Remember when we were younger and we used to nag every time our parents told us to go to bed early? Then, as we grew older, we started staying up late and bragging about pulling an all-nighter! When we're younger, there are many choices we take for granted without realizing how much of health problems it can lead to later in life.
Honestly, it can be tempting to trade sleep for a few hours on social media, TV or PlayStation but have you ever considered the cost of this?
Getting enough high quality sleep might be as important to your health as nutrition and exercise!
YES it is true that your weight, in a way or another, depends on your sleeping habits. It is not that if you sleep you will lose weight, rather if you are sleep-deprived, your appetite will increase and your metabolism will not function properly.
When you are feeling sleepy, you tend to grab coffee and a cookie maybe to boost your energy. You might also skip working out because you don't feel like it. If this happens once, it is not a big deal but continuous sleep deprivation is a vicious cycle and it can sabotage your health and your waistline.
If you are trying to get in shape, you might need to start considering improving your sleep habits.
This sleep and weight loss relationship depends on our nightly hormones, which get messed up and eventually lead to increasing appetite and fat storage while decreasing metabolism, all which lead to weight gain.
But wait, it doesn't end here....
It has been shown that for some reason or another, cravings at night seem to be more towards comfort food which are high in carbohydrates, fat and sugar.
So if you are asking yourself if lack of sleep is preventing you from losing weight indirectly, then yes this might be the reason.
While some willingly choose to stay up late, many suffer from insomnia which honestly is one of the most annoying things.
We all need on average7.5 to 8 hours of a consistent good night sleep. Getting enough sleep at the same time every night has been linked reducing body fat. So if you really want to lose those extra kilos, you might want to stop staying up late and sleeping in, instead start a consistent sleep schedule instead!The result could be a happier, healthier and slimmer you.
Poor sleep can distress everything in our day-to-day life, from our mood and how we interact with people to our productivity at work and school.
Usually the first tips given for weight loss are to EAT LESS and EXERCISE MORE. Now, you can add to this equation SLEEP WELL to maximize the results! Look at sleep as a necessity not luxury.
Have good nights for better health!
-By Saja El Masri
