I always get to hear this query from my clients, “I exercise well and eat right but I am still unable to lose weight—what is the reason?” And my only answer is that weight loss isn’t just about the food you eat or the amount of exercise you do—there’s more to it. We have to understand that weight loss is more about hormonal balance, emotional issues, stress, lack of sleep, and other such issues.
People ask: how is sleep related to my weight issues? It should not matter if I am sleeping well or not, I should reduce weight if I am eating the right way and working out enough! But that’s never the case; our quality of sleep is a very important aspect when it comes to weight loss because as per research and studies it is found out that 55 per cent of the body fat burning can be accelerated when you are in a state of deep rest and sleep.
Sleep is the period when our body releases the human growth hormone, which is responsible for producing the lean muscle mass in our body; and when there is more muscle mass in the body, the fat percentage reduces.
In this case, the body has a greater ability to burn fat and energy throughout the day to hold that muscle tone of the lean muscle mass. Due to sleep deprivation, our body is not able to produce leptin which is responsible for satiety (the feeling of fullness after a meal). If leptin is suppressed, then there will be poor appetite regulation and increased hunger signals the following day, so we end up eating more affecting the body’s weight and size.
Imagine if this keeps happening every day, our body will never understand the signals well and will not be satiated even after a heavy meal which will eventually lead to increased eating and then eventually to an addition in weight.
But it does not end here; with disrupted sleep patterns, the cortisol levels (stress hormone) also increases and it signals more fat accumulation in the body. High cortisol also causes low thyroxin, which further makes it difficult to lose weight and in fact causes weight gain due to slowed down metabolism.
Disturbed sleep causes food cravings, increased hunger pangs, low satiety levels, hormonal imbalances, fatigue, brain fog, sluggish liver etc and ultimately all of this leads to weight gain. So, fix the root cause of your inadequate sleep cycle if you want to reduce those extra pounds. Make your room pitch dark before sleeping, listen to calming music or focus on left nostril deep breathing to relax the mind and get a better and deeper sleep cycle. Continuously follow these tips to achieve a good sleep cycle and gradually your weight loss too will begin.
Deepika Rathod
Chief Nutrition Officer, Luke Coutinho Holistic Healing Systems.
The writer is a clinical nutritionist with a focus on healthy lifestyle choices.