Doctors Explain The MAIN Thing That Sabotaging Your Weight Loss
One surprising factor that could either help or sabotage weight loss could be your sleeping habits. A study done by the Journal of the American Medical Association referred in this article by GAIAM life has looked at how sleep can affect your quest to lose weight. The study found that a lack of sleep can lead to more cortisol production, a hormone that controls your appetite. Not getting enough sleep can lead to feeling hungrier throughout the day, which in turn leads to overeating.
According to webmd.com, skipping out on sleep leads to poor decision making like giving into your food cravings more easily. They also highlighted another article by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which found that late-night snacking occurs more when you don’t get enough sleep. In addition to feeling hungrier, a lack of sleep can also cause your brain to crave more junk foods and high-carb foods.
Doctors have to recommend that you maintain a good sleep health, and not just for the purpose of losing weight more easily. Scientific studies have linked good sleep to improved health in other parts of your life, including more energy during the daytime, longer life spans, and a better overall well-being. Bad sleep patterns can cause poor overall health in addition to derailing your weight loss efforts.
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Here are a few general tips if you are looking to improve your sleep:
1. Stick to a schedule. If you go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, it will lead to a consistent sleep-wake cycle that will help you sleep better at a time. Constantly changing your sleep makes it harder for you body to adjust to changes.
2. Get rid of electronics. If you can, eliminate any electronics from your bedroom. Studies have shown that people without phones, computers or other devices in their bedroom tend to sleep better because they are less likely to be distracted by technology.
3. Eat and drink at the right time. If you go to bed hungry or thirsty, this will affect your sleep negatively. Likewise, if you eat and drink right before you go to bed, this might lead to the middle of the night bathroom breaks. And you should also avoid caffeine, nicotine and other substances that stimulate your senses.
4. Exercise. In addition to other health benefits, exercise can actually improve how well you sleep. Don’t exercise too close to bedtime because you don’t want to feel energetic right before you fall asleep.
5. Try not to nap. Taking a lot of daytime naps can actually take away from your nap time sleep, and it also mess with your internal clock.
