[Housewife in her 50s] Lost 5kg in 1 month by changing sleep duration | The deep connection between diet and sleep
I'm Tsubame🕊️
Since I started a 4-hour-a-day part-time job, my lifestyle habits changed, and I lost 5kg in one month.
And now, having passed the New Year period when weight is a concern, I am in my third month and my weight has stabilized at a loss of 6 to 7kg.
Regarding one of those new lifestyle habits: 'sleep duration'.
I was originally a night owl, going to bed after 2:00 AM and waking up at 6:00 AM, averaging 4 hours of sleep.
I worked full-time for many years, and for about 20 years I lived a life of almost solo parenting while managing housework and childcare, so I was sleep-deprived every day.
Child-rearing has finally settled down and I have more free time, but I enjoyed my alone time after the family went to sleep, so I would end up watching YouTube or surfing the internet until late...
But as soon as I started my part-time job, I couldn't fight the intense sleepiness that would hit me, and I kept falling asleep around 10:00 PM and sleeping soundly.
Although my bedtime varies depending on the day, here is the general change in my bedtime.
✅Before part-time job: Bedtime 2:00 AM -> Wake up 6:00 AM
Sleep duration 4 hours
✅After part-time job: Bedtime 10:00 PM -> Wake up 6:00 AM
Sleep duration 8 hours
When I sleep soundly for 8 hours, I wake up feeling refreshed and clear in the morning✨
'So this is how refreshing mornings are!☀️'
It was a feeling I had forgotten for decades.
Being able to welcome the morning comfortably was a big enough gain, but I never expected that my weight would also decrease.
I looked into the relationship between sleep duration and dieting, and
generally, it seems that 7 to 8 hours of sleep is effective for dieting.
It is said that you burn approximately 1 kcal per 1 kg of body weight for every hour of sleep.
Example: For a 50kg person, 4 hours of sleep = 200 kcal burned. 8 hours of sleep = 400 kcal burned, which is double.
(This is just a rough estimate; there are individual differences based on weight, age, physical condition, etc.)
Furthermore, burning about 200 kcal is equivalent to 30 minutes of light jogging, so 400 kcal would be like jogging for an hour.
(This is just a rough estimate; there are individual differences based on weight, age, speed, etc.)
Isn't it amazing that you are exercising while you sleep?
Many people work side jobs at night after their main job, or are simply too busy with work or housework to secure enough sleep.
However, if you can go to bed even 30 minutes earlier each day, that makes a difference of 750 kcal in a month.
The numbers are small, but it would be wonderful if your body changed through small habits that accumulate over time.
It's a 'calorie savings account that builds up automatically without having to try hard'!
Even if you think 'dieting is impossible,' you might still improve your health.
Why not review your lifestyle habits and try increasing your sleep time just a little bit?
Looking forward to the changes one month from now.