Sleep Management

If you think you don't get enough sleep, you're not alone: More than 30% of Americans routinely don't get enough sleep each night. We're often told by the experts how important sleep is, but did you know how much sleep correlates to health and weight? So much, in fact, that it's as essential as your diet and fitness routines.

Ask yourself how often you've found yourself leaning on a latte to "make up" for the sleep you didn't get the night before. Or how often you've skipped on your daily exercise due to being tired. In moderation, these events alone likely won't cause a significant impact on your health, but too many short nights can add up to a real problem.

The science behind this is also related to stress, as not getting enough sleep can cause a cortisol spike, a stress hormone that helps your body manage carbs, fats, and proteins, along with controlling your sleep/wake cycle. Among other things, imbalanced cortisol levels can cause your body to hang on to more fat than it otherwise would.

Backed by Research

During a recent study, researchers observed dieters over a 2-week period to see how sleep deprivation affected their weight loss. The results? The participants' fat-based weight loss slowed by 55% – even without changing their caloric intake. Beyond this drastic reduction in weight loss efficiency, most of the people found themselves hungrier after meals, on top of having overall less energy.

The University of Chicago also held their own studies, which showed how a mere four days of insufficient sleep affects your body's insulin levels and its ability to process it properly. And when your body doesn't appropriately respond to insulin and progress fats, it just stores that fat in your body. The researchers found that insulin sensitivity dropped over 30%, and used the term "metabolically groggy" to describe the effects of sleep deprivation.

In the end, we aren't saying that you will lose weight directly as a result of sleeping more. Instead, we want to illustrate how much harder your body has to work when it doesn't get enough sleep and how it can affect potential weight loss.

Further Reading

Improving your sleep quality is just one part of your overall wellness. Contact us today to find out how we believe our program as a whole will help you move to a healthy and sustainable lifestyle that includes: