Even if you’re eating right and exercising regularly, you may not be able to achieve weight loss just yet. Achieving weight loss isn’t easy. But it can be harder to achieve it if you have unhealthy sleeping patterns.

Recent studies reveal that there is a strong relationship between sleep deprivation and weight gain. However, it is still unknown why it actually occur. One of the things that have been found is that people who sleep less than six hours each night experience an increase in their BMI and in their weight than those people that get seven to eight hours of sleep per night. Getting enough sleep is crucial to your weight loss efforts.

Sleep vs. Weight Loss

Our bodies run on a 24-hour cycle, which is called a circadian rhythm. Our circadian rhythm regulates our temperature, hormone secretion, and brain chemistry production. When our circadian rhythm is out of whack, so are the hormones that regulate whether we feel full or hungry. All of our normal cues for eating are altered. When we are tired or extra fatigued, we don’t always make the healthiest food choices. We might decide to have a bowl of ice cream right before bed in order to relax. We might decide to have a candy bar in the middle of the day because we are feeling sleepy and want a quick snack to get a rush of energy. These unhealthy choices can really destroy our weight loss efforts.

Alleviate your stress!

We live in a very hectic world with many responsibilities. Trying to juggle work, family, chores, school and recreation, it’s no wonder that so many of us don’t make sleep a priority. There is always so much to do that we tend to put off sleeping to do other things. We also live in stressful times and often our mental stress prevents sleep, even when we do manage to set aside seven to eight hours. This can be detrimental to our weight loss efforts. Try doing yoga or other relaxation exercises to reduce your stress level. Exercise is an amazing stress reliever and if weight loss is your goal, you should be exercising regularly anyway.

Get more sleep.

Here are some steps you can take to help regain some control and minimize the likelihood that lack of sleep will sabotage your weight loss efforts. Try to set a regular sleep schedule. Aim for seven hours of sleep each night, and make sleep a priority. Eat regularly; at least three to four times each day. Instead of using food to wake you up when you’re feeling sleepy, take a power nap of about 20 minutes. If you feel like you need an energy boost, eat a piece of fresh fruit or half of a sandwich made with lean protein.