Making this one change can help you lose weight – and it isn’t about food or exercise!

We all know that eating well and exercising will help to improve our health and lead to weight loss.

With that said, you should totally join us on the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge, a program designed to help mums lose 8-13lbs a month with weekly meal plans and exercise programs, if you haven’t already.

But there is ONE other change you can make to help shed those pounds…and that is a good night’s sleep!

So how many hours do you need to sleep a night to see the weight loss benefits? And HOW can we get more shut eye? Read on below to find out more. 

Sleep for weight loss – 3 fun fat facts

1. Getting enough sleep helps you say goodbye to fat

Yes it’s true, research has found that getting a good night’s sleep helps to shed fat!

The University of Chicago conducted a study with 10 individuals and placed them on a healthy diet. They were studied twice, once for 14 days in the lab with an 8.5 hour period set aside for sleep, and once for 14 days with only 5.5 hours designated for sleep.

Though the dieters lost the same amount of weight, when they got more sleep, more than half of the weight they lost was fat. When they cut back on their sleep, only one fourth of their weight loss came from fat. Wow!

2. More sleep helps you feel less hungry

Levels of ghrelin also known as ‘the hunger hormone’ were measured too. When the dieters spent 8.5 hours in bed, their ghrelin levels didn’t change but when they had a shorter amount of sleep, their ghrelin levels rose over two weeks from 75 ng/L to 84 ng/L.

The authors of the study also said that higher ghrelin levels have been shown to do things like make you feel more tired and hungry plus retain fat.

3. When you don’t get enough sleep, you’re more likely to make poor food choices

Have you ever been up all night and then been tempted to skip breakfast or grab something from the drive thru? Well, there’s some science behind that.

A Japanese study analysed 2,000 factory workers to study sleep’s relationship with other lifestyle factors and found that those with insufficient sleep didn’t make healthy choices when it came to food.

Those running on fewer hours of sleep didn’t eat frequent meals or eat regularly plus they snacked more often, seasoned their food more and didn’t eat as many vegetables.

So this one change to your lifestyle can make a big impact. Maybe it’s time to have an early night!