In this day and age so many of us are working late into the night, and therefore sleep becomes less of a priority. Though we may recognize the need for a good solid night of sleep, the reality is that we simply don’t make time for it. We have so much to do and so many people to care for, that losing sleep just becomes the price we pay for crossing things off our list. If you’re not placing enough importance on a good night of sleep though, you may be hurting yourself more than you realize.
This is where making lists and prioritizing comes in handy—but on that list must be proper sleep each night. This is the only chance that your body gets to rejuvenate and repair itself from the day before. If you’re not giving your body that opportunity then it can have a very negative impact on your health. Put it this way, even 30 minutes less sleep than you should be getting each night can actually contribute to weight gain. That’s enough to make you want to change your ways!
So if you are trying to lose weight and you simply can’t, or if you just don’t feel your best self then you want to look at your sleep patterns. If you find that you are losing sleep that you so desperately need, then it’s time to wake up to the implications to this and to change your ways before it’s too late. Here is how a lack of sleep can really cause problems later on.
It may contribute to weight gain in the short-term and eventually become a long-term problem:
When you continue to lose the sleep that you need night after night, it can cause you to gain weight more easily. Even as little as 30 minutes of sleep deprivation can make you more prone to gaining weight. It may creep on slowly, but you will find that the weight gain becomes your reality and it’s all attributed to less sleep than your body needs. If you are having trouble losing the weight, then it may be due in large part to your sleep patterns—so making a change now can help!
It may negatively affect the metabolism, thus reducing your ability to burn calories naturally:
In addition to the likelihood of gaining weight, you may actually negatively impact your metabolism. This is the lever or the system for calorie burning, and if you work against it then you negatively affect your ability to lose weight. You won’t burn calories as efficiently and you may slow down your metabolism in a really profound way. So if you find that you are losing sleep night after night, think of what that is doing to your metabolism and make the change that is so important here.
An ongoing sleep debt can wreak havoc on your routine of healthy eating and interfere with exercise:
In a more indirect way, you are hurting your ability to maintain healthy activities that help you lose weight or keep from gaining weight. Not only will sleep deprivation hurt your metabolism, but it will also hurt your willpower and motivation as well. You won’t be as likely to eat the right foods or turn away the wrong ones. You also won’t be as energetic or focused on exercising, and therefore you will contribute to unhealthy ways that are tied into weight gain in the first place.
If left alone for an extended period of time, it may lead to significant health problems:
Yes carrying a sleep debt of even 30 minutes less sleep each night can contribute to health problems in the long-term. If you continue losing sleep and you don’t do anything to change your ways, then this may make you more prone to developing conditions such as diabetes. The weight gain and the inability for your body to repair at night can be very taxing on the body, so working to make sleep a priority and keep your weight in check are the two best ways to combat this.
