Is Sleep Affecting Your Weight Loss

Although going to the gym and watching what you eat are two major factors that you hear about over and over again, they aren’t the only aspects that can and will affect your health!Being in good health and living out a quality lifestyle is a cultivation of finding the balance between mental and physical health—and from diet to movement to resting—all of the aspects can play their part. Whether you find yourself gaining inexplicable weight or are having a hard time on your weight loss journey, not enough or poor-quality sleep can be the culprit. In science, poor sleep has been consistently connected to a higher body mass index (BMI) in general and struggle with losing weight. How are the two linked?The struggle of weight loss and sleep deprivation can be narrowed down to a small cycle—as you disregard your need for quality of sleep, your weight loss journey becomes harder—which makes you put on weight—which makes it hard to even sleep. But how does sleep directly affect your weight? 

1. Lack of sleep can lead to an increase an appetite: This is due to the two hunger hormones in your body, ghrelin—which is responsible for telling you that your hungry—and leptin—which is responsible for suppressing feelings of hunger.

 A lack of sleep will increase that ghrelin in your body—sending your hunger feelings into overload and decreasing the production of leptin, which will leave you feeling empty and still hungry. So, when you get less sleep, you increase the number of calories you eat when you‘re awake, which can lead to weight gain or difficulty losing weight. What‘s the big deal if those calories were only sourced from foods like veggies, fruits, and salads? Well, unfortunately, that’s often NOT the case— 

2. Lack of sleep increases your cravings for unhealthy choices: A lack of sleep means a lack of willpower to fight cravings.

 Since deprivation of sleep often will negatively affect your brain’s ability to make proper decisions and practice self-control, you can see how this would make it hard to stick to a healthy diet. Also, not only will you be less likely to fight against those everyday cravings—the cravings themselves will actually get stronger and stronger, leaning towards unhealthy junk foods. This is due to an increase in the blood level of a lipid called endocannabinoid. This lipid targets the hunger and cravings of specific types of foods, like the salty, sweet, and greasy, which are all types of foods that would do much better for you if they stayed off your diet. Your lack of time asleep also increases the time awake, which means you have more time to eat!When you can’t get to sleep or you are in a situation where you’re awake in the middle of the night, some people tend to turn to television, books, and movies to help them fall asleep. The more you turn to a movie-type scenario, the more likely you are to involve junk snack foods into the mix, which can ruin any diet. Getting enough sleep can help with preventing overeating as well. The simple act of creating a bedtime routine (and a bedtime)—even though you may think you’re a little too old for one—can help you manage your weight and your food intake. This bed routine also creates a more feasible environment to help you get an adequate amount of sleep every night, which help you stay healthy. 

3. Lack of sleep decreases the energy supply you need to exercise: Not only does a decrease in sleep cause fatigue which can make you less motivated to workout, it also can cause a drop in your body‘s ability to make muscle—which can lead to injuries and a slide in the performance and quality of exercise if you find your way to the gym.

 A lack of sleep also reduces your ability to recover from exercise since there is a general reduction in the production of your growth hormone—and when you’re feeling sore the next day, you definitely are more likely to skip that day at the gym. 

4. Let’s get scientific—

 Although these medical terms might be a bit difficult to understand, it‘s important to see why they can have a major effect on your sleep cycle.To help you understand why your body reacts the way it does, here are a few ways that a lack of sleep can also affect your ability to lose weight or be the source or reason for the sudden increase in weight gain: 

• Decrease your RMR: This is your resting metabolic rate, which is the way your body burns calories while you’re sleeping.

 Not only is it directly affected by various components of who you are, like your age, initial weight and height, as well as gender, it also takes sleep deprivation into account. When you lack sleep, your metabolic rate reduces, meaning that your body will be burning fewer calories. 

• Increases your body’s ability to resist insulin: As any diabetic knows, insulin is important to move the sugar from your blood and use it for energy. However, your body needs to naturally be (a normal amount of) insulin-resistant.

 But when there’s a lack of sleep, your cells will become more and more resistant to insulin, which can lower your body’s ability to lower blood sugar levels—which can be dangerous for the body. It is a common aspect seen with weight gain. Sleep Can Affect More Than Just You MentallyJust lacking in a few hours of sleep over a night or two can already have such a resounding impact on your ability to lose weight. Therefore, it’s not just important to eat right, exercise regularly, and keep up with a healthy diet—you also need to get a good night’s sleep!