The 9 Essential Ways of How to Lose Belly Fat Fast : Getting Enough Sleep

Getting Enough Sleep

Getting enough sleep is by far the easiest weight loss strategy there is, and it’s also surprisingly effective. Dr. Sanjay Patel, an assistant professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio studied the results of a research study that followed 68 183 women for 16 years and concluded that women who slept less than five hours were more likely to gain as much as 30 pounds more than women who slept at least seven hours per night. 

Nutritionist Madelyn Fernstrom, Ph. D., agrees with these findings and also encourages her patients to get enough sleep, 7 to 8 hours per night, especially when they say that they’re having a hard time losing the extra weight even with diet and exercise. Her findings based on her patients also found that people who slept less than eight hours a day had a larger increase in body fat than those who slept more.

We don’t know exactly why getting enough sleep affects how we retain fat but sleeplessness and weight gain has been linked for decades. Experts say that not getting enough sleep is a lot like being jetlagged; your whole system goes out of whack. Our body runs in a very regulated way and everything, from hormone secretion to brain chemistry production, relies on a 24-hour cycle. When we don’t get as much sleep as we’re supposed to or when we’re not sleeping in a regular pattern, our body may also send us confused signals like telling us we’re hungry when it’s not yet time to eat or that we’re full when we need food. Dozens of studies also suggest that this confused state causes the body to store more fat, leading to weight gain, when we don’t sleep enough. All the normal cues aren’t working as they should and your emotional and physical state suffers.

Whatever the reasons are on a chemical or biological level, these conclusions mean that getting a good night’s sleep should be one of your top priorities if you’re serious about wanting to lose unwanted belly fat fast. If you’ve been waking up to have a bit of extra time to go to the gym, you might actually be sabotaging your own weight loss plan. Leave the gym for later that day and get those important Z’s. But how exactly should you regulate your sleeping patterns?

One of the best things that you can do is to try to set a regular schedule. Eat dinner at a certain time every night then set your sleeping time a couple of hours after that. If you have dinner around seven o’clock in the evening, you can be ready for bed around 10 PM (eating before you go to bed can cause discomfort while lying down and can keep you awake). Make full use of your alarm too. When you wake up a certain time every day, it will be easier to go to sleep at a specific time in the evening too. Your body and your brain respond to structure; you’ll be a lot healthier and less stressed out for having and maintaining good sleeping patterns.

When you get sleepy when you need to be awake, don’t use food to wake up. Instead, take a quick nap. When you feel sleepy, it’s your body communicating its needs and it’s best to give your body what it wants. 15 to 20 minutes, what we call a power nap, is usually enough to perk

your body up and to get you to dive right back into what you were working on.

Alcohol may also be causing you to stay awake at night, along with soda, tea, and coffee. These drinks are well known stimulants that can keep you from getting the

shut eye that you need. If you’re thinking that alcohol isn’t exactly a stimulant, then you’re right. It’s actually a light sedative that may even help you fall asleep. Unfortunately, it keeps the mind from reaching the stages of deep sleep, where the body repairs damaged tissue and strengthens the immune system. 

Most people who drink alcohol right before sleeping also end up waking up in the middle of the night or wake up too soon.

Nicotine or cigars and cigarettes are also something you should avoid when trying to get a good night’s sleep. Despite the fact that most people smoke to relax, nicotine is actually a stimulant and will also contribute to keeping you awake at night.

If you still can’t sleep despite your efforts to wake up at the same time every day, then you should explore medical causes behind your sleeplessness. Believe it or not, there are over 75 different disorders that can disrupt sleep and cause insomnia, both light insomnia and acute. According to The Harvard Medical School Guide to a Good Night’s Sleep, one of the most common sleeping disorders is sleep apnea which causes breathing problems while you sleep. While there may be a lot of disorders that could affect your sleeping patterns, a lot of them have easy solutions. If you suspect that your fatigue and sleeplessness may have medical reasons, it’s best for you to see a doctor.

This is an excerpt from the book: The 9 Essential Ways of How to Lose Belly Fat Fast