Guide to sleep like a baby and lose fat

You can be exercising daily and give a resounding NO to sinful foods. But if you're not losing the pounds you'd expect, you may not be getting enough sleep. If so, the Guide to Sleeping Like a Baby and Losing Fat is for you.

And it is that perhaps you did not know, but insomnia can cause great difficulties to lose inches and could even add a few pounds.

What is the relationship between sleep and measurements? How many hours of sleep do I need? What can I do to achieve quality sleep?

Keep reading because I'm going to explain that and more.

How are sleeping well and losing fat related?

Dark circles and bags under the eyes, lack of energy, stress, blur, frequent colds, inflammation and bad temper.

Yes, it is a long list of consequences suffered by millions of people around the world because they do not get the recommended 7 or 8 hours of sleep per night that is needed to restore their body and function well.

And many of them are unaware that insomnia also causes accumulation of body fat which prevents them from realizing their dream of looking and feeling their best.

You didn't know either?

Well, science has known this for a long time, but it seems that data like these have not been sufficiently disseminated:

What is the most obvious conclusion?

That sleep patterns have to do, A LOT, with the condition of your figure.

And it is not coincidence. It is that in the body a series of physical reactions are triggered after spending a long night without closing your eyes for the recommended time.

But it is also that, as the National Sleep Foundation maintains, inadequate sleep patterns can make you adopt eating habits that do nothing good for your health or your appearance.

All these reactions have their causes.

And for you to understand them, it's time to dive into your hormonal system.

Your hormones work while you sleep: a win-win relationship

Hormones are substances produced by the endocrine system that circulate through your bloodstream and influence the functioning of almost all your cells and organs.

They are there to regulate processes as basic as breathing, sleeping, growing, and speaking. They also control appetite and the accumulation of body fat.

I am going to explain how insomnia affects the hormones that are involved in the last two functions that I have just mentioned.

ghrelin and leptin

When it comes to controlling your desire to eat, there are 2 main protagonists: ghrelin and leptin.

This pairing of hormones has everything to do with whether you spend a day starving or so full that it's super easy to stick to a low-calorie diet.

Well, your sleep patterns have a big impact on them and affect the way you eat and choose food.

At first glance, it sounds a bit confusing. Because if you look at it carefully, it seems ideal that the satiety hormone works extra and the one that promotes hunger goes on a rampage.

But it is not as simple as it seems.

What will happen to you the day after a sleepless night is that your body will compensate for this hormonal imbalance by increasing ghrelin -hence your hunger- and decreasing leptin -and with it your satiety.

This was evidenced in a study carried out on a group of people who spent 6 continuous days having only 4 to sleep, while maintaining their regular patterns of eating and physical activity.

In this case, the leptin concentration decreased notably, especially at night, and that of ghrelin decreased.

So much was the hunger that the study subjects manifested, that the scientists equated it with the desire to eat that they feel when they restrict 900 calories a day from a diet for 3 days in a row.

That is to say: if you don't sleep you're going to want to eat everything that comes your way. The worst thing is that you will have the tendency to prefer sugary foods and carbohydrates.

If that becomes a norm in your life, it will not only load you with extra pounds, but it can become a big problem for your health.

insulin and melatonin

Although some do not fully understand how insulin and melatonin work, there is a lot of talk about both hormones as the cause of being overweight and insomnia independently.

But there is a link between the two when it comes to weight and body fat accumulation. And I'm going to explain it to you.

Let's start with insulin.

This hormone is key to food processing and is responsible for maintaining normal blood sugar levels.

How does it work? I summarize it in 4 steps:

You must understand that the more carbohydrates and sugar you consume, your body makes more and more insulin.

That makes glucose drop suddenly and you'll be hungry faster. What a vicious circle!

At this point you must be wondering what does melatonin have to do with all this?

The first thing is that, although the so-called sleep hormone exercises functions such as controlling your sleep cycles, findings have been found that it helps keep blood sugar levels stable and improves the response to insulin.

On this point, science reflects the possibility that, when faced with a lack of sleep, the body reacts similarly to how it does when faced with insulin resistance.

And that translates into feeling more hungry and falling more easily into unhealthy temptations for you.

cortisol

It is the hormone that the brain uses to be alert, control fear and impulses.

At normal levels, cortisol protects you from danger and prepares you to flee. But if you don't live in a jungle surrounded by predators and maintain very high levels of this hormone on a daily basis, it means that you suffer from a lot of stress.

Chronic lack of sleep also disrupts cortisol secretion and that increases the chances of developing diabetes and obesity.

Do you realize the relationship that cortisol has with insomnia and weight gain?

This was experienced by a group of people who participated in a scientific study for which they had to get only four hours of sleep a night.

At the end of the study, all reported a significant elevation of cortisol at night. Not only that, it also took six times as long for them to decrease the hormone from their bodies, compared to control subjects.

Another consequence of not getting enough sleep is that being tired can give you another reason to stress. Because causing rapid spikes in blood sugar levels will make you hungrier, and feeling like you're gaining weight shouldn't really leave you very calm.

In the end, you'll end up with a cocktail of hormonal imbalances, mood swings, digestive problems, a weakened immune system, and of course, extra pounds.

thyroid hormones

It is common to hear people matching their difficulty in reaching a healthy weight with a thyroid problem. And the truth is that this hormone can affect weight in several ways.

One is that the thyroid activity is greater than normal (hyperthyroidism) which causes significant weight loss.

Another is decreased activity (hypothyroidism) which often leads to unexplained weight gain and anxiety.

Both disorders can cause insomnia and be associated with blood sugar problems such as insulin resistance or hypoglycemia.

Therefore, it is essential that a medical treatment to treat any of them includes adequate sleep routines, because otherwise it will be very difficult to achieve the ideal figure.

If not, let it be said by millions of people who battle daily with their thyroid problems and how difficult it is for them to lose the extra pounds.

Growth hormone

HGH, also called growth hormone, is essential for the regeneration, growth and maintenance of cells, bones, muscles, organs and tissues.

But it has an extra benefit for your figure: the more HGH you produce, the less fatty deposits you will accumulate. And it is very effective in helping you get rid of the stubborn fat that accumulates in the belly, especially after the age of 30.

What factors induce the release of HGH into the bloodstream?

Physical exercise is a very important one.

But guess that. Experts estimate that up to 75% of HGH is released during sleep, specifically in deep sleep, also known as phase 4.

Therefore, if you have wrong sleep patterns, your sleep cycles could be affected and, as a consequence, you will not release the amount of HGH you need to make it easier for you to lose weight.

Sleep without interruptions to stay healthy and lose fat

As I just mentioned, your body misses out on many benefits when, instead of enjoying deep sleep, you are tossing and turning or staring at the ceiling.

For this reason, it is important that you know the set of internal processes that take place in your body during the 5 stages of sleep, which begin as soon as you fall asleep and end when you wake up.

As you can see, it is not only important that you sleep the recommended 7 or 8 hours to sleep.

It is also important that you do not wake up frequently during the night.

Sleep is an important part of happiness

You must agree with me. Beauty is not only reflected in the physical, but also in the attitude towards life and the way of being.

Therefore, sleeping will not only make you feel more beautiful on the outside. You will also look better with a good mood and less stress; And I can bet you'll smile more.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania were able to observe this after studying a group of people who limited themselves to sleeping 4.5 hours a night for a week.

During the experiment everyone felt stressed, angry, sad and mentally exhausted.

But just by resuming their regular sleep pattern, they showed incredible improvement in all of those areas.

So sleep well and smile more.

Do not throw in the towel: if you want to sleep soundly this will help you

If you are one of those who suffers from insomnia, after listening to all the information I have given you, you may want to tell me: aha, that is very good to know, but I have tried many recipes to sleep and nothing has worked for me.

If so, I totally understand you. But you should know that isolated actions are not going to help you solve the root problem.

You are required to implement a series of habits on a daily basis that will help you sleep soundly, sooner rather than later.

1. Synchronizing clocks: set a fixed time to go to bed. It should always be the same, including weekends, because otherwise your routine will be interrupted and it will be more difficult for you to consolidate your new habit.

2. The darker the better: as long as your brain captures some light, it won't understand that it's time to sleep. So keep your bedroom as dark as possible and you will see the difference.

3. Isolate yourself from noise : get as much silence as possible. Believe me, no matter how small, a noise can disturb you at bedtime. If you prefer, help yourself with a white noise generator such as an air conditioner or fan.

4. Drop everything and relax: Say goodbye to TV, work, computer, movies and late-night arguments. Remember that it is your moment of rest and you must have a routine prior to relaxing in bed.

5. Not too cold, not too hot: keep a cool temperature in the room. I recommend between 66-72 F or 18-22 C.

6. Zero stimulants – Get substances like caffeine and nicotine out of your life, especially at the end of the day because they speed you up and make it harder to fall asleep.

7. Do exercises : in addition to releasing serotonins that help you shake off stress, it can make it easier for you to sleep soundly. If you do it in the morning much better.

8. Eat just and necessary: ​​do not go to bed hungry or having eaten too much. Both can disturb your sleep.

9. Supplements Do Help : Melatonin, l-tyrosine, magnesium, valerian, and lemon balm are proven to be effective in promoting deep, restful sleep. The best thing is that they are 100% natural.

10. Take a hot bath: in addition to how good it feels to go to bed clean and fresh, the heat soothes muscle pain and relaxes a lot. Perfect to reach your goal.

11. Drink an infusion of chamomile : This flower is recognized for its calming properties that help reduce nervousness and lack of sleep.

If you start to follow these eleven steps, very soon you will stop dreaming of a good rest and start enjoying it.

So I remind you of the recommendation I made to you at the beginning: choose your favorite pajamas and go to sleep.

Of course, the next day continue practicing the healthy habits that you decided to implement to transform your figure.

It won't take long for you to see the changes.