Sleep certainly is not one of the first things you think about when you want to lose weight, but in truth, getting sufficient sleep is an important component of any weight loss program. It helps your body to function well - and it also helps fight against one of the natural causes of belly fat: cortisol. Let's take a closer look at this.
When you get enough sleep, you lower your stress level considerably. When we have higher levels of stress, it triggers a chemical reaction inside of us that puts us into a type of "survival" mode. At this time, our bodies make a chemical known as cortisol - and it directly affects your belly fat. Cortisol basically tells us to save up fat stores for the “difficult times ahead”.
Most people today have some elements of stress in their lives. Social, financial, personal and other obligations put stress on us. The incessant bombardment of informations and advertisments, “self-imposed famines" that we call “dieting”, and a whole lot more all contribute to making our stress levels high - and as a result enlarging our waist lines - than ever before. Belly fat cortisol production sky rockets inside of us due to stress.
If you want to shrink your belly fat, one thing you need to focus on doing is to simply relax and slow down. Allow your body the rest and time it needs to produce endorphins (the feel-good chemicals that you want instead of belly fat cortisol). Having more endorphins inside you contributes to your feeling more content and upbeat about everything - including your dieting success.
Getting enough sleep is also incredibly important for those of you who are involved in regular exercise routines. Your body gets time to repair itself when you sleep.
Those achy muscles from strength training are caused by tiny tears in your muscle tissues, and sleep allows your muscles to rebuild them stronger than before. Those “rebuilt” muscles are part of the increased lean muscle mass in your body, and the more lean muscle mass you have, the faster your body burns calories, even while at rest.
Getting enough sleep is not always easy or enjoyable. According to most studies on the matter, most people do not get even close to the 7 to 10 hours your body requires. And if you want to get that lean body and fight belly fat cortisol, be sure to get enough sleep to ward off weight gain.
How do you be sure that you are getting an adequate amount of sleep? Why not do a quick review of how many hours of sleep you are getting on a regular basis. If it isn’t much, try to determine what is keeping you up.
Video games, television, computer time, caffeine, and more all act as stimulants that keep you awake when you could be getting that valuable sleep. Some quick tips for enhancing your sleep time are to avoid caffeine of any kind after noon, do some yoga or stretching, journal about the stress in your life or chat with a trusted friend.
It is entirely too easy to get addicted to sleeping pills or aids, so be sure to discuss this with your physician if you are considering their usage.
Another great way to encourage good sleeping habits is to make your bedroom a peaceful, quiet room. Use some cheap foam earplugs if you are a light sleeper, get some heavy curtains to keep out the light in the early morning hours, wind down with a good book or a cup of chamomile tea, or with personal devotions.
These are all ways your “belly fat one rule” of getting enough sleep will work for you, how you can ward off the build up of belly fat, cortisol production, and more.
Author Resource:
There are several foods that reduce belly fat that you can add to your diet plan to help you lose inches with minimal effort. Getting enough sleep is only one of aspect in a successful diet! Find out the others at http://www.curebellyfatnow.com
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/rss.jpg "XML Feed For RSS")