The chances you've heard about the importance of getting enough sleep are really high. Let's take a closer look at what sleep actually does to our bodies and how it affects the ability to lose weight.
Sleep is the most anabolic state your body can be in. Anabolic means "building up". When you are awake, you are going through multiple catabolic ( break drown) processes. Your muscles and cells grow and renew themselves during the time when you are asleep. The problem we run into here is when we spend too much time in a catabolic state, and not enough time in an anabolic one.
The quality of your sleep is far more important than its quantity. And it differs from one person to another. Your friends don't want 70% of you, your loved ones don't want just a 70% of you, you clients/ boss don't want that either. So, how do we optimize being at 100% ? One thing we can start doing is making sure we take care and prioritize one of the most important processes that we as humans can't survive without.
What happens during the sleep?
Your hormones are being regulated during your bed time. Some of the most important hormones for weight loss are cortisol, insulin, leptin and ghrelin. Not getting enough quality sleep on daily basis leads to elevated cortisol levels, which normally are higher in the morning and lower at night. Elevations of evening cortisol levels in chronic sleep loss are likely to promote the development of insulin resistance, a risk factor for obesity and diabetes.
Sleep restriction is associated with reductions in leptin (the appetite suppressant) and elevations in ghrelin (the appetite stimulant) and increased hunger and appetite, especially an appetite for foods with high-carbohydrate contents. The regulation of leptin, a hormone released by the fat cells that signals satiety to the brain and thus suppresses appetite, is markedly dependent on sleep duration.
WHAT STOPS US FROM GETTING A QUALITY SLEEP?
In this day and age when technology is taking over the world it turns out to be the biggest issue when it comes to healthy sleeping habits.
More than 70% of Americans expose themselves to electronic devices regularly before the bed time.
Having a blue light exposure suppress the melatonin activation at night. In other words, when you are on your phone or in front of your laptop before bed it sends signals to your brain that it is day time. That is why it's so hard to fall asleep sometimes even when you are physically exhausted. Every hour you are on your device before bed suppresses melatonin for 30 minutes.
In conclusion, give yourself curfew time of at least 30 minutes of screen free time before bed. Instead, read a book, connect with your family or children, do some journaling or planning, anything that doesn't involve electronic devices.
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