Wouldn’t it be great if you could lose weight while catching a bit of shuteye?
Good news – you can! Here are five handy ways you can burn fat while you’re asleep.
1. Drink a casein shake Whilst proteins such as whey are perfect for a post workout boost, their rapid-absorbing nature means they’re not as effective before you hit the hay. Instead, choose casein protein if you want to boost your overnight fat burning. Casein is a gradually digested protein that can take your body around six to eight hours to break down. This means your metabolism will be kept active throughout the night, and you’ll wake up feeling energetic instead of starving.
2. Sleep more That’s right; one of the most effective ways to shift those pounds while you sleep is to quite simply get more of it. With our hectic schedules nowadays sleep is often neglected, but if you want to lose weight that needs to change. Don’t believe me? A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine fount that overweight people on average got 16 minutes less sleep per day than their regular weight counterparts. It doesn’t sound like very long, but over time that difference builds up. So why does sleep help keep you slim? It’s all to do with the hormones leptin and ghrelin. Leptin helps to regulate your energy levels and keep your appetite low, while ghrelin stimulates hunger and often initiates the need to eat.
3. Eat cottage cheese before bed Eating food before bed is often seen as taboo when it comes to dieting, but this is actually dependent on what kind of food you choose. Avoiding food completely before sleeping can actually have the opposite effect, as people who wake up feeling hungry are far more likely to binge on food at breakfast. A small snack of cottage cheese before bed is a great choice as it is rich in – yep, you guessed it – casein protein.
4. Resistance training Whilst sleep alone is great for encouraging weight loss, there are some exercises you can do before bed that will help the process along. One of the best approaches is some pre-slumber resistance training. Burning fat is all about boosting your metabolism, and resistance training is great for this. In fact, according to a journal published in the international Journal of Sport Nutrition, subjects who performed resistance exercises enjoyed a higher resting metabolic rate for an average of 16 hours following their workout.
5. Eat small meals throughout the day Eat little and often, is a favorite tip of trainers and dietitians the world over, and you’ll be glad to hear this is a great way of boosting your nocturnal weight loss. Eating small meals frequently throughout the day serves to keep your metabolism ticking over, and will ensure your body continues burning fat throughout the night. Of course, these meals need to be healthy and nutritious for this technique to work! As well as boosting your metabolism while you’re asleep, this frequent eating method will ensure your appetite is kept in check, which should reduce any cravings you have when you wake up in the morning.