Lose weight by sleeping right
Weight gain is thought to be due to bad diet and lack of exercise. Researchers have found that lack of sleep or irregular sleep could also lead to weight gain.
When sleep is irregular, the body starts to secrete excess ghrelin, a hormone that is responsible for an increase in appetite. In addition, when sleep is irregular levels of leptin (a hormone that helps you feel full after a meal) decrease, and that increases the inclination to overeat. A sleep deprived person also has increased levels of cortisol and that encourages the body to store fat in the abdomen.
No wonder weight will increase if sleep is inadequate or is of poor quality. Lack of sleep also increases susceptibility for other diseases.
Some useful tips regarding sleep:
- Sleep helps build muscle – Your body repairs and rejuvenates during sleep. Less sleep equates to less time for these critical processes and you end up with more fat and less muscle.
- Keep a check on the hours – Aim to sleep for at least six-and-a-half hours and ensure it does not exceed more than eight-and-a-half hours.
- Stick to the same time – Every single day, sleep at one particular designated hour. Maintaining sleep-time schedule strictly is essential for regulation of your entire system.
- Shut off gadgets – Gadgets hamper sleep. Shut them at least half-an-hour before sleep time.
- Keep your bedroom dark – This promotes better quality of sleep and studies have found that women who sleep in dark rooms are 21 per cent less likely to be obese.
- Your room should be cool – Cool bedrooms increase your metabolism and also insulin sensitivity. Your body easily burns the unwanted brown fat.
- Have cherries – They contain melatonin which aids sleep.
- Eat healthy and exercise – Last but definitely not the least, this combined with optimum sleep can really help you lose weight quickly.
