The Link Between Restful Sleep & Your Weightloss Journey

When most people think of losing weight, they think of eating less and exercising more. While those are two essential components of successful weight management, you may be surprised to learn that your sleep habits can play a big role, too.

Alarmingly, about a third of Americans don’t get the sleep they need to stay healthy. Considering about three-quarters of Americans are overweight or obese, it makes sense that these two issues may be linked.

Joseph Moleski, DO, and Margaurette Walsh, PA-C, understand that weight loss is a complex and complicated process involving multiple factors and individual responses to treatment. STL Medical Weight Loss offers comprehensive weight-management plans, taking a patient-centered approach for successful, long-lasting results. In this post, learn some of the surprising ways your sleep habits could interfere with your weight-loss journey.

Sleep and energy levels

When you get adequate rest, you have more energy, and that means it makes it easier to stay physically active. A rested body performs better during exercise, too, so you burn more calories and build more muscle, which is a natural fat burner.

When you don’t get enough sleep, the fatigue that follows makes it much harder to stick to an exercise routine, and it also increases the amount of time you spend sitting or engaged in other sedentary behaviors. 

Sleep and metabolism

In addition to its effects on physical activity, sleep problems can take a toll on your metabolic activity, too. Your metabolism refers to your body’s ability to convert the foods you eat into energy that can be used — and burned off — by your body. 

Research shows that sleep problems impact metabolism. They slow down metabolic activity, making it harder for the body to burn off all the calories it consumes. Over time, this decline in metabolism increases the risk of weight gain and obesity.

Sleep and appetite

Hormones control appetite and hunger, and sleep helps keep those hormones in balance. When you don’t get adequate sleep, your body produces more hormones that cause hunger and less of the hormones that help you feel full after eating. The result: You feel hungry a lot more often, leading to eating too frequently and too much, often bingeing on unhealthy foods and high-fat snacks.

Sleep and stress hormones

Cortisol is a hormone associated with your protective fight-or-flight response, and it’s also associated with stress. When we’re chronically or routinely stressed, our cortisol levels remain elevated. Too much cortisol interferes with metabolism and increases your body’s desire to store more fat, often driving cravings for high-fat or unhealthy foods.

Like your hunger hormones, cortisol is affected by your sleep. When you don’t get enough restful sleep, cortisol levels rise, making it harder to lose weight and increasing your body fat, especially in the belly area.

Setting the stage for successful weight loss

When it comes to helping patients manage their weight, our team doesn’t just focus on diet and exercise. We address underlying lifestyle factors, including sleep, to ensure your journey is optimized for success right from the start. 

To learn more about sleep and weight management or to find out how we can tailor a weight-loss plan just for you, call or book an appointment online with STL Medical Weight Loss today on site in Dallas, Texas, or via telehealth for patients in Missouri, Texas, Illinois, Kansas, Florida, Delaware, Arizona, New York, Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada, and Washington State.