After doing another 3 hours of research today on sleep and how it affects your ability to lose weight wanted to share with you some of the highlights:
• Lack of sleep can lower leptin levels, which in turn can make it harder for you to burn body fat
• Sleep deprivation can increase hunger and as a result cause overeating
• Additional weight gain from poor sleeping habits can cause sleep disorders like sleep apnea making it even harder to get good quality sleep
• Lack of sleep can lead to a decreased interest in exercising due to exhaustion, which can disrupt your weight loss efforts and circadian rhythm
The study of sleep and how it affects every aspect of your life including cognitive, physical, and emotional well-being has always amazed me. I hope you can begin to see that getting 7 – 9 hours of sleep per day makes a huge difference in how your body functions throughout the day. Also, if you’re having trouble losing weight even though you are doing everything right, you may want to look at a lack of sleep and higher levels of stress as the real culprit holding you back from achieving your goals.