When trying to lose weight, many find it helpful to assess their daily and nightly routines to see if they are further promoting a healthy diet. Even if you are eating well, hydrating and exercising often, you still need to develop an adequate sleep schedule in order to lose weight healthily. We spoke with experts who helped compile 3 very common and fixable mistakes you might be making without realizing every night that could greatly impact your weight loss progress. Read on for tips from weight loss expert and counselor Abdullah Shubayr, registered dietitian and nutritionist Nicole Goodrich, MS, RDN, LDN, CHWC, and Blanca Garcia, registered dietitian, nutritionist and health expert.
1. Eating Dinner Inconsistently Pre-Bedtime.
The main mistake most people make with weight loss, experts note, is not having consistent meal times and a steady schedule. If you eat dinner one night at 5 p.m. and at 9 the next, for example, your body will have trouble adjusting to inconsistency.
If one is about to go to bed but “dinner was 4-5 hours ago,” Goodrich says, “we might find ourselves getting hungry again.” She stresses that “making a bedtime routine that stimulates the body at specific times is best.” Goodrich notes that a major mistake is not allowing for a 12-hour fast overnight for healthy weight loss. “A 12-hour fast can lead to a decrease in insulin that aids in fat burning, she says. “This type of fasting is one of the easiest to follow—pick your timing based around your schedule.” (For example, you can do 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. or 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.)
“It's important to give your body enough time to digest food before going to sleep, so eating too close to bedtime can interfere with your sleep and hinder your weight loss efforts,” says Shubayr, noting that at the beginning you can “try to eat at least two hours before bedtime.”
2. Screen Time Right Before Bed
Many of us don’t see the harm in scrolling our Instagram feeds one last time or sending a few emails before hitting the sheets. Long-term effects, and lacking to develop a “winding-down schedule” can wreck havoc on our weight loss progress, however, that many might not be aware of. “Screen time can interfere with your sleep quality and keep you up later than you intended,” Shubayr says, suggesting to “try winding down for 30 minutes before bed without any screens” and you'll “likely sleep better.”
Goodrich agrees, noting that our bodies need 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night not just for rest, but also for assisting in controlling our food intake. “Screen time and social media scrolling keeps us up and engaged [when we should be resting],” Goodrich notes.
“Turn your smartphone on bedtime mode and place it out of sight,” she advises. “Pick up a book, stretch or relax in a hot bath and then hit the sheets— you want to try to get the same schedule every night.”
3. Staying Up Late and Not Resting Enough
Skipping out on sleep can sabotage your weight loss efforts, as it can lead to cravings and overeating the next day, Shubayr says, adding to “aim for at least 7 hours of sleep per night” when starting to create a consistent schedule “to keep your metabolism functioning optimally.”
Garcia says that “what most people don’t know is that you can gain weight from not sleeping enough.” Not getting your regular full hours of sleep causes stress in your body, she says, and this “kickstarts the stress hormones that cause weight gain.” When thinking about dinner ideas that can help you sleep, Garcia suggests prioritizing fiber, as it “helps maintain blood sugar levels at night as well as aiding with the bulking of bowel movements.”
Overall, this mistake of losing sleep can easily be caused by the previous two in this list—eating dinner at inconsistent times and lots of screen time before bed. In order to promote healthy weight loss, it’s important to see if you frequently do any of these before sleeping, and to correct them while also eating healthily, drinking plenty of water and exercising regularly. We all need our beauty sleep, and it certainly helps with weight loss!
