You may be overlooking a major component to successful weight loss. This has nothing to do with healthy eating guidelines or exercise intervals. It has to do with recovery and your downtime. How much sleep do you get each and every night?
The make or break tip to your weight loss success could be by the amount of sleep you get. Research studies are showing that those who are sleep deprived have higher levels of bodyfat compared to those who get adequate sleep each night.
Studies have also linked a lack of sleep to hypertension and Type 2 diabetes. A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology followed 68,000 Americans for 16 years and found that those who got five hours or less of sleep per night were one third more likely to gain 30 plus pounds over the course of the study than those who slept seven hours or longer.
Another study Stanford University reported that subjects who slept the least had higher levels of bodyfat than those who slept 8 hours or more.
The commonalities that both studies have are that the participants who lacked sleep had lower levels of the hormone leptin and higher levels of the hormone ghrelin. Leptin is produced primarily by the fat cells and this hormone works to decrease hunger and increase your metabolic rate. The hormone Ghrelin is produced by the gastrointestinal tract and increases your hunger. This is an imbalance of two key hormones that affect your body type and whether you gain weight or not.
The simple answer to correct this is to obviously sleep more. There are other things you can and should be doing to keep your leptin level elevated and your ghrelin level low, but the most often overlooked weight loss tip is sleep. Sleep is something we wish we could do more of and just never seem to get it because we are all very busy.
If you are one who struggles with losing weight. You have tried healthy weight loss diet after diet and you still seem to struggle with your weight loss than I suggest this. You should record how much sleep you get each night for one week. Before you go to bed each night evaluate how your day was. Were you tired? Did you wake up refreshed? Did you feel that you needed more sleep?
After this one week of recording your sleep look at how many hours on average you slept each night. If it wasn't 7 hours then make it a goal to average 7 hours of sleep a night. If you did average 7 hours and you still felt tired every morning then work to increase that average to 8 hours and see how you feel. When it comes to required restful sleep every person is a little different. You may need to experiment with this a little.
If you are serious about permanently losing weight though I suggest you make increasing your sleep a priority or everything else you do to lose weight may be for nothing.
1. Drink Water! Water doesn't just help quench your thirst. All metabolic processes within the body utilize H2O and drinking plenty of it helps your body function optimally. It also helps you feel your best---many of the common daily headaches and fatigues we experience can result from a lack of water intake.
2. Eat Breakfast! Many Americans fail to realize the true value of a morning meal. It not only boosts energy for the long day ahead, but keeps your metabolism regulated. Skipping a meal can put the body into "survival mode" which means that it actually begins storing and saving fat as opposed to burning it.
3. Exercise! There is no easy way around it: successful and sustained weight loss requires a commitment to physical activity. The best way to be loyal to physical activity is to work it into each day. Take a small part of each day to go for a walk, do aerobics, do yoga, or whatever other type of activity you enjoy. Mix it up so that you don't get bored with it. Soon, you will not only get used to it, but you will feel better too!
4. Choose Variety! Don't let popular dieting trends fool you: Carbs are good for you too! In fact, carbohydrates are what your brain run on and are very important for proper body functions. Following a high-protein diet over a long period of time can not only cause headaches, but also places considerable stress on the kidney. The important thing is to eat a variety of foods. This includes fruits, vegetables and even carbs. Just remember to be smart about the types of carbs you eat:: whole wheat instead of white.
5. Eat Slowly! We all get in a hurry from time to time, but it is important to take the time to listen to our bodies. Eating quickly doesn't give our bodies time to tell our brains that we have eaten enough. Consequently, we continue eating and are left filling stuffed and bloated. Eating more slowly allows us to recognize when we actually have eaten enough and stop-it also helps us savour and enjoy the food we do eat.
Essential to loosing weight is giving our bodies what they need. This means drinking plenty of water, eating timely and proper meals, staying active, and giving our body the time to tell us when it is full. Our bodies will reward us for our attention.
Both Jayson Hunter & Jess Shaw are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Jayson Hunter has sinced written about articles on various topics from Anger Control, Women Skirts and Dieting. Jayson Hunter is a Registered Dietitian with more than 10 years of experience helping people breakthrough and discover a healthier life. Learn more powerful nutrition tips at. Jayson Hunter's top article generates over 450000 views. to your Favourites.
Jess Shaw has sinced written about articles on various topics from Diabetes Treatment, Family and Gift Ideas. For tips on and. Jess Shaw's top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.