This is the guide to losing weight and being SMART about what to do before going to bed on a diet.
So if you want:
Start sleeping with better metabolism.
Continue to burn calories throughout the night.
Maintain the body you worked so hard.
Then you’ll love these actionable steps discussed below.
Let’s dive in.
START INTERMITTENT FASTING
Let’s start with the best method.
Why is this method the best? Glad you asked.
Because this method does NOT require you to exercise.
Here’s how Intermittent Fasting basically works.
You start fasting 4 hrs before going to bed in the evening, you sleep for 8 hrs, you DON’T eat breakfast right away when you wake up the next morning, but wait till you’re hungry enough to eat around what would normally be your lunch time.
Now you’ve fasted for 16-18 hrs and you will only eat during the remaining hours. So you’re packing your feeding period into much smaller segment of the day instead of spreading to 3+ times in a day that our culture has taught us to do.
The bottom line is we are overeating with our 3 meals a day culture. We don’t need to be eating so frequently throughout the day, and when we do, we lose some of the health benefits that come from fasting.
The key take away is if you’re actively working out now, at least stop eating 3-4 hrs before going to bed.
CONSUME CASEIN PROTEIN BEFORE GOING TO BED
This advice is contrary to tip #1 but it’s ok because this one is for you folks who are actively working out with weights.
When you lift weights, your muscle mass increase. And when your muscle mass increase, your BMR or your Basal Metabolic Rate gets better.
In other words, the more muscle mass you increase, the more efficiently you burn throughout the day even during your rest period
When you consume casein protein at night, it slowly releases amino acids to your body and helps you with protein synthesis.
This will help you maintain your muscle mass so that your BMR continues to increase.
DO A NIGHTTIME WORK OUT
Your workout does not have to be just before bed time, but if you engage in weight training, your fat will continue to burn throughout the night and it won’t distract you from falling asleep.
a 2013 survey from the National Sleep Foundation found that active people are 56 to 67 percent more likely to say they usually get a good night’s sleep—no matter what time of day they exercise.
TAKE A HOT BATH & COLD SHOWER
If you take a hot bath at night, you’ll sweat off your calories.
So why not give it a try?
GO TO BED EARLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF BURNING MORE CALORIES
One little known fact is that people lose calories while sleeping. So by simply sleeping more hours throughout the night, you will burn more calories.
For example, “Someone who weighs 150 lbs will scorch 95 calories per hour at least, and if you weigh 115 you will burn 42 calories in that exact hour.” See more: Why A Good Nights Sleep is Great for Weight Loss.
The math is that you burn 0.42 calories per pound per hour. So if 150 lbs burns 0.42 per lbs, that means he/she burns 63 calories per hour. If that person sleeps 8 hrs, then 8 x 63 is 504 calories in the evening.
NOT BAD.
So start going to bed early and simply sleep longer.
