Yawning all day? Getting to bed too late night after night? Tossing and turning when you do get to bed on time? Falling asleep at your desk in the middle of the afternoon? Heading to the coffee shop frequently?

Recent scientific studies have found a link between sleep and weight loss. It seems that sleep loss can increase hunger and also affect the body's metabolism in a way that makes it harder to lose weight. Who knew?! 

The research has shown that when you are sleep deprived, the hormone cortisol, most often associated with stress, is released in an increased level. This high release of cortisol can make us feel hungry even when we know we are full. When you continue to lose sleep on a regular basis, you continue to experience hunger even if you have had a sufficient amount of food to eat.

Additionally, when you lose sleep, the amount of growth hormone you secrete decreases. Growth hormone is the protein that helps regulate the body's proportions of fat and muscle in adults. With less growth hormone, we reduce our ability to lose fat and build muscle.

Also, loosing sleep may effect the way our bodies metabolize carbohydrates, which can lead to fat storage and high blood sugar levels. High blood sugar levels may lead to insulin resistance, causing difficulties in the body with transporting glucose from your blood to cells of the body. Type 2 Diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity are serious health problems that can result from this insulin resistance.

And then there is the whole exercise thing! When you are tired all day, you don't feel like exercising, which means you are not burning calories, even though are are eating more because of the cortisol release! Talk about a vicious cycle. This is one that is going to be hard to win if we don't get a handle on this quickly.

So lets look at a few tips for improving your sleep habits so your nutritional and exercise programs can all work together for better health.

1. Get into a relaxing bedtime routine while keeping regular sleep times.
2. Comfort, quiet and cool are needed for a comfortable night's sleep. Take a look at your bedding to make certain you can get the most comfort from the pillows, sheets, blankets and mattress.
3. Cool and dark are important factors. It is hard to sleep in a hot, stuffy room. And having lights, open windows and televisions on while sleeping often conflict with the restful atmosphere you are wanting to create.
4. Don't eat to close to bedtime. But don't go to bed hungry either. Finish your meals at least 3 hours before sleep.

Take a look at your bedroom, your pre-sleep habits, caffeine and alcohol consumption, snack and meal habits. Loosing weight lowers blood pressure, insulin resistance, cholesterol and so much more. So keep the long term goal in sight, stay focused on the small steps that will make that long term goal reachable!

For more information and to purchase Cinch Inch Weight Management products, Shaklee's Stress Relief and other natural nutrition products, use these safe links to my personal Shaklee site and Cinch site.. Stay well!