Want To Lose Weight? Focus On Your Sleep

Piece by: Queen Serem
Lifestyle

The most effective dieters sleep between seven hours 30 minutes and eight hours a night, concluded the research of 1,000 British people.

Having a good night's sleep helps people to lose weight most effectively, according to a new survey.

It revealed three quarters of dieters who had regular sleep patterns found it easier to shed pounds from their waistline.

And four-fifths of good sleepers were also likely to follow consistent routines in their eating habits - having three meals a day at regular times, which also aids weight loss.

The survey, commissioned by Forza Supplements, found the optimum time to go to bed was 10.10pm - this allows 20 minutes to nod off.

It also allows 90 minutes for the most restorative non-REM (rapid eye movement) sleep which is best achieved before midnight.

Lee Smith, managing director of Forza Supplements, said: 'They call it beauty sleep for a very good reason - eight hours a night really does help us to lose weight and live more healthily.

'This new research shows that the key to successful dieting is discipline and routine - you need to adopt good habits and stick with them.

'If you are sleeping erratically and getting up in the night, chances are you are a boozer who is also visiting the fridge while successful dieters are upstairs in bed fast asleep.'

The quiz monitored the sleep patterns of dieters to gauge common factors which contributed to weight gain.

Poor sleepers (those sleeping for less than seven hours a night) were found to have the most chaotic eating patterns.

They were also more prone to diet lapses and were more likely to exceed their weekly limits for alcohol consumption.

Two-thirds of this group (64 per cent) admitted snacking in between meals, the survey concluded.

And more than half (58 per cent) said they had difficultly sticking to a diet and a similar figure (54 per cent) said they regularly drank more than they should.

In contrast, only 17 per cent of good sleepers were snackers, 72 per cent found they could stick to a diet plan and just 13 per cent regularly exceeded alcohol limits.

A third of poor sleepers (33 per cent) complained that they were more likely to put on weight because they were awake for longer and had more time to eat.

DailyMail.