Wondering how to lose weight when you’re sleep deprived? A third of Americans get less than 1 night’s sleep , the “missing ingredient” for weight loss, research has found.
Getting enough sleep is essential for weight loss. Still, sometimes your schedule just doesn’t allow for the full seven or eight hours of restful, restful sleep. Fortunately, there are still ways to achieve your goals while reducing the harmful effects of sleep deprivation.
You can do anything with diet and exercise, but you can still gain weight or hit a plateau if your sleep is terrible. It’s easy to get frustrated with the weight loss process and feel like all hope is lost.
Sleep deprivation can lead to rapid weight gain, but you can use adjustments and techniques to overcome sleep deprivation. So read on to learn how sleep can affect your progress and how to fix it.
Does Lack of Sleep Cause Weight Gain or Loss?
How you sleep can directly affect whether you get fat or thin. Sleep Study Finally Finds It’s One of the Biggest Barriers to Weight Loss
Chronic sleep deprivation can also lead to higher rates of anxiety, depression, heart disease and cancer.It can prevent you from losing weight and even gaining weight despite eating less.
Here’s how sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain:
disrupt hunger hormones
Ghrelin and leptin are two hormones that directly affect hunger levels. Lack of sleep can raise ghrelin, making you hungrier, and lower leptin, making you less satisfied after meals.
Hunger pangs are one of the hardest parts of dieting and eating healthy. So sticking to your diet will be more challenging if your hunger hormones are out of whack. It’s also easier to snack at night if you don’t sleep and then get hungry
desire to increase
Lack of sleep can also increase cravings for unhealthy foods as your body looks for quick sources of energy. Unfortunately, when your hunger hormones are disrupted, it becomes all too easy to overeat.
Sleep deprivation can increase cravings for high-fat, high-calorie, carbohydrate-rich junk food, research has found . Fighting the urge to eat pizza, cheeseburgers, and pasta can make it harder to stick to your diet.
decreased self-control
You’ll notice your hunger spike, and your ability to resist temptation decreases when you’re sleep deprived. The part of the brain that controls desires and urges becomes inactive from lack of sleep.
Sleep helps maintain defenses against poor snacking, overeating, or a straight trip to the nearest fast-food restaurant. When you’re worn out from sleeplessness, you crave comfort food, setting you up for failure.
make you more sedentary
When you’re tired, it’s no surprise that you’re less active. Going to the gym or going for a walk sounds more like a chore than a weight-loss-friendly exercise.
So not only will you increase your daily calorie intake, but you will also stop burning as many calories as possible. This is the perfect recipe for gaining weight. And the more sedentary you are during the day, the harder it is to fall asleep at night.
increased stress hormones
While your body does need some of the stress hormone cortisol to function efficiently, consuming too much can lead to weight gain. Cortisol can increase cravings for fatty, sweet and salty foods while slowing fat burning.
Stress can also create a deadly cycle. You’ll feel stressed the next day from not getting a good night’s sleep, which may cause you to sleep even worse. Many people eat more comfort food when they are stressed, making it easier to gain weight.
Sleep and Belly Fat
Lack of sleep not only makes you gain weight, but can also lead to increased belly fat. Visceral belly fat, for example, is a more dangerous type of body fat that surrounds and puts pressure on your internal organs.
Losing this deep visceral belly fat is critical to your long-term health. Increased stress from sleep deprivation can chronically elevate cortisol levels. This is directly related to an increase in hormonal belly fat .
Lack of sleep also slows down fat metabolism.
Your glucose metabolism may be thrown out of whack by poor sleep. Glucose metabolism is the process by which the body breaks down carbohydrates for energy. When you eat carbs or sugar, your body will have higher blood sugar and insulin spikes during sleep deprivation.
This roller coaster ride of excessive blood sugar and insulin spikes can lead to weight gain and increased belly fat. When you’re sleep deprived and stressed out, you’re more likely to eat high-fat, high-carb foods. This is the “perfect storm” for increased stomach fat.
While you sleep, your body does most of its repair and regeneration work. Part of this is reducing inflammation and recalibrating the water balance in the body.
But if you don’t get enough sleep, some of the extra water in your fat cells may be left behind, not flushed away. Some people experience the whoosh effect when stubborn moisture in fat cells is suddenly rushed out. Sleep can help with this!
how many hours of sleep do to lose weight
So, how many hours of sleep do you really need each night to lose weight and get rid of belly fat?
Most experts agree that 7-8 hours of sleep per night is ideal. If you only sleep 4-5 hours a night, you need more. Even if you sleep peacefully, you’re sleep deprived with only 4 hours of sleep.
Are 6 hours of sleep enough to lose weight? One study found that people who slept 5 1/2 hours a night lost less fat than people who slept 8 hours a night. While 6 hours isn’t the worst amount of sleep in the world, it’s not the best either.
But if you do everything else right with diet and exercise, you can still lose weight on 6 hours of sleep. However, you have much less leeway and flexibility with diet and exercise than those who sleep 7-8 hours.
If you’re not getting 7-8 hours of sleep consistently, you should focus on improving your sleep quality. Deep, restful sleep and plenty of REM will give you the most benefit in a short period of time.
But it’s harder to lose weight when you’re only getting 6 hours of sleep and tossing and turning every night. Your body burns the most fat and recovers the most during REM sleep.
How to Lose Weight While Sleep Deprived
Working and having a baby can often mess up your sleep schedule. Sometimes it just goes that way for a while. So the best thing you can do is fix the problem as best you can. Here’s how to do it.
Prioritize sleep
Diet trumps exercise when it comes to weight loss. Hence the saying among trainers: “You can’t get past a bad diet.
It’s best to skip your afternoon workouts and instead take a short nap. So if you’re really that tired and sleep-deprived, napping can do more for you than exercising.
Try to get physical activity throughout the day. Going up and down stairs will not only give you some exercise, but it will also give you a quick energy boost. Staying active during the day is more helpful than short-term exercise.
Exercise can help you sleep better at night. If you exercise, try not to exercise late at night, or it may negatively affect your sleep. Exercising vigorously too late can make you angry, send the endorphins flowing, and make it harder to fall asleep.
eat satiated food
We talked about how sleep deprivation can lead you to crave high-calorie junk food. You’ll also find yourself hungrier from lack of sleep, which can sabotage your weight loss efforts.
So to help curb hunger, it’s best to eat high-satiety foods that keep you feeling full for longer.
Satiating foods are those that help keep you feeling fuller and more satisfied for longer. These may include high-fiber foods, such as berries, avocados, and vegetables, such as kale and spinach. Protein-rich foods, such as eggs, lean meat, or fish, also fill you up. Other good options include nut butter, seeds, nuts, and avocados.
If you find yourself peckish before bed, try drinking a low-carb protein shake. This protein is high in satiety and may help you sleep better at night. Going to bed hungry to lose weight is not a good idea because it can worsen your sleep quality as you battle hunger pangs throughout the night.
plan your meals in advance
Since you’ll crave junk food and lack self-control due to lack of sleep, it’s best to pre-plan your meals to ensure you stay on track. You’ll be less likely to snack and overheat during the day. If you have your meals planned and ready to go.
Meal prep by topping up food is one of the most effective ways to stay on track. An easy way to do this is to make large batches of meals and have leftovers for the next day or two. An example is roasting a bunch of chicken at a time, not just a meal’s worth.
Try not to keep any snacks or junk food in the house; otherwise, you may find yourself battling the temptation to overeat. Successful weight loss comes down to being consistent, and the easiest way to do that is to not have the temptation to cheat on your diet in the first place.
Drink water
Dehydration makes it easy for the body to confuse hunger with thirst. Making sure you stay hydrated will help curb hunger pangs, give you more energy, and make you feel less sluggish.
So if you get dehydrated at night, it can negatively affect your sleep. You lose fluid throughout the day, not only from urination but also from your skin and breath.
By the end of the day, you may be more dehydrated than you think. Your circadian rhythm, also known as your body’s internal clock, helps you manage and balance your hydration levels.
If your sleep is interrupted, then you may find yourself not only retaining more water but dehydrating more. Be careful not to drink too much water, or you may find yourself waking up too much during the night.
reduce alcohol
Staying away from alcohol can have a significant positive effect on the quality of your sleep. While alcohol can make you fall asleep faster, it can negatively affect your deep REM sleep.
That’s why after a night of drinking, you might get the full eight hours of sleep and still feel tired the next day. You’ll get less deep sleep, helping your body and mood to rest and repair. Alcohol disrupts all kinds of sleep, but deep sleep is most affected by alcohol.
If you drink alcohol, try reducing your alcohol intake to 1-2 small servings. If you drink alcohol, try drinking it a few hours before bed to prevent it from negatively affecting your sleep.
in conclusion
A good night’s sleep is essential for weight loss and overall health. But if you’re finding it hard to get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep, a few tweaks can help you make up for lost sleep and still lose weight.
Staying hydrated during the day, avoiding alcohol before bed, eating filling foods throughout the day instead of sugary snacks, and consuming caffeine earlier in the day can all help to get more energy when you’re sleep-deprived.
Going to bed (and waking up at the same time) between 9 pm and 10 pm every night and sleeping on your side can also help improve sleep quality, so you don’t feel tired even if you get enough sleep.
With these tips, you should be able to stay energized and lose weight even if you don’t get enough sleep!