Operation Clean Air

How does sleep affect weight loss?
Does sleep affect weight loss? It's an important question, especially If you are dieting and exercising in a bid to shed some pounds. Good sleep is just as vital as moving and fueling our bodies, as it gives us time to rest and reset.

Professionals say that we should be getting on average 6-8 hours of sleep a night, but for many of us, stressful jobs, families or even technology means we’re not getting anything like that amount of sleep each night. When we don’t get enough sleep it affects how we function and ultimately our eating habits. But can we lose calories as we sleep and how does lack of snoozing ultimately affect our appetite?

Believe it, or not, we actually burn calories as we sleep - but of course, we all burn a different amount of calories, just like we do when we’re awake. Most people burn an average of 50 calories an hour when asleep, but the exact amount is based on our personal basal metabolic rate (BMR) - and of course the more sleep we get the more calories we burn. So someone who only sleeps an average of 5 hours a night is more likely to burn less calories than someone who regularly gets 8 hours a night. This is why it can be important to learn how to sleep for longer if you generally don't get much sleep.