Rather than fight against the current and continue to try to impress on people that in the long run it’s better to concentrate on eating healthily and adding in a sustainable exercise routine, rather than worrying solely about bodyfat. I’ve decided to give people what they want and put together Ten Simple Ways to Lose Fat. The caveat is that these 10 simple methods are all safe and sensible and in no way detrimental to health.

Sleep

How many times have you been told to get a good nights sleep to help you with whatever problem is facing you at that moment?

Whether it’s a break-up, an exam, an interview, a hangover or just a busy time. Get some sleep.

Fatloss is simple

Losing fat is no different. Sleep helps. Not only that, for many people, it could be the secret ingredient…

Down-regulated metabollic rate from lack of sleep

It would seem to be a fair assumption, that burning the candle at both ends would lead to more calories being burned (whether exercising or not) and thus more fatloss. Simply put, if you are awake longer, you’ll use more Calories.

Surprisingly (and sadly for many) this is not true. Actually, the metabolic rate is down-regulated with less sleep. When we consistently get a less than around 8hrs sleep a night, our bodies burn calories at a slower rate to preserve energy to help us cope with the excess rigours of longer days.

Sleep more, burn more Calories

Studies have actually shown that (on average) people burn around 400 MORE Calories by sleeping for 3 more hours each night. With less sleep, the body seeks to meet the increased metabolic needs of longer days by sort of shifting into a lower gear. That means the body burns fewer calories and less fat, if you are exercising and dieting hard, you could be wasting your time if you are then not sleeping. The two could be cancelling each other out!

Sleep for success

If you want to burn fat, preserve muscle and wake up feeling less hungry when you are dieting and training hard, sleep more. Studies suggest that 7-8hours is the minimum effective dose and in fact, 8.5 hours a night is ideal for ensuring the body stays a fat burning, metabollic machine.

Again, as I’ve said in previous Ten Simple Ways to Lose Fat blog posts, you need an understanding of your nutritional needs (The Ration Pack Diet) and a good resistance based training programme to really get on top of fatloss, but these tips on sleep can help too!

Follow my Ten Simple Ways to Lose Fat blogs for more ways you can easily start to burn bodyfat.