You know all about diet and exercise, but did you know sleep should be just as important to your weight-loss plan?
If you don’t get enough sleep, the results will start showing on the scale. Soon.
According to the Mayo Clinic, sleeping less than five hours ““ or more than nine hours ““ a night increases the likelihood of weight gain.
According to a 2012 study by the American Heart Association, participants who were sleep deprived ate an average of 549 additional calories each day. And they didn’t burn any additional calories.
Karah Stanley, a registered dietitian with St. Elizabeth Physicians Weight Management Center, said a lack of sleep typically affects three main areas when it comes to weight loss:
- Your food choices the next day
- Your willingness to exercise the next day
- Your hormones
“There are specific hormones in your body that will tell you when you’re full and when you’re hungry, too, and when those get off-kilter, you may feel like you have to eat more to give yourself more energy, but you really can’t make up for that lost sleep by eating more,” Stanley said.
People who are sleep-deprived tend to gravitate toward more carb-heavy foods that are going to give them a quick burst of energy but won’t keep them feeling full for long, Stanley said. Their diet isn’t as good as if they were well rested.
Stanley recommends most adults aim for between seven and nine hours of sleep each night, but it can vary.
“Everyone should know his or her magic number for sleep,” she said.
