Want to Lose Weight? Start With Your Sleep
Whether you’re struggling to lose weight, preparing for a marathon, or simply want to get fitter, there’s one key factor you’re probably overlooking.
Your sleep.
Sleep is the time when our body repairs, balances hormones, restores energy, and builds muscle. So, if we aren’t sleeping well, all these processes are slowed down, leaving us feeling sore, more likely to suffer injury and struggling with the extra pounds, even if we are doing everything else right.
There’s more than one reason why sleep needs to be high on your agenda if you’re looking to improve your fitness levels.
Energy – This one seems obvious but shouldn’t be overlooked. When we sleep better, our energy levels are higher, which is of course key to achieve a good workout!
Performance – With research showing better sleep boosts speed, coordination, reaction time and cognitive function, it’s key for focus and athletic performance.
Obesity risk – Research has shown that if we have persistent poor sleep, we have an increased risk of obesity, with a higher chance of greater body fat. In addition, this can influence how easily we lose weight. As the “hunger hormone” is increased by poor sleep, we’re more likely to reach for less nutritious, higher calorie foods when tired. All this means poor sleep can lead to weight gain.
Recovery – When we achieve good sleep, particularly deep sleep, our body releases growth hormone. This is key for muscle growth and repair. Good sleep also helps replenish glycogen stores, assisting with tissue repair after workouts.
So, taking the above into consideration, it’s clear sleep is important for those looking to get fit. So, if fitness is your goal, here are three simple strategies you should follow to get your sleep back on track.
Resetting your body clock – By teaching your body when to fall asleep and for how long, you’ll automatically find your sleep improves. We do this by regulating sleep-wake patterns. So, make friends with your alarm clock! Set an alarm for the mornings, even if you don’t have anything on that day, and get up when it goes off, rather than forcing a lie in if you’ve not slept well. This will also help to build your sleep drive…
Building a stronger sleep drive – By increasing sleep pressure, you can make sure that when you go to bed, you fall asleep more easily and maintain that sleep throughout the night. To do this, go to bed later. This may seem counterintuitive as if you’re tired or have had a bad night, you’ll want to go to bed earlier. However, if you go to bed too early, you’ll only spend this time stuck in bed awake, making for a worse night’s sleep and leading to more stress and anxiety around sleep.
Positive bed and sleep association – By connecting your bed to good sleep and rest, and sleep to positive thoughts rather than frustration, anxiety and stress, you’ll become a good sleeper. So, if you find yourself in bed, tossing and turning, instead of staying there feeling frustrated, get up and leave the room. Go downstairs, or to another room, and read or your favourite show. Will help to break any negative association between insomnia and sleep with your bed.
Free Sleep Webinar: How to fall asleep easily and sleep through the night.
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In just 30 minutes you will learn
- The 3 things you need to control your sleep.
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