Getting enough sleep each night can help you lose weight, so here are a few tips to help you change your sleeping habits for the better.
Research suggests that getting the ideal amount of sleep each night can increase your productivity and improve your mental health, but did you know that sleep has the potential to help you lose weight, too?
Most research shows that getting less than seven hours of nightly sleep correlates with being heavier, gaining weight, and struggling to lose weight. Sleep is important in supporting exercise and healthy eating habits because a lack of sleep can make it more challenging for you to control your behavior and minimize stress.
"A lack of sleep can make it more challenging for you to control your behavior and minimize stress."
Many experts believe that a range of six to eight hours or seven to nine hours of sleep is ideal for most people, so how can you improve your sleeping habits, hit these marks, and help yourself lose weight?
First, try getting up within 30 minutes of the same time every day and get into bed with the lights out at the same time each night. Try shooting for eight hours of sleep per night, plus or minus 15 minutes, until you find out how much you need.
If you’re still having trouble going to sleep or staying asleep, you can also try these tips:
- Focus on doing stress-free evening activities that will help you wind down.
- Avoid stimulating evening activities until you get into a sleep rhythm.
- Avoid electronics and blue spectrum light exposure one hour before bed.
- Avoid any caffeine or alcohol.
- Finish dinner two or three hours before getting into bed.
Lastly, remember to take things slowly and don’t be too hard on yourself. You won’t be able to fix any bad sleeping habits overnight and getting upset about this will add even more stress to your life that you don’t need.
As always, if you have any questions about this topic or there’s anything else we can help you with, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d love to speak to you.
