When coming to weight loss, diet and workouts are the two things that we mostly talk about, and here is when you commit a mistake. Some other factors should also be taken into consideration when a healthy lifestyle and weight loss is your long-term goal. Unfortunately, an adequate amount of sleep is neglected most of the time and we will know how this may become a barrier to your fitness journey.
So, here are the questions for you:-
- How much sleep have you got last night and when did you halt that blue screen before sleeping? Here sleep means sound sleep without any disturbance.
- Do you feel energetic and refreshed after coming out of your bed or do you curse your alarm clock for ringing?
Comment the answer below because I want to know that are you truly committed to a healthy lifestyle and weight loss.
Here are some reasons why good quality sleep may help you to achieve your wellness and weight loss target.
Inadequate sleep will damage your gym gains
Having a good muscle mass is a must for your body whether your goal is muscle gain or not. Maintaining it will be having advantages when you age. Muscles are the enemy of fat tissue. But as compared sleep deprivation is an enemy of the muscles.
When your sleep is not good your body lacks to generate and recover your muscle loss because we are slowing down our growth hormone production(protein synthesis). This is also one of the reasons for not getting results despite working out and eating healthily. Which in turn causes a high chance of injuries and also weight gain.
Sleep debt will cause food craving
According to the research, it is found that sleep deprivation craves fast food like french fries, chips, pizza, etc. Your hormones should be blamed for this. There are basically two hormones that lead to an increase and decrease in your hunger:-
- Ghrelin
- Leptin
Ghrelin is a hunger control hormone but this gets increased and that causes you to feast more, on the other hand, a hunger-suppressing hormone Leptin gets decreased. Which totally increases your junk food craving for sugary and fatty foods. For eg if you are binge-watching any movie at late night you crave sugary, fatty, and oily food instead of healthy food.
How to prevent it?
Now we knew why we should get adequate sleep but you can have a question about how much sleep we should get according to me. So, below is a table you can refer to and get an idea about the timing.
| Newborn infants: 0 to 2 months | 12 to 18 hours (includes naps) |
| Infants: 4 to 12 months | 12 to 16 hours (includes naps) |
| Toddlers: 1 to 2 years | 11 to 14 hours (includes naps) |
| Preschoolers: 3 to 5 years | 10 to 13 hours (includes naps) |
| School-age children: 6 to 12 years | 9 to 12 hours |
| Teens: 13 to 18 years | 8 to 10 hours |
| Adults: 18 and older | 7 to 9 hours |
The maximum of you reading this blog is above 18. So, a sound sleep of 7-9 hours should be taken. Half an hour less than that can make a huge difference to your health and biological change. You can also have a question that how we can have a sound sleep without any difficulties and complications. Some precautions and steps can be taken to ensure a better sleep:-
1. Stop eating 2 hours before your bed
If you are eating a heavy meal before bed you are slowly killing your body because your body needs rest when you are in bed but as you have taken a meal before bed you are forcing your body to work. Also because of that, your body can’t burn the calories properly resulting in weight gain. This in turn obstructs your sleep time and causes insomnia.
Instead:-
Eat what you eat but for example, you are sleeping at 11 then you should have your meal before 9 and if you are a metabolically active person you may be feeling hungry after bed. So, what you can eat before bed that should not disrupt your sleep?
You can refer to this post. Here you will get a list of all the foods you can take and those foods will be sleep-inducing( helping you in your sleep ).
2. Stop starring at the screen before bed
Use as much mobile or electronic devices as you can but not at bedtime. Throw your mobile before 30 mins and see the magic happening. I have seen people either playing games or surfing at social media sites or even working on phones or laptops.
As per the survey, 78% of people who use blue screens suffer from insomnia and poor sleep pattern as compared to those who did not use it. So, my friend, you are young and you can control this habit. I am not saying you to stop using electronic devices but you should stop using them before bed. YOU WILL THANK ME LATER.
Instead:-
Think of a time when you used to hear a fairy or story before bed to get a night of better sleep. Yes, you know what I am talking about. Reading books or listening to podcasts can fulfill that thing. This will be releasing your stress and calm your mind before bed. In this way, you will be increasing your knowledge with sound sleep. That is called one arrow two target strategy.
Here are some mindblowing podcasts for you
3. Avoid caffeine and similar stimulant
You already know that caffeine is a stimulant and can interfere with your sleep if taken before bed. A long break of 5 to 6 hours should be taken after drinking any stimulant.
Alcohol induces sleep but in the center of the night it acts as a stimulant that finally disrupts your sleep patterns
4. Control your water intake
Drink an appropriate quantity of water before bed so that you do not wake up in between your sleep to drink water and also don’t drink too much that you have to be awakened for a trip to the bathroom. Instead drinking milk will be helping you to some extent.
Conclusion:-
Finally, you know how your sleep will be deciding whether you are gaining weight or not. Poor sleep is the major reason for excessive weight gain because of poor food choices and your phone scrolling.
Now is the right time to change this habit and achieve your weight loss goal with proper diet and exercise.
So, you can do this easily. Firstly, tonight get to bed 30 min before your usual time. If you are going to the bed at 12:00 then try getting it to 11:30. Because our body adapts to small changes as compared to bigger and more difficult changes. But if you are not falling asleep then listen to the podcast or read your favorite genre book.
Believe me, I have tried this and it really helped me a lot. Now it’s your time to feel better and energetic.
And don’t forget to comment if you saw any change in your life.
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