There are several ways in which not getting enough sleep can affect weight loss, or even cause weight gain.
It Throws You Off-Balance
“Getting too little sleep contributes to weight gain by upsetting the balance between how much we eat and how much fuel we burn,” says Shanon Makekau, MD, a pulmonologist and sleep medicine specialist at Kaiser Permanente in Honolulu.
It Can Make You Hungrier the Next Day
You Have More Time to Eat
If you’re not sleeping as much, you’re awake more hours of the day and have more opportunities to eat, Dr. Makekau says.
You Tend to Snack More
To make matters worse, the foods you may reach for when you’re sleep deprived, such as donuts and fried food, are often not the healthiest choices. “Sleep-deprived individuals tend to eat foods with greater amounts of carbohydrates and calories,” Polos says.
One the other hand, getting more sleep can lead to healthier food choices. “Getting enough good-quality sleep supports daytime energy, mood, concentration, and motivation,” Makekau says. “All of these factors play an important role in making good choices during the daytime.”
You Move Less When You’re Tired
“People who don’t get enough sleep are more sedentary and are less likely to engage in moderate to vigorous activities such as sports or exercise,” Makekau says. Think of the last time you got only five or six hours of sleep. You likely struggled to get through the day and were not raring to go to the gym to work out.
Read the full article here