Sleep is the most important thing. Sleep recharges our body, so that we feel refreshed when we wake up. Most important growth and development of our body occur when we sleep. A good amount of healthy sleep makes your body disease free. Your brain cannot function properly without enough sleep. Lack of healthy sleep can affect your health in many ways. Healthy sleep is very much required for obese people or heavy people as sleep and weight are inversely proportional.
A good sleep is important to maintain proper health and body weight. Much research evidence is there to prove that less sleep can cause weight gain. People who don’t sleep well tend to have more body weight than people who sleep 7 to 8 hours daily. It can be said that less amount sleep is one of the causes of the world obesity problem. Let’s discuss how sleep is important for heavy people and how heavy people can get a healthy sleep.
How sleep affects body weight
We have 24-hour day and night time. With the increase in work pressure people are sacrificing hours which should only be dedicated to sleep. Duration of dark exposure increases. People are more exposed to artificial light after sunset and also sometimes before sunrise. As a result, total sleep time is reduced. This has a major impact on the organization of circadian rhythms.
There are some chemicals and hormones in the body which control appetite. A hormone called Ghrelin promotes hunger which increases with sleep restriction. The hormone Leptin that tells your body that stomach is full decreases.
When you get less sleep the levels of Leptin go down. Then you feel hungry even though your stomach is full. At the same time the level of ghrelin goes up and you feel hungry.
These changes in hormones and chemicals in your body due to sleep deprivation can lead to overeating and in the end make you obese.
Less sleep can make you feel fatigued. As a result, you will not do any exercise. The changes in Leptin due to sleep deprivation can affect both calorie intake and energy expenditure.
Sleep deprivation also affects your body’s ability to process insulin. This hormone changes sugar, starches and other carbohydrates to energy. When the body doesn’t respond to insulin properly, then fats from your bloodstream will not be metabolized. As a result, it ends up storing them as fat and increases your weight.
Do we burn fat while sleeping?
Our body repairs and regenerates while we sleep. Most of the growth occurs during sleeping. During that time the body temperature drops and breathing slows and our metabolism lowers. So, we burn about 15% of calories during sleep.
Our body burns calories mainly during the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep stage, glucose metabolism increases during REM sleep which in turn accelerates calory burn.
So proper amount of sleep is actually helpful in weight loss.
How long does one need to sleep to keep burning fat?
According to experts seven to nine hours appears to be a relatively constant time frame” during which the body can make the most progress toward repairing itself and has the least connection to obesity. In other words, it’s the sweet spot between getting too little and too much sleep when both your body and mind benefit from rest and restoration.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults should get between seven and nine hours of sleep per night to feel rested and ready for the day.
Tips To Get Good Sleep for Heavy People
Heavy people should get proper sleep. Sometimes obese people suffer from insomnia which can be the cause of many health consequences. Here are some tricks and tips to get peaceful sleep at night.
1. Healthy diet
Always try to take a healthy and light meal at night before sleeping. Both overeating and an empty stomach can make you feel uncomfortable. Try to eat early or at least 1 hour before going to bed. Always avoid tea, coffee or alcohol at night. These can interfere with your sleep.
2. Create a Calm and Restful Environment
Keep your bedroom clean, cool and dark. Switch off the lights before sleeping. Do the necessary arrangements for hot and cold. You can do some calming activities like listening to some meditative relaxing music before sleeping.
3. Stay Away from Gadgets
Keep all the electronic gadgets away from your bed before sleeping. Especially mobile can delay your sleep.
4. Avoid day Time Naps
Long day time naps are also one of the reasons for less night time sleep. Try to limit sleep time in day or avoid napping late in the day. When we sleep too late at night and rise early then naturally, we will feel sleepy in the day. So, make a habit of going to bed early, so that you will get enough sleep at night and in this way, you will feel fresh throughout the day.
5. Physical activity
Regular physical activity can help to cure insomnia. Physical activity will make you feel tired and you will automatically be sleepy at night.
6. High Quality Mattress
Sometimes you get good sleep when you sleep on a good bed compared to any normal bed. As a heavy person you will require a comfortable high-quality heavy-duty bed. Mattress plays a really important role in sleep. Mattresses for heavy people are strong and provide support and stability.
7. Good Quality Pillow
A good pillow keeps your head, neck and spine in ideal alignment. This decreases the amount of pressure on your body and helps to prevent neck pain. If your head, neck and spine will not be in neutral position, you may wake up during night and sleep loss may occur. So, it is suggested to get a good and comfortable pillow to get a good sleep.
Conclusion
If you don’t get enough sleep, it could hurt your efforts to lose weight. When you don’t get enough sleep, you may make bad food choices, eat more to satisfy your hunger, take in more calories, not exercise enough, and gain weight.
If you’ve been having trouble losing weight, you might need to look closely at how you sleep. Most people need to sleep between 7 and 9 hours every night, but this isn’t a hard and fast rule.