Sleep Or Get Fat. Really?

By Author: George Stanley
Total Articles: 4
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You might, or might not have heard people say that you can actually put on weight if you do not get enough sleep per night. While this might sound like an old wife’s tale, there are actually plenty of studies which have been carried out which suggest that this is a fact. As far as I can see, there seems to be two main reasons why a lack of sleep can slow down your weight loss or in fact make you put weight on. Knowing about things like this can give you the edge when trying to lose or maintain your weight.

There seems to be a common sense and habit issue, and also a more scientific reason why lack of sleep affecting your weight truly is a reality. Firstly, as an example, lets look at my own past situation. I have always been a bit of a night owl. I frequently used to go to bed in the early hours and get up early for work. On average I would get three to five hours sleep per night. When at home, I would watch TV until late at night, and being a creature of habit and a lover of food, I would always have a night time snack or two!

Think about it, if you have little will power with regards to your eating habits, ...
... going to bed at a reasonable hour will mean that you will not eat at least one extra snack per night that you normally would do. Not eating that extra snack would be a saving of "x" amount of calories per night. How do you think that would affect your waist line and the reading on your scales at the end of the month? So you can stop yourself gaining weight and possibly actually lose some weight by getting more sleep.

The second reason why studies have shown that not getting enough sleep per night can cause weight gain is more scientific. Now I could talk about this in more detail and bore the daylights out of anybody actually reading this article, but I am not going to. The bottom line is that most people simply want some tips on how to lose weight. So put simply, if your body does not get enough sleep, certain chemical changes occur in your body. A change in the level of certain hormones will ultimately decide whether you eat some more food or don’t feel the need to eat and you have a feeling of fullness already.

Leptin and Ghrelin are two hormones which have a major influence on your appetite. Leptin provides you with a feeling of fullness and Grhelin has the completely opposite effect on you, making you feel hungry and ready to consume more calories. When you have a good night’s sleep, your Leptin levels will be higher and you will have less of an appetite. If you have less than say five or six hours sleep each night on a regular basis, your Grhelin levels will be high, and your body will be craving things such as sugary foods and coffees to provide energy in order to get through the day. So, there you have it, the message in this article is pretty clear, get sleep or get fat!

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