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.

Role of Gaming to Achieve a Slimmer Body

In this modern day and age, technology is extremely helpful. If we know how to make use of it, we can actually play video games as a weight loss treatment. I am not talking about video games like World of Warcraft, because that type of MMORPG is promoting a sedentary lifestyle and increasing the rate of obesity for teen and young adults. There are game consoles which could really help you have a noticeable weight loss after a few weeks of playing them. Here are some of the consoles that could help you lose weight:

Wii Fit, a real gym in your living room.

Nintendo has certainly made a good move by launching Wii Fit. The fitness program marketed with the Balance Board has indeed sold like hot cakes. So, this could be a smart acquisition for you and your family. As it is user friendly, everyone could make use of it to help them burn some calories, lose some weight in a fun and fast way. If you are ready to engage in a new way of gaming, this console can be a new start of spending your afternoons and Sundays. It will really be fun and interactive as such you will not get bored of it.

How to lose weight and enjoy time with your family!

The answer is simple: Wii Sports. This console allows you to play fun video games with your family members and mostly against them. At the same time, you will be doing some physical activity. Being competitive with your family leads you to be more active.  There are many sports that could be played on this console, such as tennis, baseball or Ping Pong.

For those who feel the music!

If you like to dance but do not have time to go out, you can lose weight on your favorite tracks right in your living room. Dance revolution games are designed to be played by one, two or multiple players and it’s one of the relaxing way of losing weight while having fun with your friends and family.

Do not think that these kinds of games will do more than helping you just a little bit. You will still have to go on with your diet and continue with your daily exercise program.

Lift Heavy Weights and Lose Weight Fast

Here is a good tip to lose those extra pounds in your body – lifting weights. Get use to lifting heavy weights gradually, and it can help you lose weight significantly. Keep reading on to find out how.

Heavyweight lifting is the key to weight loss. Why?

To understand why we should try lifting weights, we need to see how our body loses weight. Metabolism in your body needs to increase to lose weight, and the way to increase your metabolism is by working your muscles. Exercising one pound of muscles can burn around 60 calories per day. Therefore, when the tissues in your body muscles grow, more calories can be burned throughout the day. To some people, weightlifting is a slimming routine that best suits them.

Weight lifting has a remarkable effect on your body muscles that helps you burn more calories and lose weight fast. It strengthens your bones connecting muscle tissues and increases metabolism which allows you to burn more calories, even when you are at rest. More importantly, building body muscles would make look slim with a perfect figure.

According to research done at the University of Alabama, people who lift heavy weights lose weight as at same rate as those who do cardiac exercises only. So what’s the big deal? Both exercises will help you lose weight. But the difference is that weightlifters lose extra fat and gain more muscle mass while the others do not gain much muscle mass as certain muscles are not being worked out. When those muscles are not worked out in a long time, they will go to waste, and you would lose them. Losing muscles is not good for your health; you need them to maintain your physical strength.

How to practice weight lifting?

As good as weight lifting could be, it should be done with proper training. Otherwise, it would lead to negative results or even permanent damage.

The idea is to have some repetitive exercises with weightlifting. It is best for the beginners to start with a small goal and gradually increase it when your body gets used to it. Below is a guide for beginners to follow when starting their training:

• Do some warm-ups like stretches or a light jog.
• Choose a weight you think you can lift 16 times. Start small with 1 or 2kg weights.
• Start with one set of each exercise and gradually increase to 2-3 sets within a set time.
• After a couple of weeks when you feel yourself getting stronger, gradually increase the weight.
• Repeat the process by adding a repetition progressively, until the maximums reps are reached. Make sure not to overstrain your muscles and injure yourself.

One important thing you should learn is that your muscles grow when you lift weights more than what your muscles can. Do not be alarmed if you seem to be gaining weight from exercise as muscle mass is heavier than fats. By being consistent and have started with a good basic program, you will see yourself slimming down.

The Role of Fruits in Your Weight Loss Process

Fruits are often knowns to be the providers of vitamins and minerals but due to their high sugar content, they may not be entirely good for weight loss. However, according to research done by Dr Barbara Rolls, there are indeed some fruits that can aid you in your quest for weight loss.

Scientists use an energy density scale to classify which fruits are most favourable to reduce your appetite and increase metabolism to burn fat faster. Fruits are known to be low energy dense as they have high volume of water and fibre but not calories. By eating these fruits, you will consume 20% less calories and you will get rid 35% more fat. Moreover, fruit also contains a lot of soluble enzymes where Stanford University’s Research School of Medicine suggests that these enzymes, promote the proper functioning of the liver to convert nutrients, boost metabolism and eliminate toxins and fat cells. Thus, those fruits which contain a high ratio of water, fibres, and enzymes are the best for your body as they would make you feel fuller, increase your energy production and detoxifies your insides.

Eating fruits in the summer is especially good for weight loss

Summer is the best time of year to eat fruits. UV rays increase the production of certain endocrine hormones involved in satiety, well being and boosting metabolism. This means that you would be able to burn more energy and help lose weight more in the summer than any other time of the year. Having a largely fruit-based diet coupled with plenty exercise is one of the best weight loss programs, especially in Singapore where the constant sunshine and eternal summers will help your body increase metabolism naturally.

Here is a list of some fruits to help you in your weight loss goal:

1. Strawberries
2. Raspberry
3. Watermelon
4. Grapefruit
5. Melon
6. Pears
7. Papaya
8. Tangerines
9. Oranges
10. Apricot
11. Pineapple
12. Plum
13. Blueberry
14. Apples

How many servings of fruits should you eat?

The ideal daily consumption is 2-3 servings of fresh fruits while cutting down on food that is high in empty calories like instant noodles and chips if you want to lose weight. You don’t have to eat the fruit just like that; you can be creative! If the taste of fruit is too sour, you can enhance the flavour of them with a tiny bit cane or brown sugar. You can make them into salads or juices too.  Fruit pastries (without cream) are also another way to eat your fruits, though it is not wholly recommended as you would be eating more calories than usual.