Everyone agrees that exercising on a regular basis is the most optimal and healthy weight loss method. But do we all exercise daily? Absolutely no. Do we all sleep every night? Yes. Then, could there be a better way to lose weight than to do just that while we sleep? After all, we spend one-third of our life sleeping. In this article, we will talk about 9 things we can do to lose weight,  faster and more effectively while we’re comfortable sleeping in our beds.

1. Drink a protein shake before you go to bed

Drink a shake containing around 30 grams of protein before you go to sleep. Studies have shown that doing this helps increase the number of calories your body burns while sleeping. Protein helps with muscle repair, and the more muscle mass you have, the more calories the body burns while resting.

2. Eat a small protein-based dinner

You should avoid eating big meals at dinner, even more so just when you’re about to go to bed. During deep sleep, the brain releases growth hormone – a vital hormone that regulates growth and fat loss. When you eat right before you go to bed, and the meal contains carbohydrates, your pancreas releases Insulin, which interferes with the work of growth hormone. Long story short, you will increase the fat deposits under your skin.

3. Avoid alcohol whenever possible

Drinking alcohol before going to sleep will force the body to metabolize it during the sleep, which will keep you from entering a REM (Rapid Eye Movement) state when the body burns the most calories. Drinking one glass of wine with dinner is fine, but a general recommendation is that you stop drinking alcohol 3 hours before going to bed.

4. Set a precise time for going to bed

Everyone knows that getting quality sleep every night is crucial to our health, but due to our busy modern lifestyles, movies, cell phones and all kinds of distractions, we are unable to get enough of our much-needed rest. Dedicating a time of 7-8 hours for uninterrupted quality sleep, helps our bodies burn more fat. A study published in the  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who were well-rested burned up to 20% more calories after eating compared to those were sleeping poorly.

5. Avoid training close to bedtime

Training wakes up the body, which makes it difficult to get a good night’s sleep. Pick a time in the morning (or during the day) to do your training. It will wake you up and keep your body energized throughout the day. However, if for some reason you can’t train in the morning, leave at least 4-hour space between training and going to bed.

6. Turn off your electronics

Studies done at Harvard found that short-wavelength blue light which is emitted by smartphones and tablets inhibit the production of the hormone in charge of making you fall asleep, melatonin. Another study found that watching television for many hours caused increased levels of triglycerides (which is usually associated with the development of diabetes) and lower levels of adiponectin (a protein which regulates your glucose levels and fatty acids breakdown) in the body.

7. Turn down the heating

Sleeping at a slightly lower temperature increase the effectiveness of our brown adipose tissue storage which helps burn the fat stored in the stomach, which in turn keeps us warm. One study published in the medical journey Diabetes found that people that slept in a room with a temperature of about 66 degrees burned around 70 more calories compared to those who slept in rooms with greater temperature.

8. Sleep in total darkness

Sleeping in total darkness helps the body in releasing more of the hormone melatonin, which not only triggers quality sleep, it also helps with the creation of brown fat which is packed with mitochondria (the cells’ “energy plants”) and has increased fat-burning potential.

So, even though the fat-burning “hacks” listed above will help you lose weight, it is still recommended that you don’t skip out on your daily training session.

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