Get Skinny: Sleep More, Lose Weight

Did you know that sleeping only 6 hours a night could make you gain 10-15 lbs a year?

This infographic by the researchers behind Sleep Genius, an app that helps you improve your sleeping habits, breaks down how sleep problems and insomnia affects your weight, metabolism, and unhealthy cravings.


sleep-and-weight-loss-infographic

Scary Facts about Weight Loss and Sleep

Less than 5.5 hours of sleep a night makes it 55% harder to lose weight (poor sleep causes a lower metabolic rate).

Sleeping less than 6 hours can cause you to feel up to 25% hungrier.

Sleeping just 6 hours could result in 14 lbs. of extra weight a year.

Women who slept 5 hours or less weighed 5.4 lbs. more than those who slept 7 hours.

7 out of 8 women lost between 3-15 lbs. in 8 weeks just by sleeping more.

America’s Sleep Problem: Little Sleep, Big Waistlines

One-third of working adults in the U.S. are sleeping fewer than 6 hours per night.

1 in 4 people suffer from a sleep disorder and/or insomnia.

25% of Americans use sleeping pills.

Diminished sleep is more closely linked with higher BMI in women than men.

How Sleep Affects Hunger and Appetite Management

Sleeping 6 hours or less disrupts two critical hormone levels.

Even a single night of sleep deprivation can elevate Ghrelin levels and reduce Leptin levels = increased appetite and hunger pangs.

How Sleep Affects our Brains

Even a single night of sleep deprivation makes fattening, high-calorie foods more attractive and at the same time interferes with the brain’s ability to override desire with rational decision-making.

How Sleep Affects our Calorie Burn

Your body burns the most calories during REM sleep. Your REM sleep increases the longer you sleep.

Therefore, if you sleep less hours, you miss that prime calorie burning window by cutting off the tail end of REM (or the longest period of REM where you could burn the most calories).