This is a Guest Post from Sarah at Sleepydeep.com
Low carbs, zero sugar, and more protein, check! Exercise every day, check! Weight loss, negative! Does this look like your weight loss checklist? How about your sleeping habits? Did you know that an hour of sleep lost affects your weight loss progress? Let me explain how.
Your Muscles Need To Relax
If you’ve been working out devotedly in the gym, then you understand the fatigue that comes with intense workouts. Your muscles need time to relax and grow stronger. Relaxation of the muscles occurs while you sleep. According to IFLScience, during the deep sleep stage, your brain waves slow down and your muscle and tissue repair begins.
Tissue injury is common for people who work out. Some internal injuries might go unnoticed but proper sleep takes care of these injuries faster. In addition, proper sleep facilitates the growth of your muscles. So if you’ve been wondering why those abs are taking forever to show, then now you might have the answer.
Your Hormones Need to Be Balanced
According to Dr. Mercola when you're sleep deprived, leptin (the hormone that signals your full) falls, while ghrelin (which signals hunger) rises. This hormone imbalance can make you feel hungry even if you've already eaten, causing you to eat more and gain weight.
Your Brain and Body Need To Detox
Did you know that your body automatically removes toxins while you sleep? According to Dr. Mercola, your Glymphatic System (the brain’s waste disposal system) removes toxins when you sleep. Lost sleep can cause these toxins to build up; not a good thing.
In addition, your liver and kidneys work best to remove toxins while you are asleep. Have you ever wondered why you wake up with a full bladder around 3-5am? For some people, they can’t walk a few meters without visiting the toilet first thing when they wake up. It’s a clear indication that your liver and bladder were super active the entire night getting rid of your body’s waste products. Need I say more?
Your Body Cells Need Nourishment
You’ve been busy the whole day eating a high protein, low carb, and sugar-free diet. But do you ever stop to think when these calories actually get burnt? According to research, your glycogen levels are much higher when you sleep (yet you’ve been eating during the day). This is because much of what you eat during the day gets stored in form of sugar in the liver.
At night when you are deep asleep, this glucose is released back into the bloodstream to feed your body cells and energize your muscles. As a result, in the morning you wake up feeling hungry yet energetic. This is why it is much easier to run several miles early in the morning as compared to later in the day. Or did you think it was because of the weather? Well, now you know.
The Way Forward
Now that you understand some of the basic functions of sleep in your body, let’s find out how to fall asleep naturally and start enjoying these benefits. By naturally I mean without the use of sleeping pills. First of all, you need to understand that how you work out determines how your body reacts. There are times you should never do intense workouts. These include a few hours before sleeping.
It’s also advisable not to strain your body. Remember that if you get an injury, it will slow down your stamina and progress. Therefore strive to carry out balanced yet regular exercises for you to see significant progress.
I cannot emphasize enough how important a healthy sleep routine is to you and your weight loss goal. Combine this with regular exercise as well as a proper diet and you’ll be on your way to reclaiming your sexy back. Have you had a nap today?
Bio: Sarah is a firm believer that a good night’s sleep fixes everything. As a former sleep deprived zombie, she realized that optimizing sleep can have significant impacts on life. She takes her sleep health very seriously, and encourages others to also do so at Sleepydeep.com
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