If you are serious about losing weight, you must get high-quality, restorative sleep. Sound simple? It's serious and it's easy to overlook. Do not dismiss this. Too many people deprive themselves of sleep on a regular basis and destroy their ability to lose weight.
Lack of sleep depresses your metabolism by as much as 20% – undermining your body's ability to burn fat and lose weight.
Your hormones are thrown out-of-balance: ghrelin skyrockets, stimulating appetite, while leptin plummets, telling your body you're not full. A recipe for disaster.
Sleep not only makes you eat more, it also results in a stronger predisposition for foods rich in fat and carbohydrates.
Not enough sleep results in less exercise and an overall drop in physical movement. Your body begins to conserve energy, destroying your weight loss goals.
People who get more sleep burn fat much more efficiently. Research shows that the sleep-deprived burn 55% less fat than the well-rested.
Not getting enough sleep as a child can increase the risk for obesity by nearly double. Some studies show that children are 9% more likely to become obese for every hour of nightly sleep deprivation.
You must protect your sleep because your sleep protects your ability to lose weight - which in turn protects your health. And sleeping well doesn't happen by accident. You decide to do it. You take the risks of not sleeping well seriously. You treat sleep as a priority in your life.
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