Sleep More, Lose Weight

It sounds too good to be true, but getting more shut-eye can actually help you shed excess pounds. Read on for expert tips on catching extra zzz’s... The more active you are, the easier it is to maintain a healthy weight – during the day. But at night, the opposite is true. Getting plenty of deep, refreshing sleep is a major key to weight loss, according to a growing body of research. In fact, sleeping less than seven hours a night significantly boosts your risk of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, reported a 2010 Harvard University study of 56,000 U.S. adults. And in a 2010 University of Chicago study, overweight adults on a moderate diet who slept 8.5 hours a night lost 56% more body fat than those who slept only 5.5 hours. Researchers suspect that too little sleep may change metabolism, so people burn calories more slowly. It may also alter levels of hormones that affect body fat. Plus, you may just eat more. Every extra hour of sleep means you’re 21% less likely to binge on high-calorie snacks, according to another 2010 Harvard study, of 240 subjects in their late teens. “My hypothesis is that the body appears to mistake chronic tiredness for hunger,” says neuroscientist Orfeu M. Buxton, Ph.D., lead author of the study. “Then people seek food or snacks they don’t really need.” So if you want to lose weight, get enough sleep. For most of us that’s about seven to nine hours, Buxton says. If you aren’t getting that, start now with these 15 expert tips, and soon you’ll be snoozing your way to weight loss. 1. Do a sleep check. Think you’re amply rested after just six hours of sleep? If you wake up without an alarm clock and feel alert, you’re probably getting enough shut-eye. “But if you’re tired during the day and need caffeine to keep going, you’re getting less than you need,” says Doug Moul, M.D., a psychiatrist and sleep clinician at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. And that means you need to hit the hay earlier each night. 2. Nix the nightcap. “A glass of wine may help you fall asleep, but when the alcohol’s effect wears off, you wake up,” says Sudhansu Chokroverty, M.D., program director for Clinical Neurophysiology and Sleep Medicine at JFK Medical Center in Edison, N.J., and neuroscience professor at Seton Hall University School of Health and Medical Sciences in South Orange, N.J. Alcohol interferes with neurotransmitters such as serotonin, which helps you stay in the deeper, restorative stage of sleep. Don't want to give up a nightly glass of wine? Have it with an early dinner, at least two hours before bedtime. 3. Send emails earlier. Surfing the Internet or catching up on emails or Facebook posts before sleeping interferes with sleep. “Anything that activates the brain inhibits sleep,” Moul says. Shut down your phone, computer, TV and other distracting devices a couple of hours before sleeping and move them out of the bedroom. Instead, listen to music, meditate or read a pleasant book. 4. Free your mind from worry. Do you start fretting when lights are off? Here’s how to break that sleep-stealing habit. Get concerns off your mind by dealing with them earlier in the evening, suggests Michelle P. Maidenberg, Ph.D., a New York City psychotherapist and adjunct professor at New York University. Write down your worries, along with a manageable action you can take the next day to address each one. Then put the list in a drawer for the night. 5. Cut out caffeine and cigarettes. They don’t just keep you wired all day, they also prevent you from sleeping soundly at night, Chokroverty says. “The best thing is to never have a cigarette,” he adds. “And don’t drink coffee after the early afternoon, because it takes about eight hours to leave the body.” Also watch out for caffeine in foods, such as chocolate, soft drinks and certain medications, such as pain relievers and migraine drugs. 6. Create a sleep-friendly environment. To get the best rest, your bedroom should be quiet, cool and dark, says Buxton. “Your sleep brain thinks like a two-year-old,” Moul says. “If you put a child in bed and allow him to play, he learns that the bed is a playpen. You want your brain to associate the bedroom with sleep.” So lower bright lights, because that promotes your body's relaxation response before bedtime and increases production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates your body clock. Invest in a dimmer. Before you shut off the lamp, turn the face of brightly lighted clocks away from you or cover them with towels. If noise is an issue, run a fan or play a CD with lulling sounds of a waterfall or rain. Set the thermostat at about 65 degrees Fahrenheit, the ideal sleep temperature, suggests the Better Sleep Council. 7. Stick to a regular schedule. “Go to bed and get up at the same time every day,” Moul says. Body processes are driven by an internal “clock” known as your circadian rhythm, which is influenced by light and other factors. Regular hours reinforce that rhythm, making it easier for you to fall asleep at night. 8. Time your workouts. Regular exercise helps you sleep better, but not if you work out in the late evening. It raises core temperature, making it harder to fall asleep, Chokroverty says. The ideal workout time is four to five hours before bed so your body has time to cool down. That helps you slumber more deeply, he adds. 9. Have a bedtime snack. If you’re trying to diet, this may feel counterproductive. “But if you go to sleep hungry, you won’t sleep well,” Chokroverty says. He suggests drinking a glass of milk, because it has tryptophan, an amino acid that promotes sleep. Other high-tryptophan foods are chicken, turkey, tuna, soybeans and cottage cheese. 10. Don’t fight it. Don't struggle to fall asleep; you’ll just end up frustrated. “If you toss and turn more than three times after lights out, get up and do something boring,” Chokroverty suggests. “Count buttons, read the phone book – but don’t go back to bed until you’re sleepy.” 11. Take a smart nap. If you feel sleep-deprived during the day, take a short nap if you can. “Smart naps are shorter than 25 minutes,” says psychologist and sleep expert Michael Breus, Ph.D., author of Good Night (Plume). “Longer naps make you feel more tired, because you’ll be trying to wake yourself out of a deep sleep.” He also recommends napping between 1-3 p.m. – any later, and it could prevent you from falling asleep at night. 12. Take calcium and magnesium supplements. Both are natural relaxants, says Sally Kravich, a holistic nutritionist and author of Vibrant Living (SPK), a raw-food cookbook. Kravich recommends 1,000-1,200 mg of calcium for premenopausal women and 1,500 mg for menopausal women –along with 500 mg of magnesium for every 1,000 mg of calcium. And take them before bedtime. Liquid, powdered or chewable forms can be easier to digest, she notes. But watch out: Magnesium has a laxative effect. You should check with your doctor before taking any supplement. 13. Toss the critters out of bed. Even if you enjoy having pets around at night, their jingling collars and midnight scratching, meowing or pouncing on the bed may disturb your rest. To sleep soundly, “keep pets in another room,” Breus advises. 14. Take care of your heartburn. Heartburn sufferers don’t sleep well, according to three 2010 studies by the University of Oklahoma. More than two-thirds experience discomfort at night, and 40% say the condition disturbs sleep. Researchers found that a muscle relaxant called baclofen reduced acid reflux and increased patients’ nighttime sleep by almost an hour. In less severe cases, medications that slow production of stomach acid may be enough to relieve heartburn. 15. Check with your doctor. If you continue to have trouble sleeping, consult a doctor or a sleep specialist, says psychologist Shelby Freedman Harris, Psy.D., director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. You may be suffering from a medical condition such as sleep apnea, which interrupts breathing during sleep and increases your likelihood of being obese. Treating it is often enough to help you lose weight, Breus says. For more information, visit our Sleep Health Center. Are You Smart About Sleep? Getting a good night's sleep affects every aspect of your day, including your mood and your ability to be productive. And if that doesn't get your attention, listen up: Your sleep habits can even affect the number on the scale.