Unfortunately, only 40% Americans get 6 hours of sleep per night. And cranky attitude, groggy mornings are not the only side-effects of insufficient sleep –missing out on sleep can also result in weight gain. In fact, researchers have found that people who sleep less than 7 hours are heavier, gain weight faster, and have more difficulty in losing weight!

If you are planning to lose weight, then good night sleep is as important as hitting the gym. Check out the below mentioned reasons to tap the snooze button and get more sleep:

It Prevents You From Late Night Snacking

The longer you stay awake, the more likely you are to eat food that you do not need, which can result in weight gain. Take dinner early and try not to eat anything after dinner. Early to bed, early to rise is a good habit.

It Helps You Burn More Calories

Not only you will have more energy to kick start your day after a proper sleep, but your body also torches calories, even when you are not working out. The amount of calories you will burn after giving proper rest to your body will be 5% more than working out with tired body.

It Accelerate Fat Loss

Even if you are following the same diet as your friend and you are not getting enough sleep, you won’t be able lose weight as much as your friend who sleeps properly. Researches show that diet plans work better on people who sleep 8 hours a day.

It Encourages Portion Control

Sleep-starved people add extra calories without even knowing. On the other hand, people who take proper sleep, eat food in the right quantity.

It Helps You in Keeping Your Brain Focused

Your brain works in different manner without sleep. Researchers performed brain scans on people who experience daytime sleepiness and calculated their brain activity in response to high calorie foods. The scan revealed that sleep deprived people lure towards unhealthy food more.

So, these are the reasons why sleep deprived people do not get desired weight loss result as compared to people who sleep eight-hours a day.

How to Burn Stubborn Body Fat

Do you know that some fat cells are extremely resistant to being burned and mobilized? Do you know that stubborn fat cells tend to accrue in the belly, thigh and hips? Do you know that stubborn fat is difficult to burn? Well, still with right diet plan and workout routine, it is possible to burn stubborn fat. Attempting to burn stubborn fat by exercising more and eating can make stubborn fat more stubborn. You will have to work with the right combination of diet and exercise to burn stubborn fat.

Proven ways to lose stubborn fat

Burning stubborn fat is about exercise and diet. Losing stubborn fat is not just possible, but probable, if you know what you are doing. The very first thing you need to understand about stubborn fat is that this fat is different from other fat. In stubborn fat the density of alpha-receptors are high as compared to betas. Thus stubborn fat is more sensitive to insulin, and receives less blood flow.

Exercises to lose stubborn fat

Aerobics: If cardiovascular activities are performed at moderate intensity and for longer duration, help burning stubborn fat. You need to perform cardio on the regular basis to see the results.

Interval training: High intensity interval training if performed with slower periods, burns more fat than steady pace exercises. Interval training provides faster results. You can see the results within 2 weeks.

Cross-training: Combination of several exercises is very effective in burning stubborn fat.

Resistance training: Resistance training burns calories and increases metabolism at the same time. It improves the insulin resistance and thus helps in burning stubborn fat.

Diet to lose stubborn fat

Recalculate your calorie needs: In order to burn stubborn fat, you need to consume fewer calories.

Eat small frequent meals: Instead of eating 3 big meals, eat 6 small meals a day.

Eliminate all processed food: Processed food is not recommended when you are working hard to burn stubborn fat. Eat fruits and vegetables instead.

Drink a lot of water: If your water intake is less, your body stores water as much as it can. This results in bloating. Thus, drink plenty of water.