Why Does Rest Help With Weight Loss?
A few weeks ago, you realized summer is almost over. So you decided it is time to shed some of that unwanted body fat that you’ve been hiding all summer long.
So you work out 5 days a week for 2 hours, despite having a 12-hour job and full-size family to take care of. After the first week, you lost weight and you’re ecstatic like a kid on Christmas morning.
Fast forward to the end of the month, you’re drained! You’re tired as hell! Worst of all….you haven’t lost much weight since week 1. What happened?
Two words: Sleep deprivation. Many people who are very determined to lose weight make this mistake. Rest is essential if you want to successfully lose weight long-term. Here are 4 reasons why quality sleep should be a top priority in your weight-loss efforts.
Eat less food
This reason alone should have you aching for your bed! Countless research studies show the correlation between sleep and appetite. When you get enough sleep, satiety comes quicker.
If you lack sleep, your appetite is prolonged. Of course, that will lead to weight gain, especially if your activity level remains the same.
Make better food selections
When you don’t get enough rest, a hormone called ghrelin begins to rise. When your ghrelin levels rise, in addition to an increased appetite, you crave sweet, sugary foods.
So candy, chocolate, donuts and other junk food will be what you want instead of healthy food. So instead of a plate of lean protein and vegetables, you crave a bag of Skittles. By getting quality sleep, you make better decisions on what you eat.
Have mental clarity
Too many people underestimate the power of mental clarity. By having mental clarity, you are able to focus on things that are most important such as losing weight.
Without mental clarity, you are not able to put worth a 100% effort to your workout routines. By not doing that, you make it much harder to lose weight. So if you want to mentally prepared ready to tackle your goals and tasks, then gets some shut-eye.
Maximize ability to burn body fat
I had to save the best reason for last. Besides, it is why you’re reading this article in the first place. Anyway, getting quality sleep will help you maximize your ability to burn fat.
Sleep allows your body to fully recuperate; therefore, allowing your hormones responsible for fat loss to burn fat. Without quality sleep, your body isn’t given adequate time to burn fat.
So regardless of how impeccable your diet and exercise plan is, sleep determines how effective you burn fat.
Overall, these are 4 reasons why quality sleep should be an integral part of your weight-loss plan. So be sure to get 8 hours of sleep tonight!