How to Lose Weight by Sleeping

Often, losing weight can be a difficult journey. What many people don't know is that their sleep-deprivation is causing them to gain weight! By increasing the amount of hours you sleep to at least 7.5 hours, you will be sure to lose weight!

Why does sleep-deprivation cause weight gain?

So what's the relationship between sleep and body weight? Researchers say that sleep deprivation can affect a woman's hormones, cause increased food intake and extra fat storage, all of which lead to weight gain.

Maybe you never realized this, but when you are sleep-deprived, you are much more prone to eating more. The University of Chicago has conducted an experiment with two study groups. One group slept for 5.5 hours while the other group slept for 8.5 hours and the two group's eating habits were recorded. The people who slept less had an average extra caloric intake of 221 calories. So what does this mean? Well, an extra 221 calories per day will result in an extra pound of fat in about two weeks! Researchers state that when women are sleep deprived, a hormone called ghrelin will increase. This hormone will increase one's appetite. On the other hand, another hormone known as leptin will decrease and this is the hormone that signals to us that we are full. If leptin decreases, we are less likely to feel full and thus, we are more likely to overeat. In addition, when you are sleep-deprived, you're more likely to crave for unhealthy foods such as chocolate and fried foods because they are fast in delivering energy.

Also, when you don't get enough sleep, your body will store more fat. When you enter deep sleep, your brain will produce growth hormones that tell your body to break down fat and release it as energy. If you took in extra calories and you're sleep-deprived, your body then lacks the enzymes that it needs to break down fat. Thus, your body will store the extra fat where you least want them: in your arms, waist, and thighs.

In addition, when you are sleep-deprived, you lack the motivation to exercise or even move at times.

On average, women between 25-30 years old sleep only 6 hours and 40 minutes, and the 30% of women who sleep less than six hours are also more likely to gain weigh than other women. Researchers suggest that if women want to lose weight, they should sleep at least 7 hours and 30 minutes. However, some women may need as much as 9 hours of sleep in order to not be sleep-deprived. Each women has her own sleep needs and if a woman sleeps less than what her body needs, her body's hormones will not be in balance. On the other hand, sleeping too much will also be detrimental to weight loss so each woman should find a comfort zone in the amount of sleep they get. To find this comfort zone, you can try to sleep earlier by 15 minutes each day until you find a suitable amount of sleep for yourself.

Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17212793
http://www.pubmed.com