Fat Loss - How Too Little Sleep Can Kill Your Fat Loss Program
http://www.fitnessregime.net/articles/6028/1/Fat-Loss---How-Too-Little-Sleep-Can-Kill-Your-Fat-Loss-Program/Page1.html
Bill Mann
Changing gradually instead of drastically is only one of keys to completing your 6 pack quest. To learn more about a complete system that will give you abs to envy, visit this 6 Pack Quest blog. By Bill Mann
Published on 09/14/2008
A look at the ways that too little sleep can sabotage any fat loss program.
When you are in a comprehensive fat loss program, you know that you need to control what you eat and you need to work out. But you might not know that your chronic lack of sleep can sabotage both of those goals. Here's what you need to know about how lack of sleep can keep you from losing fat, even if you are doing everything else right.
When you don't get enough sleep (typically between 7 and 9 hours a night) you're not only going to be tired during the day, you're going to mess up the levels of key hormones in your body. Researchers have shown that a lack of sleep changes the amounts of two key hormones that control how much we eat. A hormone called Grehlin controls how hungry we feel while one called Leptin tells our brains that we're full and should stop eating.
When you aren't getting enough sleep, the amount of Grehlin in your body increases, while the amount of Leptin decreases. The result is that you are hungrier than you would normally be, and you don't feel full as quickly when you eat. And the result of that is that you tend to eat too much.
Also, if you're like me, when you are really sleepy, you need to eat to stay awake. When I'm exhausted, I'm much more likely to snack too much, and I'll usually choose sugary, high-calorie snacks for the quick jolt of energy they give me. More food and less healthy food is a sure formula for fat loss failure.
A chronic lack of sleep also affects your workouts. When you are tired, you don't have the energy you need to work out as hard as you would if you were well rested. And of course if you don't work out as hard as you otherwise would, you'll get less benefit from the workout, which just makes any fat loss program that much less effective.
An indirect effect of too little sleep on your workouts is the increased chance of getting hurt. When you are exhausted, you're more likely to use improper form in some exercise, or make a mistake that leaves you injured. Missing workouts because you were so tired you hurt yourself will definitely sabotage your fat loss plans.
So make sure you get enough sleep whenever you can. There was a time when people thought that sleeping made you fat. Now we know that not sleeping too little makes you fat, and getting a full nights sleep is a key part of any fat loss plan.
When you don't get enough sleep (typically between 7 and 9 hours a night) you're not only going to be tired during the day, you're going to mess up the levels of key hormones in your body. Researchers have shown that a lack of sleep changes the amounts of two key hormones that control how much we eat. A hormone called Grehlin controls how hungry we feel while one called Leptin tells our brains that we're full and should stop eating.
When you aren't getting enough sleep, the amount of Grehlin in your body increases, while the amount of Leptin decreases. The result is that you are hungrier than you would normally be, and you don't feel full as quickly when you eat. And the result of that is that you tend to eat too much.
Also, if you're like me, when you are really sleepy, you need to eat to stay awake. When I'm exhausted, I'm much more likely to snack too much, and I'll usually choose sugary, high-calorie snacks for the quick jolt of energy they give me. More food and less healthy food is a sure formula for fat loss failure.
A chronic lack of sleep also affects your workouts. When you are tired, you don't have the energy you need to work out as hard as you would if you were well rested. And of course if you don't work out as hard as you otherwise would, you'll get less benefit from the workout, which just makes any fat loss program that much less effective.
An indirect effect of too little sleep on your workouts is the increased chance of getting hurt. When you are exhausted, you're more likely to use improper form in some exercise, or make a mistake that leaves you injured. Missing workouts because you were so tired you hurt yourself will definitely sabotage your fat loss plans.
So make sure you get enough sleep whenever you can. There was a time when people thought that sleeping made you fat. Now we know that not sleeping too little makes you fat, and getting a full nights sleep is a key part of any fat loss plan.