Zzzz’ and weight loss, any connection? I’d say an intricate connection! Studies have it that too little sleep wrecks your metabolism encouraging weight gain! Several factors affect sleep- your bed time rituals, room temperature, mattress quality, your dinner, age, environmental noises the list goes on. The good news is that much of these factors can be controlled. Rooms that are too cold, too warm, bad mattress, wrong pillows, a stomach crammed with food, noisy neighbours or illness will leave you with shut eyes and restless time in bed. With poor quality sleep comes increased cortisol, constant cravings for sweets and carbs, irritability, poor choices. To offset your feelings, chances are you either tuck into some great tasting heavy carbohydrate meal (packing on the flab) or you eat little (yea we are watching the weight!). Either way you treat the symptoms, leaving the cause! In time even if you starve, your cortisol and Ghrelin levels rises while Leptin falls. You are always hungry and can’t stop eating. Even if you subdue the hunger your body gets into fasting mode storing whatever food you eat as fat. To enhance weight loss, we must work at our bedtime habits. …
Zzzz’ and weight loss, any connection? I’d say an intricate connection! Studies have it that too little sleep wrecks your metabolism encouraging weight gain! Several factors affect sleep- your bed time rituals, room temperature, mattress quality, your dinner, age, environmental noises the list goes on. The good news is that much of these factors can be controlled. Rooms that are too cold, too warm, bad mattress, wrong pillows, a stomach crammed with food, noisy neighbours or illness will leave you with shut eyes and restless time in bed. With poor quality sleep comes increased cortisol, constant cravings for sweets and carbs, irritability, poor choices. To offset your feelings, chances are you either tuck into some great tasting heavy carbohydrate meal (packing on the flab) or you eat little (yea we are watching the weight!). Either way you treat the symptoms, leaving the cause! In time even if you starve, your cortisol and Ghrelin levels rises while Leptin falls. You are always hungry and can’t stop eating. Even if you subdue the hunger your body gets into fasting mode storing whatever food you eat as fat. To enhance weight loss, we must work at our bedtime habits. …
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