Can You Really Lose Weight While Sleeping?

What if you could close your eyes, nod off to dreamland and wake up the next morning feeling refreshed, awake and slimmer. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Well science is telling us that it may not be too far from the truth with the latest research linking sleep with weight so in this article I'll show you how you can lose weight while sleeping.

Let's first look at the research behind this. While you sleep your body goes into repair mode. Your muscles and tissues are rebuilt, tissue is repaired if needed and you basically are renewing yourself. But two hormones are also increased while you sleep namely leptin and ghrelin.

Leptin and Ghrelin are strongly linked to appetite. Leptin sends the signal to your brain that you are full, and ghrelin tells your brain to eat again. While you sleep, leptin is increased so you don't feel hungry - that's why you can go so long without food at night. But come morning, ghrelin kicks in again and you start feeling hungry.

If you don't get enough sleep then these hormones don't get a chance to do their job effectively and you'll find that the next day you'll be craving more food and never really feel full.

A study in Chicago studied the effects of weight loss and sleep further by measuring the levels of leptin and ghrelin in 12 healthy men. They subjected the men to 2 days of sleep deprivation and monitored their hormone levels. Sure enough appetite was significantly impacted with all men noticing an increase in cravings for high carbohydrate, calorie dense foods.

Once they went back to their normal sleeping patters, their appetites returned to normal.

So how does this study help you with your weight loss goals?

Obviously it means putting more sleep hours into your day if you can do it, or at least catching up on the weekends. You should be aiming for at least 8 hours a day. You may find that getting an extra hour or two of sleep will help stop cravings for sugary snacks and therefore you'll lose more weight in the process.

So if you really can lose weight while sleeping then what have you got to lose? Sounds good to me - I'm off for a nap.

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Music and Motivation

Music is a great way to stay motivated and accountable to your workouts. It is one of the easiest forms of exercise motivation.  Here are 5 reasons why you should crank up the tunes.

1)    Getting up in the am is a struggle, especially with your annoying alarm clock blaring. Change that to a happy go lucky song that makes you want to dance and you are on your way to waking up excited. Gone are the days of snoozing.

2)    Feeling sad and blue?  Studies have shown that people who listen to music have reduced depression and feelings of pain. Don’t worry, be happy!

3)    When you are feeling tired and unmotivated to exercise, create a special playlist with songs that immediately pick you up. This playlist should only be played once every 2 weeks, that way all songs have a special meaning that makes you want to crush your fitness goals!

4)    Cardio Junkie? Playing upbeat music can actually make you go faster. Select songs with BPM (Beats Per Minute) around 130 to 150 BPM. The faster the song the faster you go! Check out a great app on Itunes called “Tempo Magic Pro” This app allows you to adjust any song to go faster or slower.

5)    Not a music lover? No worries. Try audiobooks and podcasts. You can get motivated and inspired just as much as music through spoken words.

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4 Quick and Simple Fitness and Exercise Tips!

To enhance your overall health and well-being you must obtain your maximum fitness level. And to help or assist you to in archiving these amazing results here's four quick and simple fitness tips for you to follow.

Stretching:

This is the first and most vital step in any fitness or workout routine, forgetting to do these simple warm up exercises can cause great bodily damage.

Never let a lack of time prevent you from stretching before and after your routine. Also don't let age trick you into thinking that because you're young and energetic that you'll be alright.

Believe me; it WILL catch up with you later in life. So it's very wise to listen to your body and do what it's asking of you.

Adding Cross Training into Your Regime:

One of the workout routines we conducted while I served in the military, was a high intensity workout called, 'Gorilla Drills' and I hated them! You talk about a workout... Whew, I'm starting to sweat just thinking about it.

However, it was a drill which consisted of several exercises that we did for a set time limit and then we would rotate to the next exercise station. This would continue for 15 minutes intervals with a 2 minute break in between before starting another session.

After 30 minutes of this vigorous workout you looked forward to a well deserved cool down session. Well, that's what cross training is, you simply make a plan of several different exercises you've like to conduct. Set a time interval for each set and then start your routine.

Cross training is beneficial in two ways:

• You'll be working all your muscles at once which significantly reduce injuries!

• It helps you to stay motivated and focus on your overall success!

So, the next time you plan your workout routine try implementing cross training.

Don't be Afraid to Explore Outside Your Comfort Zone:

You have a solid workout routine in place but after about 3 months of the same thing week after week it starts to get boring... Sounds familiar?

Likewise, if you were to merge cross training, swimming, yoga or whatever exercise you enjoy into your routine, then you don't have to worry about getting bored because you'll always have something fresh and new to do every week.

Stepping outside the box, as they say, will keep you motivated and excited to continue striving to meet your fitness goals.

Seasonal Planning for Your Workout Routine:

Depending on your geographical location, the weather can be your Worst Enemy!

Rainy days might make you feel lazy and unmotivated while snowy days can keep you away from the gym and very humid days may make you feel tired, sweaty and disgusting thereby resulting in a decline in your routine.

And finally, when you're planning your workout routine remember to include programs for inside and outside so that you'll be covered when the time comes. Having a flexible fitness plan that covers the good and bad days will significantly increase your performance and enhance your physique.

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