Sleep© GettyImages

Why sleep is so important for weight loss: Fitness goals

Better sleep helped individuals to adapt to a new schedule, including physical activity and food intake.


Daniel Neira - Los Angeles
Senior WriterLos Angeles
UPDATED JUNE 20, 2024 7:09 AM EDT

It’s time we acknowledge the power of sleep. Starting a new healthy lifestyle can make us prioritize a strict workout routine and a new diet, however if we are not getting enough sleep, it will be difficult to see results, and your efforts to accomplish your fitness goals might not work as you want.

A new research found that uninterrupted sleep helps to achieve our goals and will make for an effective routine, when we are introducing our body to healthier foods and a new workout regimen.

“Focusing on obtaining good sleep - seven to nine hours at night with a regular wake time along with waking refreshed and being alert throughout the day - may be an important behavior that helps people stick with their physical activity and dietary modification goals,” said Dr Christopher E. Kline.

Sleep© GettyImages

The research took into consideration 125 adults intending to lose weight. “Although we did not intervene on sleep health in this study, these results suggest that optimizing sleep may lead to better lifestyle modification adherence,” Kline stated.

It was also discovered that better sleep helped individuals to adapt to a new schedule, including physical activity and food intake. “This was a great example showing how sleep isn’t just tied to weight itself, it’s tied to the things we’re doing to help manage our own weight,” Dr Michael A. Grandner said.

© GettyImages

“This could be because sleep impacts the things that drive hunger and cravings, your metabolism and your ability to regulate metabolism and the ability to make healthy choices in general,“ he continued, ”Studies like this really go to show that all of these things are connected, and sometimes sleep is the thing that we can start taking control over that can help open doors to other avenues of health.“