Sleep & Weight Gain: What’s The Relationship Between Them?

You might be wondering why you are gaining a few pounds despite eating normally or just having your usual diet. The culprit could be you not having enough sleep at night. Recent researches and studies have confirmed that there is indeed a relationship between weight gain and sleep deprivation. It is already common knowledge that when you are deprived of sleep, your energy decreases. When you have low energy to supply your daily activities, your cellular metabolism goes slower and that greatly affects the functions of your hormones.

So, what could be the real reason why lack of sleep causes weight gain? To answer that question, we have broken down a couple of things that most people normally do to compensate for the lack of energy when they are sleep deprived:

People who experience lack of sleep take in more calories than normal

Supposedly, there is a recommended amount of calories a man or a woman can only take for a day. Since your body lacks energy, your body responses by increasing your level of stress hormones called cortisol. In return, it elevates your desire to take in more food, leading you to consume more than the minimum daily calorie intake requirement. It is said that if you lack sleep, you tend to consume 300 more calories in a day.

Low motivation to work out or exercise

The lack of energy leads to low motivation to get up and move. This kind of effect in your body will likely make you sought to have a sedentary lifestyle because you are too tired to move around and do some exercises. Instead of being active, you just prefer to rest and let a whole day pass by without getting to accomplish something.

People prefer to ingest more carbs

Examine your food pyramid and the food categories. If a person is deprived of energy, he or she is more likely to consume more carbohydrates because it gives energy to power you up through the day. Remember, there are different types of carbohydrates, and it is preferred for you to eat those that are complex such as food that is made from whole grains. Simple carbohydrates, on the other hand, are high in calories and since they are easily broken down by the body, the effect is also immediate. This reaction can only lead you to consume more calories than expected.

So, if you notice that you are starting to gain weight, pause for a while and reflect. Do you get enough sleep at night? Do you feel hungrier than usual? Or do you feel like your energy is spiralling down? If your answer is yes, maybe it is about time to lean towards living a healthier lifestyle and set aside a couple more hours of sleep every night. If you have a lot of things piled to do even at night, we suggest that time management can be a great help for you. Aside from taking into consideration your sleep routine, it can also be a good idea to consider different effective slimming treatments in Singapore for a more favourable result.