Yes, you read that right, sleep can help with weight loss and weight maintenance. People who sleep less than seven hours tend to gain weight faster than people who regularly sleep between seven and nine hours.
You can find out why in the following article.
Sleep influences hormones that affect the feeling of hunger and satiety
It has been proven that sleep has an influence on the hormones of hunger and satiety – ghrelin and leptin. The hormone ghrelin tells your body when you are hungry and that you should eat. When you are restless and tired, your body releases more ghrelin, which leads to a greater feeling of hunger. Leptin, a hormone that indicates that you feel full and that you better put your fork aside, slows down, which can lead to overeating.
Too little sleep affects the stress hormone
Cortisol, the stress hormone, is released in large amounts when you don’t get enough sleep and are tired. This hormone ‘seeks’ energy and signals your body to eat more to regain the energy you have lost due to lack of sleep.
You skip training sessions
When you’re tired and haven’t had enough sleep, you’re more inclined to skip your workout session. Due to exhaustion and fatigue, you can’t perform your workout with full force as you would otherwise do if you were well-rested. We already know that skipping workouts, as well as an unhealthy diet, leads to weight gain.
Your brain is not able to think rationally
It is scientifically proven that when you are unrested and tired, your brain behaves as if you are drunk. Because of the lack of sleep, you are sometimes unable to make rational decisions. Why does this happen? Because fatigue decreases activity in the frontal lobe of the brain, the part that makes decisions and where impulse control is located. This is exactly why we tend to reach for sweets and processed foods.
Now you know what to do! Skip scrolling on your phone or watching movies and find enough time for a good and sufficient sleep.
