If you’re a perfectly healthy individual with a balanced diet and healthy sleep schedule, congratulations!
Now, if you’re like the rest of us mortals, you probably feel that maintaining all the rules to a healthy lifestyle is difficult – especially during evenings. As you come back to your comfy home after a long day, all you want is to give in to your cravings, relax and enjoy everything you love (that’s usually unhealthy).
A recent study taken by The Salk Institute concluded that most of us are eating several mini-meals on a daily basis. Therefore, scientists believe that the best way to avoid nighttime snacking is to simply adopt a healthy sleep ritual and some mealtime changes.
To prove their theory, experts asked people who ate over the course of 14 hours a day to cut their eating time to 11 hours a day and sleep for the remaining 3 hours. After just 16 weeks, subjects lost approximately 3.5% of their body weight.
Therefore, we can say that sleeping more can literally help you lose unwanted pounds!
Sleeping is one of the most basic activities, but many of us are having trouble actually performing it successfully. Nutrition plays a huge role in improving our sleep quality and it only takes a couple of small changes to make a big difference.
Today, I’ll share 3 simple tips that help you sleep better and stay on the right track with your weight loss journey:
Complex carbs play a key role in the digestion process – but did you know it’s better to eat them during lunchtime than with dinner? Cat Smiley, owner of Whistler Fitness Vacation, says that serotonin comes from whole-grain complex carbohydrates. This hormone is converting to melatonin in your stage 3 REM sleep. This is why it’s not recommended to have carbs right before sleep, but rather at lunchtime or even breakfast.
Another tip is to consume 20 grams of insoluble fiber every day, as it helps you to sleep. This would equal to two pieces of whole grain sprouted bread or a cup of brown rice, both of which are simple to get, affordable and healthy.
One Florida State University study found that enjoying an even snack with 30 grams of protein leads to a higher metabolic rate the next morning compared to eating nothing. Getting the right amount of protein via healthy sources boosts digestion and helps to break down calories, thus aiding in the weight loss process.
I know this may be heartbreaking, especially since our post about antioxidant-rich foods taught us how healthy dark chocolate is. However, eating chocolate during evening hours may alter your sleep quality.
This delicious treat contains about 40-50 mg of caffeine per 40-gram serving, Consumer Lab reports. An average 70% dark chocolate bar contains about 70 mg of caffeine, while a cup of coffee has 145 mg. Therefore, it’s best to stick to enjoying this treat during the first part of your day.
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