Get healthier and slimmer through sleep!

Just like all women, every day I'm faced with articles, news and advertisements on the latest miracle diets. Practically all of them are based on the same approach: eat healthy food, eat less, put on your trainers and head down to the gym! In the process, they usually forget about the most important factor: in order to maintain or achieve a healthy body weight, there is a more important consideration which effects metabolism. This is none other than sleep.

I often post on my blog about sleep because an increasing number of women who are passed their twenties are facing sleeping disorders and your feedback shows that we sorely underestimate the importance of night-time rest.

A lot of women are simply unable to get enough sleep because they have a baby or work late night shifts or some because they can't silence their thoughts during the night. A lot of people are simply unable to fall asleep before midnight and they wake up and toss and turn in their beds at night or perhaps stir from every noise they hear. There can be many reasons for this from everyday stress to lifestyles with little exercise or even hormonal changes in our body.

However, a lot of people only realise how valuable sleep is in establishing their physical and mental well-being when they lose their ability or chance of getting 7 to 9 hours of night-time sleep, as necessary.

Unfortunately, this doesn't go unnoticed: according to research, women's bodies react especially poorly to lasting sleep deprivation. Due to a lack of sleep, you might feel you're constantly exhausted or hungry all throughout the day and since your body wants a quick source of energy, you crave calorie-rich and often unhealthy foods, while the difference can be visible on your skin as well as in a growing number of grey hairs appearing in your hair. When sleeping poorly for years, people with this tendency are proved to become more susceptible to weight gain, diabetes and heart and circulatory diseases.

Still, the good news is that the effect goes both ways: if you do your body the favour of getting enough sleep – especially not in an over-heated room – you can reverse these adverse processes. You'll be in a better mood, more open to exercise and choosing healthier foodstuffs. The difference is not negligible at all: according to clinical trials, you'll eat up to 600 calories less than you usually do if you get enough sleep, plus your metabolism will be faster than in an exhausted, sleep-deprived condition.

So don't forget, if you want to live a healthier life or perhaps lose some weight, then getting enough sleep is the most important factor. You can achieve your objectives easier and faster and it's often your lack of sleep which keeps you from fulfilling your goals or making it seem like they're simply unattainable.