Healthy Weight Week and Sleep

Want to snooze your way to a healthier weight?

January is often considered the month of resolutions and bettering yourself. People join gyms, try to eat better, and (in our opinion should be!) trying to get a better night's rest. This week is Healthy Weight Week. Celebrated nationwide, this week pushes not for fad diets and unrealistic body images – but of the importance of increasing our cognizance of the foods we eat and with being physically active to increase overall health.

One fact we brought to your attention in our blog last year concerned sleeping and weight loss. Many wouldn't think it, but sleeping can actually be a weight loss aid. With regard to sleeping  to a smaller waistline – during REM sleep, your brain is actively breaking down glucose. Healthy Weight Week and sleep go hand in hand.

Along with breaking down glucose, getting the appropriate and recommended about of sleep is also associated with a faster overall metabolism, meaning that you burn calories more quickly during the night and throughout the day, a bonus!

Healthy Weight Week and Sleep

In contrast, however, the more sleep deprived you are, the harder it is for your body to muster the energy to burn extra calories. When you’ve not slept well: tossing and turning, battling insomnia, sickness, etc., your body senses a longer waking day and tries to accommodate by conserving energy and slowing your metabolism in an attempt to balance your energy levels. This slowdown can slow weight loss and leave you feeling exhausted the next day.

Quick tip for increasing fat-burning and metabolism with sleep — sleep until you’re fully rested and turn down your thermostat the night before. In some studies, sleepers in colder rooms burned 5-7% more calories than did the subjects in the warmer room.

So, go ahead and get started. Sleep it off!