6 Bedtime Habits That Can Help You Lose Weight

What if you could lose weight by simply switching up your bedtime routine? Sounds too good to be true? Well it isn't.

Research has proven that getting a better night's sleep can help you lose weight and surprisingly it's one of the most effective methods!

Likewise, your bedtime routine can massively impact your health and making some simple lifestyle changes in the evening can even help you shed the pounds.

Apply these simple tricks to your bedtime routine and you could lose weight:

Bedtime Yoga

Night-time yoga is a great way of allowing your body to completely relax before bed. Incorporating deep breathing into your yoga moves can also activate your parasympathetic nervous system to reduce tension and therefore help you fall asleep better.

Avoid Nightcaps

Drinking alcohol before you go to bed can interfere with your quality of sleep, this is because your body has to break down the sugar in alcohol whilst you sleep - so your body cannot completely rest! A study at the University of Melbourne also said that the disruptions to the brain's wave patterns after a night of drinking is similar to those induces by mild electric shocks! So best to avoid that nightcap in future.

Winding Down Time

Ensuring that you have around 30 minutes to wind down on your own before bed, proves for a better night's sleep. Incorporating relaxing activities, such as reading, into your bedtime routine can help protect your sleep and energy.

Load Up On Dairy

Drinking or eating dairy before bedtime can help fight midnight hunger pangs, which means you'll be less likely to get up and snack in the night. Dairy before bed, also helps build muscle in your sleep, and building muscle is the best way to increase your metabolic rate and burn calories. So why not try drinking a glass of milk or eating a portion of natural yoghurt before bed?

Turn Down Your Heating

Turning down your central heating before bed can make falling asleep easier. Sleeping in a cool room also helps speed up your metabolism, as your body produces a healthy fat in cool temperatures - this fat helps to burn calories while you generate body heat.

Turn Off The Lights

A study from the University of Oxford showed that women who slept in the darkest rooms were 21% less likely to be obese than women who slept in lighter rooms. This is because light can cut down your body's production of melatonin which interferes with sleep quality.