Does excessive or lack of sleep make you thin or fat? You may be exercising well and eating healthy. Intermittent fasting, Zumba or gym are some of the best ways to lose weight. But, how about checking if you’re following a balanced sleep schedule? Maybe not all of your grounds are covered, but embarking on a few is the most important. Sleep is on the top of your hit list.
Sleeping on the right mattress affects not only your weight but also your productivity levels. If your body doesn’t get sufficient rest, it will not be able to function at its best. Read this blog to learn how lack of sleep can cause weight loss or gain.
A] Does Lack of Sleep Cause Weight Loss?
If you’re wondering whether or not sleep is needed for weight loss, the answer is a resounding YES. Sleep and weight loss both go hand in hand. When you fail to get the required amount of sleep, you aren’t letting your body have the time to recharge. Lack of sleep affects weight loss as you happen to miss out on important weight loss functions like your appetite, cell regeneration, metabolism and everything else that needs a full night’s sleep.
B] Ways Sleep Can Affect Your Mental Health
There’s no hiding the fact of how sleep plays a vital role in good mental and physical health. Sleep deprivation can leave an imprint on your physical being of feeling extremely irritable and exhausted in the short term and can also have serious long-term health consequences. lack of sleep is directly linked to various unfavourable health consequences including, heart disease, depression, etc.
Let us look into a few risk factors that may arise due to lack of sleep.
1. Stress
At times a lot of tossing and turning in bed can prevent you from falling asleep. If this happens every single time, you’re entangled and well-acquainted with the disruptive effects of sleep deprivation. This may result in mood changes (anger and irritability) making it much harder to cope with the stress of your daily tasks, even if it’s minor. Poor sleep can make it a lot worse to cope with stress.
2. Depression
Sleep-related problems are a symptom of depression and research has implicated that lack of sleep is one of the reasons for depression. People who experience insomnia have a greater risk of developing depression than the ones who do not necessarily have any problem sleeping. Once you’re hunting down deep depression, it gets difficult to get out as you have to go through a lot of medication and pills to fall asleep, making your body habitual to such drugs.
3. Anxiety
The relationship between sleep and anxiety occurs on the same road. People with anxiety experience sleep disturbance and sleep deprivation which contributes to wanting to be alone. This turns emotions into a rollercoaster ride. At times you’re extremely happy, and at times you’re roaming around with a frowned face. Once again, the invitation of therapies and medication comes into the picture, without which you cannot sleep well.
4. Bipolar Disorder
With bipolar disorder, problems like insomnia, irregular sleep-wake cycles and nightmares fall into the picture. These are yet a few symptoms, many cannot be fathomed. Bipolar disorder is differentiated by summarising your periods of depression and moods. Sleep can easily change your entire well-being, whether it be physical or mental, you’re a whole new person all of a sudden. This can be a problem with the quality of life.
C. Other Mental Health Problems
About seven to nine hours every night is the ideal sleeping time an individual needs to adapt to. Try not to sleep less than these hours or more. If you are wondering, ‘Does sleeping too much cause weight gain?’ you are correct. Sleeping extra can add on extra weight gradually. According to NCBI (National Library of Medicine), both short and long-duration sleepers were about 30% more likely to experience weight gain than the average-duration sleepers.
Let us look at the below 10 ways of getting a goodnight’s sleep.
1. Avoid Large Meals, Alcohol, Caffeine, and Cigarettes Before Bed
All these aspects can confuse and damage your sleep. If you’re battling an addiction to any of the four, try therapy. Another option is to try fasting cycles for two to three hours before bed. Above every other body part, it is your mind that plays the right trick. Maybe listen to soothing music, read a book or try another calming activity so your mind is tricked into neglecting these addictions.
2. Develop a Relaxing Nighttime Routine
As mentioned above, your mind signals or rather ‘tricks’ you into believing things. Hence, your mind needs sufficient time to relax before sleeping. Dedicate a good hour or so before your bedtime to unwind and relax. Choose what best relaxes your mind and do it every night. Or maybe try different techniques every other day. Keep in mind that sleeping burns calories so try to make the best of it and develop a calm and comfortable nighttime routine.
3. Check the Life Expectancy on Your Mattress and Pillows
Quality organic mattresses have a potential life expectancy between 9 to 10 years. Simply replace your pillows regularly along with changing the covers of your sheets. One of the most tried, experimented and even used products are organic pillows. Give it a try!
Organic pillows can enhance the quality of your sleep keeping all the discomforts at bay, so check out our blog, to learn how to buy the right pillow for you.
4. Establish a Proper Sleep Environment
A healthy, clean and cost sleep environment plays a vital role in giving your body soothing and relaxing sleep. Get away from loud noise and bright lights. Shift to soothing music and dim lights. Invest more in fans and earplugs or blackout curtains to improve your mood and ability to fall and stay asleep.
5. Adhere to a Schedule (Even on Weekends)
Your body naturally runs on an internal clock. When you follow a certain schedule, you tend to regulate it the same way. Experts say it takes a maximum of 21 days to get anything into a habit. Let’s try this out too? And remember, no matter how tempting it is, don’t stray away on the weekends. The best time to sleep to lose weight is apparently 10:10 pm.
6. Exercise regularly
The most important and well-managed treatment for your body is exercising regularly. Get tired – get more sleep! Loosen up yourself and literally run the extra mile so; that your body gives up. Exercise, on the other hand, is a technique to release sweat and give you the glow you lost. How about trying some pilates right away?
7. Get a new mattress
Have you heard about organic mattresses? They work wonders to give you longer sleep. Made from natural substances. these mattresses offer superior pressure relief, temperature adaptation, motion isolation and are hypoallergic & breathable.
If you are interested in buying a quality organic mattress, check out our blog!
8. Avoid large meals before bedtime
Too much eating leads to indigestion, nausea, and also headaches. Avoid consuming a whole lot of food right before you go to bed. Even if you do, remember to wait for an hour or two after you drink a large cup of warm water. This will help you with digestion.
Without any doubt, sleep is the most important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. Depending on your body type, you may either end up losing or gaining weight. In either case, it is really important to maintain a healthy diet and good sleeping habits as well. A good sleeping pattern also influences your hormones and weight loss functions.
Wishing you a goodnight!