The link between sleep and weight loss
At the New York Bariatric Group, we offer multiple solutions for patients looking to lose weight. What many people who struggle with weight loss don’t understand is the importance of a proper sleep schedule and the effect it can have on the weight loss journey.
Studies have shown a direct link between issues with weight management and not getting enough sleep or getting too much sleep.
Keeping this in mind, here are the most likely reasons why:
- Sleep deprivation causes an increase in appetite.
When you sleep at night, your body is restoring energy. When you don’t provide your body with enough sleep, it needs to compensate for the lack of energy by increasing hunger and calorie intake. This type of hunger is for high-fat, high-calorie, high-carbohydrate foods which tend to make weight loss more difficult.
- Those who are sleep deprived are less likely to be physically active.
When your body is tired, it wants to preserve energy, not lose more. This is why when you have downtime, you’d rather “veg out” on the couch than hit the gym or go for a walk.
- The timing of food intake is a key factor in weight management.
Those who eat late at night may also struggle more with weight loss. The human body operates on an internal clock, which in turn means the rate in which your body digests and metabolizes your food will vary throughout the day. Your body expects to sleep during the night, not eat food. When those late night cravings hit, your body’s digestion is less efficient and the food may be stored as fat rather than metabolized for energy.
For those looking to lose weight, examining your sleep habits might be a great first step. Sleeping 7 to 9 hours every night will help support your weight management efforts. When your body has enough rest, you’ll have more energy to exercise. Getting to bed early can also help minimize late night snacking and a lower calorie intake.
Have light on your side
Light management can be an effective way to set your internal clock to be ready for sleep at an earlier time. Here are tricks to help reset your internal clock:
At night: Be sure to avoid exposure to bright light at least one to two hours before bedtime. There are a couple ways to achieve this – set the lights on the dimmer side in the house, avoid anything with a backlit screen (computers, cell phones or iPads) which can cause wakefulness.
When you wake up in the morning: Be sure to expose yourself to bright light as soon as you wake up and throughout the morning. Natural sunlight works the best, but during the dark winter months you can also turn the lights up.
At the New York Bariatric Group, we are dedicated to our patient’s weight loss journey. Sometimes our patients are unable to set a healthy sleep schedule due to certain sleep disorders. We offer a brand new state-of-the-art, luxurious four bed sleep lab to help diagnosis these sleep disorders and determine the proper solution that is right for our patients.
For more information on our sleep lab or for information on the weight loss procedures available, please visit us at http://bariatric.stopobesityforlife.com/ today.
