The side effects of not getting enough sleep are numerous, including decreased productivity, sleepiness, lack of energy, dark circles around the eyes, and several more. But did you know that sleep deprivation also affects your balance and makes it harder for you to lose weight?
The average amount of sleep an adult should get every night is seven and a half hours. According to a recent poll, however, almost half of the U.S. population gets six or less hours of sleep per night. And the side effects of not getting enough sleep are numerous, including decreased productivity, sleepiness, lack of energy, dark circles around the eyes, and several more. But did you know that sleep deprivation also affects your weight and makes it harder for you to shed pounds?
These are three of the main reasons why getting more sleep will help you if you are trying to lose weight:
Late-night snacks
When you stay awake at night, say after 12 AM, you get hungry and so you ingest calories that you don’t really need. While other people are asleep, you stay awake and eat. This can cause you to gain up to 1.5 kilograms per week.
Your body burns more calories
A study compared two groups of people: one group was well rested while the other had not gotten enough sleep for some time. The researchers found that, while not performing any physical activity, the group who was rested burned up to five percent more calories than those who were tired.
It helps you lose fat and lose weight
A group of researchers conducted an experiment aiming to study the relationship between sleep and fat loss: they put a group of people on the exact same diet with the same amount of calories every day. The only difference was that some participants were getting a good night’s sleep while the others were sleep-deprived. Both groups lost the same amount of weight, but those who were sleeping well lost significantly more fat than their counterparts who lost most of their weight in water and muscle.
