12/12/2023
Many people are often surprised that the reason they are struggling to lose weight has nothing to do with diet or exercise.
One of the most common reasons for weight loss resistance is lack of sleep. Which I know may be tough to hear because it’s such a normal challenge for most people, but it’s true.
You might be wondering how sleep relates because when we think of losing body fat, we look to the direct actions of diet and exercise.
But, Sleep is a keystone habit that supports all the other habits that we want to develop to lose body fat.
That means that when you don’t get enough quality sleep, it impacts how you eat, how you move, and your overall choices.
Sleep is one of the most underutilized weight loss tools and you may have more control over it than you think.
You might be thinking, “I can totally operate on minimal sleep”
Which, you could be a part of the less than 1% of the population with this genetic mutation, but here are signs you need more sleep.
Mood swings
Low energy
Short temper
Food cravings even though you’re not really hungry
Poor performance
High stress levels
I know it seems more productive to push yourself to do more, but neglecting rest and recovery actually makes you less productive and less efficient.
When you sleep well, your body is able to recover and heal from the strains of the day, which makes it easier to go to the gym, eat quality food, and manage stress.
My client Matt is a great example.
Matt was having a difficult time losing weight and sleep was an area that was really inconsistent. He works as a VFX artist so his schedule can be pretty demanding and stressful at times. He also has a girlfriend so as soon as work ended he was spending time with her.
He always felt like he never had any time for himself to do anything he wanted to do, so when he left his girlfriend’s house, he would come home and he would stay up late into the night to unwind and finally get some time to do things he wanted.
But because he was up late, and lives on the west coast, he was always being pinged earlier in the morning because some of his coworkers and leadership were on the east coast. This impacted his food choices because making meals was perceived as one more thing that was taking his time, so, he often ordered in to save time on meal prepping.
As you can imagine, this didn’t help his waist line, so we helped him establish a night time routine where he could unwind and reclaim some of his time so that he could get better sleep each night.
He started implementing that night time routine with a consistent bedtime. This allowed him to take some time for himself to unwind. He slept better, and because he was sleeping better, he was able eat less take-out because cooking wasn’t as much of a burden, he had more energy, his productivity at work increased, and he felt more like himself again.
As a result, he dropped 10 pounds in 2 weeks. 🤯
It was a simple change to his day, but yielded a big return.
This is something that I work with all my clients within my 1:1 coaching program because of how it impacts the body and mind. The way I monitor this by looking at the amount of sleep they get and the quality of their sleep.
A common myth is that you just need more time sleeping. TIme can’t always be controlled. You might have kids or other circumstances that prevent you from getting 8+ hours a night, so I work with my clients to help them improve their sleep by making simple adjustments to their day so that they are getting the best quality possible.
Ultimately this is one way that I help my clients improve their metabolism so that they can drop body fat with less resistance.
I also help them find their unique ratios of foods, which is found by a simple personality test, to support their fat loss goals. This is important because when you eat foods that align with your personality and brain chemistry, you're able to stay more consistent because you’re not fighting against your nature, which makes it easier to reach your goals and maintain them for life, so that you don't keep repeating the same diet loop that so many of us get stuck on.
Lastly, I help them integrate all of this into their busy lives so that they can still enjoy the things they love while looking and feeling their best.
So if you’re interested in learning more about how I can help you improve your sleep to lose body fat, reply with the word ‘SLEEP’ and I'll reply back with a few questions to see if we would be a good fit.
