When it comes to losing weight, most people’s first thoughts are working out, strenuous activities or sports, extensive yoga stretches and slimming down. While these are sure ways to burn out the pesky calories, they are certainly not the only ways. There is another exciting way to lose weight, and that is through sleep. You heard me right. So how do you do nothing but sleep and cut down your weight as a result? Stick around and find out.
1. Have your supper early
It is recommended to eat supper at least three hours before bedtime. Do not stretch your bedtime, just eat early and make sure your meal contains proteins since they help a lot in burning calories while you are asleep. If you can, eat less. I’m not saying deprive yourself but don’t eat more than you need— you can eat more during lunch if you want. When you are asleep, the body tends to function slower and going to bed with a loaded stomach can place too much strain on your digestive system. Eating an early supper helps your body to digest food before you go to bed. Therefore there isn’t much energy spent on digestion and no fats stored while you sleep.
Also read: 10 Surprising Reasons You are Gaining Weight
2. Switch off the lights
Some people still sleep with lights on, that not only affects quality sleep but it also denies you the advantages which come with darkness. The body secretes a particular hormone known as melatonin when you are immersed in darkness. This hormone acts as a sleeping agent, and also as an aid in the making of brown fat which burns calories.
3. Take herbal teas
The regular tea has caffeine in it. Avoid it especially before bed because it will dehydrate you plus ruin your sleep. Take herbal teas like Hibiscus, Ginger and Chamomile etc. These teas are incredible detox agents; they will clean your liver which one of its works is fat digestion. Detoxifying the liver allows fat metabolism which sets you up on a calorie burning sleep.
4. Sleep in a colder environment
I know most of us despise cold nights and we would hate the idea of heating systems not working correctly. However, sleeping in slightly colder temperatures is way more beneficial than you may think. The body usually works overtime to compensate for the lost temperature. Your body will be burning calories the whole night turning them into the required energy to provide you with heat.
5. Avoid TV and gadgets before bed
Researchers have found that these seemingly harmless smartphones and other gadgets emit shortwave lights which interferes with the body’s ability to secrete melatonin which consequently may lead to disruption of metabolism. Television is no different; it lowers the levels of adiponectin which is a protein that checks the breakdown of fatty acids and glucose levels.
6. Quality mattress
Lack of enough sleep affects the body’s ability to function as required. A well-rested body is more capable of optimal functionality than a fatigued one. An average adult is required to sleep around seven to eight hours to rest the body well. Your body is capable of burning more calories at night when you have given yourself enough resting time. And to void toss and turn, you need to get a quality mattress to make sure you don’t wake up during the night.
7. Hot shower
Taking a hot shower before bed is certainly going to aid in weight loss. The pores on our skins are usually clogged during the day because of various activities resulting into sweat and dead skin. Taking a cold shower might feel refreshing to some people, but it is not very helpful in ridding the body of dead skin and opening up the pores. Aside from opening up the pores, hot water relaxes and rejuvenates the body helping it to improve functions while you sleep.
8. No alcoholic drinks
One of the most basic things which alcohol does to your body is that it camps for so long, thus exhausting your liver with digestion. As we all know, the body slows down its functions during sleep, meaning it will work the whole night metabolizing the alcohol and this has an impact on your rapid eye movement sleep level. The body burns calories proficiently during the rapid eye movement level, which you won’t be able to get to with alcohol in your system.
9. No late workouts
If you want to work out then make sure it’s at least three hours before bedtime. This gives your body the chance to cool down and return to its normal state. Working out energizes and wakes up the body, disrupting it from the scheduled shutdown, this will result in a restless night as your body is not ready to sleep yet and you will be missing out on the essential melatonin.
10. Get some peppermints
Now, this sounds out of place but according to one study, sniffing on peppermint at two-hour intervals cut down weight by five pounds in a month.
Conclusion
You see, our bodies are self-healing, self-rejuvenating wonders. However, for your body to be able to protect you and keep you in good shape even in your sleep, you need to help it along. The first place to start is to maintain a good diet and part ways with junk food. Also remember to get enough sleep. If you didn't already know, a good night sleep is super therapeutic and evidently good for your health.
Disclaimer: This article is contributed by a Guest Blogger. Ping of Health does not give any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to the content appearing in this article. Ping of Health disclaims all responsibility for any losses, damage or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.
