We need 7-9 hours of sleep! Sleeping less than 5 hours or having poor quality sleep interferes with your metabolism and contributes to weight gain. These are some examples:
-when you are tired you crave energy dense food and eat bigger portions. You don’t feel like exercising or cooking so you end up having a take away which is too rich and it affects your next nights sleep. You are in a vicious cycle.
-also, your brain makes bad decisions, has less impulse control and looks for something that feels good.
-too little sleep raises cortisol and this stress hormone tells your body to contain energy and hold on to fat.
-sleep duration also affects hunger hormones and stimulates appetite
