Having Trouble Sleeping? Your Insomnia Could Make Losing Weight Difficult

If you’re doing everything right but still having a hard time losing weight, you might need to look towards your sleep (or lack thereof) as the culprit. Even if you eat all the right things and get the recommended amount of exercise a day, not getting a proper amount of sleep could be detrimental to your entire weight loss routine. 

How Is Insomnia Linked To Weight Gain? 

It’s no coincidence that many children and adults who suffer from obesity also get considerably less sleep than the average person. This is because your body's metabolic processes are affected when you're not getting enough sleep. This is a fancy way of saying your metabolism slows down the more you deprive your body of sleep, and we all know how vital metabolism is to weight loss. 

Those with faster metabolisms can convert consumed calories into energy faster than those with slower metabolisms. Improving the amount of sleep you get a night could help rebalance your metabolic system, but how can you improve your sleep for better weight loss? 

Small Changes To Improve Sleep For Better Weight Loss 

If you're already following a healthy diet and exercise routine but still not getting enough sleep, there are other tips you can follow to improve your sleep quality. The first tip is shutting off electronic devices. Staying disconnected might be challenging to do for some, especially with how busy we are with work, school, and relationships, but these blue-light emitting devices are what's affecting your melatonin. This chemical naturally starts rising as bedtime is approaching. However, when you're keeping these devices on at night, your brain gets confused and slows down melatonin production. 

The temperature in your room could also affect your quality of sleep. As you start to fall asleep, your core body temperature starts dropping. You don't want your room's temperature to be too hot or too cold. At the end of the night, you want to be as comfortable as possible for a good night's sleep. Following these tips for better sleep could make a difference in your weight loss journey and overall health. 

References: 

Cappuccio, Francesco P et al. “Meta-analysis of short sleep duration and obesity in children and adults.” Sleep vol. 31,5 (2008): 619-26. doi:10.1093/sleep/31.5.619 

Sharma, Sunil, and Mani Kavuru. “Sleep and metabolism: an overview.” International journal of endocrinology vol. 2010 (2010): 270832. doi:10.1155/2010/270832 

Okamoto-Mizuno, Kazue, and Koh Mizuno. “Effects of thermal environment on sleep and circadian rhythm.” Journal of physiological anthropology vol. 31,1 14. 31 May. 2012, doi:10.1186/1880-6805-31-14