and allow your body to relax. Trying to go to sleep with fifteen different worries weighing on you, is not going to work very well. Try to push all the negativity from your mind. Write down anything pressing you have to do and then walk away from your list. It will be there in the morning.
I'm guilty of laying in bed at night thinking of the hundred things I have to do tomorrow or get done by the end of the week. This makes falling asleep impossible. I toss and turn, and before you know it, I'm wide awake and full of anxiety. Here is where I've found, writing it all down before I even walk back to my bedroom, relieves the pressure so I can relax.
Stress is toxic and damaging to our health. There may be no way to avoid it, but there are many ways of managing your stress, and you must work at ways to minimize stress, or your weight loss journey will become even more difficult.
MUSCLE RECOVERY
Muscles need rest to recover and repair themselves fully. If you're exercising relentlessly and skipping out on a full night of sleep, you are inhibiting the bodies ability to repair its muscle tissue, which is vital to getting great results from your efforts on the gym floor.
Getting more sleep enables the body to gain more muscle mass which in turn keeps your metabolism health on point and increases your chances of losing more weight and increase fat loss. Lack of sleep hinders muscle growth. You want more muscle mass to reach your weight loss goals and to change your body composition.
Without enough sleep, you'll decrease protein synthesis which is your body's ability to make muscles. You want your body to be able to repair those muscles so that you're able to hit your training program and keep reaping all the benefits of gaining muscle mass. Muscles are so crucial to your overall health.
TRAIN BETTER
Why do you need more sleep to lose weight? You'll train better; you'll be more energized and focused on your workouts. Your workouts will be more effective, and the mirror will reflect your efforts.
Trying to keep your motivation high and getting all of your workouts in is difficult, but if you're walking around in a state of sleep deprivation, it only gets harder. Feeling tired and exhausted will not help excel your fitness. You'll use your fatigue as an excuse to start missing your workouts, and you'll struggle to reach your goals.
When you're working out and feeling sluggish, you won't push yourself. You'll go through the motions just wanting the workout to end. To lose weight and see results, you must always be pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. If your body is fatigued, it will be difficult to advance to the next level.
Heading to the gym with a well-rested body and mind will help you make giant strides towards your weight loss goals. You'll be more willing to pick up that heavier weight, bump up the speed on the treadmill or stay another fifteen minutes for a few more reps. You'll feel more inspired to try new things or add more to your regimen.
As you’re winding down your night, aim to get to bed, if only a few minutes early, so that you're feeling refreshed and ready to hit your workout tomorrow. Your body and mind will thank you!
CLEAR AND FOCUSED MIND
You need more sleep, not only for the body but for your mind. Walking around with brain fog is just making your weight loss efforts harder. Your entire day will be affected by lack of sleep because you're mentally not prepared for the day.
You don't make the best choices when you're exhausted from your professional life to your fitness and nutrition plan. You'll make hasty decisions based purely out of fatigue which is usually any choice that is quick and easy.
You'll lack motivation and drive to accomplish your daily goals and will be left riddled with guilt that you weren't able to stick to your plan. You'll look at your to-do list with resentment and anger knowing that you didn't accomplish a thing.
Allow yourself to get more sleep so that you'll stick to your goals. Losing weight requires planning and prepping. When you're tired, you'll take the easy path and fall off the wagon. You started this journey wanting nothing more than to lose weight and feel better. Skimping on sleep will not only make you feel worse, but you'll quickly put back on the weight you've lost.
MORE SLEEP, LESS OVEREATING
Have you ever stayed up late to catch up on a series on Netflix and find yourself craving everything in sight? The late night munchies are real, and they can be a real pitfall when it comes to losing weight.
Do you ever notice when you stay up way too late at night, the next day you're starving throughout the entire day? Most likely, you're craving processed foods with lots of sugar. Why? Because your body already knows that it's lacking in rest and needs quick sources of energy to get moving.
When we are exhausted, and we will have no energy to fix something healthy, so we grab all the foods we know we shouldn't be eating. Doughnuts, pizza, chips, and sodas are usually the top of the list. They are loaded with sugar, carbs, and sodium, but they make us feel better, and they take zero effort to grab quickly.
When your body doesn't get enough sleep, it craves more food. When you sleep less than six hours a day, your brain is triggered to make you think you need more food. Leptin and Ghrelin control the hunger trigger. When your body produces more Leptin, your stomach feels full faster while when your body has less Ghrelin, you have fewer hunger signals.
So why does your body crave more food when you're tired? When lacking sleep, your body produces less Leptin and more Ghrelin, so you end up wanting more food. Getting more sleep is vital in avoiding eating more calories and losing weight.
Avoid binge-watching Netflix every night and keep it to one night a week so that you can get to bed and avoid the late night munchies. It's sleep your body needs more of, not snacks. You'll eat less, get more rest and your following day will be way more productive, all for getting a few extra minutes or hours of sleep.
SO HOW DO WE GET MORE SLEEP, EASILY?
A hectic life can make getting to bed earlier or staying in bed longer, very hard. It's hard to juggle all of your tasks plus add much-needed rest. Use these simple tips to help you get to bed and allow your body and mind to recover from your day thoroughly.
You don't need to do a significant life change to get more sleep. You need to start small, and I mean very small. Head to bed fifteen minutes before you usually do. If your day allows, lay down for a nap and set your alarm to wake you in twenty minutes.
In the evening, lay out all of your clothes for the following day. Prepare your breakfast and lunch, so it's ready to grab and go. Have your kids do the same, so your mornings are less hectic. Having your morning routine laid out and prepared for the day should allow you to sleep, if only, fifteen minutes longer.
Take a shower the night before if you typically shower in the morning. Turn your phone off and make your list for the next day so that the mind can relax and you can get to bed earlier. These are baby steps that will add additional HOURS of sleep for the week. They add up, and you'll notice it, both physically and mentally.
Think of ways you're wasting precious sleep time in the evenings and the mornings so that you can tweak your daily routine to allow you more sleep. It may take you a few days to get the hang of it, but the benefits are worth of minute of it.
Weekends are great for finding a few extra hours of sleep. However, many of us choose to stay up later on weekend nights and start our week off feeling like zombies. You have to decide that your health requires you to make an honest effort to get more sleep.
Say no to the late movie or keep away from a Netflix series that you know will suck you into staying up half the night. Set boundaries when it's a Friday or Saturday night. It's always fun to stay out or stay up late on the weekends, but the next day, you're going to feel less than great. Switch your way of thinking. Get to bed earlier, so your weekend day times are filled with you feeling energized and ready to get things accomplished.
Trying to get fit and transform our bodies requires us to make smart choices and hard decisions. Of course, staying up late and having fun is great, but so is the satisfaction of seeing your body transform before your eyes. It takes effort and planning, but there are plenty of ways to get those extra minutes of precious sleep.
Your body requires sleep, and it will thank you in many different ways. You'll see it in your daily life, the way you interact with your kids, on the gym floor and the way you react to stress. You have the power to make your life more manageable and carefree. Getting adequate sleep would be a great starting point. Put forth the effort, and your body will allow those extra couple of pounds go. Your body will know it no longer needs it because it can now function as it's supposed to. That's worth the effort!
“Sleep is the best meditation”
I hope this helps shed some light on the effects of not getting enough sleep and enables you to find simple and effective ways to start adding more rest in your life. You now know why you need more sleep to lose weight. So, put that phone down, make your to-do list, get a hot bath and head to bed. Your weight loss depends on it!
If you'd like some fun, simple ways to keep you on track and inspired, please sign up below to be on the inside loop of tricks and tools to fast track you to all of your goals. I'd love to be a guiding light on your path to greatness.
Hugs & Love,
Aimee
Aimee Schwinabart is the founder of The Purely Fit—online workouts, nutrition, and fitness coaching that actually work! She specializes in short (super effective) daily workouts combined with customized nutrition plans to help real people shed excess fat to reveal toned, lean muscles. The Purely Fit approach to looking and feeling great prioritizes small, steady, super efficient workouts and nutrition upgrades to help you stay with it once and for all!
