We all know we should sleep 7-8 hours a night, but do you actually sleep that much?
When we don’t sleep enough it can cause you to gain weight. Obviously there is more time in which to eat food, you just don’t need. That if you were asleep, you wouldn’t have eaten. Not sleeping also affects your hormones in a way that causes you to feel hungrier. So by sleeping more you will eat less and also feel less hungry, simples yes? Sleep more, supress your appetite and lose more fat.
Stress is a massive cause of fat retention. By having better sleep, you can ensure that the levels of hormones responsible for stress are kept at acceptable standards. This will reduce fat stores.
Sleep increases production of growth hormone. Growth hormone helps with both adding sexy lean muscle and burning fat stores, so why not try and produce as much as possible.
So there is what I believe are the 3 main points on why good sleep will help you lose more fat.
So, you know why you should sleep more now, but actually doing it is another story. So let’s look at what you can do to ensure sleeping at night is as easy as possible. I’m going to keep this short so I am going to just give you the facts.
1. Avoid all caffeinated drinks or at least nothing after lunch time
2. Drink a herbal tea in the afternoon that can help you chill out / relax more
3. Have an hour before bed where you just chill out, forget about any worries. Avoid any bright lights, such as TV’S, Computers. Ceiling lights. Instead have a dimmed lamp and read a book, or talk to your partner / family.
4. Taking a magnesium supplement 90 minutes before bed may help.
5. Ensure there are no lights on in your room (its pitch black). It’s not too hot or too cold and that your phone is not near to you or this will distract you.
6. Last of all set a bedtime that you will go to bed by at least 6 times a week and STICK to it. 10pm to 6am being the optimal sleeping time.
Follow these simple tips and not only will you sleep like a baby, but the fat will start melting off, literally. So give it a go.
Harry Pointon
Health Coach – Manchester