Many people come up to me and ask about the best diets for fat loss. When I get presented with this question, I often ask one question first:
How many hours of sleep do you get?
If you are logging in less than 6 hours per night then you are making things way harder for yourself. A research study showed a 55% decrease in fat loss and an increase in lean muscle mass loss by 60% with sleep reduction (less than 6 hours), even with caloric restriction (most commonly studied method of weight loss). What does that mean?
If you sleep less than 6 hours per night on a regular basis, you are more likely to lose more muscle than fat. You might see a slight dip on the scale, but muscle loss will often present itself as reduced toning and you feeling below average. When your goal is to lose weight, improve your health or just feel better, sleep is going to be crucial to your success. Without it, you are just fighting an uphill battle no matter what diet or workout plan you do.
Being that the week just started, I wanted to share with you the top 5 action steps to improving your sleep quality so that you can capitalize on the most available and free resource to your fat loss.
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Avoid looking at screens 2 hours before bed. Can’t do that? Buy blue light blocking glasses to help normalize your circadian rhythm (normal sleep cycle)
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Switch to decaf coffee/teas at 2pm. It takes about 8-10 hours for caffeine to be fully metabolized, so move into the night on the right foot.
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Read a book before bed. I used to prefer reading non fiction but realized that it took too much headspace. Shoot for fiction and get lost in the magical world of literature
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Spend time with family. My wife and I spend about 20-30 minutes doing pillow talk. This is when we get to wind down, we even listen to chill music before we fall asleep.
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Never go to bed angry or frustrated. It will lead to poor sleep quality and frustration. Something bothering you? Tell someone or write it down, let it go and see if it affects you the next morning. I promise you, things will get better.
Try these out over the next few nights. Not only will you feel better, but you will also notice a change in your body composition by changing up this one factor in your life.
If you are already logging in more than 6 hours of sleep, amazing! If you are looking for the next step in making positive changes, book a no sweat intro with us so that we can sit down and talk about how we can help you.
Have a great day,
Ashley
