3 Big Sleep Mistakes that are Making You Fat

It’s no secret that when you don’t get enough sleep, you don’t feel your best. You can’t think clearly and are just plain moody and sluggish.

But did you know that lack of sleep actually has a serious negative impact on your health?

Sleep experts say that each of us has our own best sleep quantity. Still, we all need 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep per night.

When we don’t get that amount of sleep we’re at higher risk for many serious health consequences.

These include:

  • type 2 diabetes
  • cardiovascular disease,
  • high blood pressure
  • depression
  • stroke

Sleep deprivation puts you at higher risk for getting into accidents when you drive too.

And on top of it all, when we don’t get enough sleep, we're much more vulnerable to weight gain.

5 Sleep deprivation problems that lead to weight gain

1. Poor sleep robs us of the energy we need to get out and exercise.

2. It also makes us hungrier so we eat more.

3. Poor sleep causes the body makes more of the “stress hormone” cortisol. You know, that hormone that causes us to store more belly fat .

4. We make bad food choices when we're tired.

5. The brain is slower to signal when we're full.

One study showed that people who sleep less than 6 hours a day have a 30% higher chance of becoming obese.

Two hormones are responsible for this:  ghrelin and leptin.

Ghrelin is the ‘go’ hormone. It tells you when to eat, and when you're sleep-deprived, you have more ghrelin.

Leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating. When you haven't slept well, you have less leptin.

On the other hand, too much sleep won't do your waistline any favors either. Aim to get “just the right amount”and your body will thank you.

The bad news is that there are a lot of ways to lose sleep. The good news is that there are easy fixes to most of them.

3 of the most common sleep mistakes and how to fix them

1. Going to sleep and waking up at different times

When we don’t stick to a regular sleep schedule, our bodies don’t know when to get sleepy at night. That makes it much harder to fall asleep.

The fix: Figure out what time you need to wake up in the morning to get where you need to go. Then count back 8 hours from that time and set an alarm to remind you to be in bed by then.

After a few days, your body will get used to the schedule and you’ll find yourself getting drowsy at your set sleep time. It’s important to stick to this schedule every day, even on weekends.

2. Using electronics before bed
You may think it’s relaxing to play video games on your tablet or check social media on your phone in bed, but the blue light waves from your device are tricking your brain into thinking that it’s daytime and making you feel more alert.

The fix: Put away all devices at least 2 hours before bed. If you’ve been using your smart phone alarm to wake up in the morning, buy an old-fashioned alarm clock.

3. Drinking alcohol too close to bedtime

A lot of people think a glass of wine or a nightcap will help them sleep, but they’re wrong. Though it might actually make you drowsy, your body burns alcohol quickly. You’re likely to wake up a couple of hours later and be unable to fall back to sleep. Even if you don’t wake up, your sleep is likely to be of poor quality.

The fix: Drink cocktails earlier in the night, then switch to water at least 2 hours before going to bed.

Bottom line: Make getting enough sleep a priority.  This allows for better hormonal balance the body needs to burn fat efficiently and you'll likely see better weight loss results.

Yours in Health,

Danette

P.S. Please share this info. with your friends and I love to hear from you in the comments below. Are you getting enough sleep?