Written By Are you tired of hitting the gym and watching your diet but not seeing any significant results? Well, it might be time to hit the sack instead. Your sleep habits could be affecting your weight loss and muscle gain goals more than you think. Research shows that a lack of quality sleep can disrupt your metabolism and hormones, leading to increased appetite, decreased energy levels, and slower muscle recovery. In this blog post, we’ll explore how sleep impacts our body’s ability to burn fat and build muscle so that you can snooze smarter for a leaner physique. So grab a cup of chamomile tea, kick up your feet, and read on!
How Sleep affects weight loss and muscle gain
The National Sleep Foundation report that people who sleep less than six hours a night are at a greater risk for becoming overweight or obese. Lack of sleep can also lead to lower testosterone levels, which is linked to decreased muscle mass and bone density. Despite these dangers, many people still struggle to get enough shut-eye. Here are four ways sleep affects weight loss and muscle gain:
1. Sleep helps burn calories The brain is a powerful calorie burner. When you are tired, your brain switches off some of the energy-hungry processes like digestion and processing food. This means that more calories are burned even when you’re not physically active. In one study, participants who slept for eight hours per night burned nearly 60 more calories over the course of a day than those who slept for just five hours.
2. Better moodsleadtoweightloss People who feel better rested have lower BMIs (body mass indexes), and studies have shown that feeling sleepy makes you hungrier later on in the day. Reduced hunger leads to better weight management because it’s harder to overeat when you’re not feeling ravenous anymore. Plus, feeling alert during the morning allows you to make healthier choices throughout the day without feeling weighed down by cravings.
3. Less stress = more success When you’re stressed out, it’s harder to focus on your diet or exercise plan; instead, all your attention goes towards managing your stress levels. chronic stress has been linked with obesity and other health
The relationship between sleep and diet
There’s a strong relationship between sleep and diet, as well as the way we think about them. We consume more food when we’re sleepy, partly because it’s harder to resist unhealthy snacks and partly because we simply don’t have the energy to focus on meal planning. In fact, one study found that people who slept for fewer than six hours each night were twice as likely to be obese as those who slept seven or more hours. So if you want to lose weight or build muscle, make sure to get your zzzs!
However, there are some caveats to this equation. One is that not all types of sleep are equally beneficial. According to Harvard Medical School, “Most studies suggest that there is a positive association between sleeping at least 8 hours per night and lower body mass index (BMI). However, short sleep duration has been linked with an increased risk for obesity and type II diabetes in both adults and children.” So if you usually only get six or seven hours of shuteye each night, make sure to bump up your bedtime routine gradually—going from 6 pm to 7 pm can help you reap the benefits of a full eight-hour slumber.
But even if you get enough sleep overall, it’s still important to pay attention to your diet while you’re snoozing. As mentioned earlier, digestion is impaired during less than six hours of sleep—this means that
