Sleep for Weight Loss

Four very good reasons to get enough sleep... if you, like most of us, are trying to lose weight.

• If you wake up after too little sleep, exercising is usually the least appealing thing on your mind. Even if you find the motivation to exercise, you likely won’t perform at your best and will risk injuring yourself because of poor focus on what you are doing.
• When you’re tired you tend to crave foods that will give you a quick boost in energy. These tend to be sugar or caffeine based, and the last thing your body needs when you’re trying to lose weight is sugar!
• Inadequate sleep also interferes with the delicate balance of adrenal and thyroid hormones in the body. This imbalance includes a reduction in leptin production (which tells your body to stop eating) and an increase in ghrelin (a hormone that triggers hunger).
• Most growth hormone secretions (which aid in fat-burning) occur during Phase 4 and REM sleep. These are the phases that are most disrupted by sleep deprivation.

From Massage Magazine, http://massagemag.com/massage-blog/reflexology/2012/11/05/sleep-and-weight-loss/