How and Why to Add Sleep to Your Weight Loss Plan

Do you have a sleep weight loss plan? Likely not. In fact, if you’re like the majority of us, you don’t have a strategy for getting the rest you need at all, regardless of its benefits on alertness or body mass.

Why We Skip Sleep in a Weight Loss Plan

Due to our hectic daily schedules, many of us find little time to sleep. Surprisingly, a lot of people think of sleep as waste of time that could be utilized in a more productive manner. Sadly, this is how many health problems are created. One of the reasons why you might find yourself gaining weight is lack of sleep. Substantial proof exists through studies that find lack of sleep might be the reason behind a failed weight loss plan.

How Being Poorly Rested Affects Our Habits

When we are tired due to lack of adequate sleep, we tend to turn toward sugary, caffeinated beverages to give us a morning energy boost and help us get moving. It’s not because we’re weak, stupid, or haven’t got any willpower.  Our hormones shift until the inclination to eat fatty, sugary foods is nearly impossible to ignore.

People who are tired also tend to move less and are more likely to make unhealthy meal choices. Think about the last time you had trouble sleeping and spent the night lying awake. The next day, you didn’t feel charged up and ready to take on the world. You didn’t leap out of bed ready to go for a run.  In fact, no matter what you had for breakfast, the odds are that you had cravings for sugary or fatty food well before your usual lunchtime. Your body needed energy you didn’t give it by sleeping.

Someone who was sleep deprived simply might not have the energy to prepare meals and may feel inclined to eat out or order takeaway food. Without boosted energy levels, the appeal of workout also likely isn’t high and any exercises completed certainly wouldn’t reach a maximum performance level.

Your Sleep and Weight Loss Plan are Intertwined

When it comes to people who are trying to lose weight, lack of sleep might make them less resistant to unhealthy food choices. They might go for donuts and other high-sugar, fatty foods to get them in the mood for work. Sugar-laden foods provide a quick and temporary boost of energy that might make them feel good while the energy lasts. Once the energy boost goes into a slump, they might go for another sugary treat for another quick energy boost.

If you are shirking on your sleep a couple of times a month, the collective effect might not be that damaging. However, if it is happening frequently, you might find yourself failing in your weight loss plan repeatedly. According to studies, people who sleep less tend to make bad decisions because their decision-making power is compromised due to lack of sleep. Not only does the brain feel dull due to skimping on sleep but mental clarity suffers as well. You are also more like to seek comfort in food late at night and in the early morning and mid-afternoon, as these are the times when you are most likely to experience energy slumps.

As your body needs healthy and nutritious food, your brain needs restful sleep in order to rejuvenate itself. Getting any less than eight hours of sleep can make you somewhat akin to a drunk, who will probably make bad decisions and regret them later. Furthermore, the two hormones in our body that control our feelings of satiety and hunger depend on our sleep. In a sleep-deprived state, our body produces a lot more ghrelin, which is the hormone that makes us feel hungry. On the other hand, the levels of the hormone leptin, which makes us feel full, plummets, which causes us to eat more while not feeling full.

This is clearly why deprivation of sleep makes one seek comfort food and gain weight, causing one’s weight loss plan to fail. If you are serious about losing weight, you should get a good night’s sleep in order to be able to wake up rested and ready to take on the world the next morning.

Your Most Effective Natural Sleep Aid Can Support Your Dieting Efforts!

Since getting enough rest is critical to keeping your body mass under control, the most effective natural sleep aid you can find may prove to be a helpful tool in keeping up your efforts to lose weight. By making sure you get a good rest every night, your sleep and weight loss plan can make nearly every other effort easier for you to achieve so you can reach your goal.