5 ways to lose weight while you sleep

Losing weight is not easy. From eating right to staying physically active, weight loss journey is no cakewalk. But you will be surprised to know that something as relaxing as sleeping can also help you shed kilos. Yes, you read that right.

If you weigh yourself at night and then again in the morning, you will notice that you weigh less in the morning. This is because you lose water weight through breathing and sweating.

Even when the body rests, organs and bodily systems do not switch off. The working of the organs consumes calories. Thus, poor night sleep cannot just make you cranky but it can also make you gain weight.

Sleeping less than eight hours can increase stress levels and the hormone cortisol. A spike in cortisol levels can negatively affect the microbes in your gut. A disbalance in the microbe levels ultimately slows down the metabolism. Loss of sleep can also disrupt the hunger hormones, making you more likely to eat junk food. This leads to a spike in blood sugar, which can lead to weight gain and other complications.

Studies have highlighted the fact that just one night of bad sleep can slow down metabolism the next day, reducing the energy expenditure by 20 per cent.

Tips to keep burning calories through the night while you sleep:Studies have highlighted the fact that just one night of bad sleep can slow down metabolism the next day, reducing the energy expenditure by 20 per cent.

Tips to keep burning calories through the night while you sleep:

Lifting weight can boost your metabolism for up to 16 hours. The findings of the study are published in a paper titled "The effect of morning vs evening exercise training on glycaemic control and serum metabolites in overweight/obese men: a randomised trial". Low nocturnal glucose levels were observed in participants who trained in the evening.

The slow-release protein is gradually digested over eight hours and keeps your metabolic fires burning through the night.

Casein is a slow-digesting dairy protein that is consumed as a supplement. It releases amino acids slowly and people take it before bed to help with recovery and reduce muscle breakdown while sleeping.

Taking a bath from ice water flushes out lactic acid after the gym. Brown fat is metabolically active and helps burn calories, but we have less brown fat. A 30-second freeze is all it takes to activate your body's brown adipose tissue or brown fat. When fired up, it melts as much as an extra 400 calories in bed. Brown fat is stored in the back of your neck and shoulders.

The flavonoids in green tea can boost your metabolism. Having three cups of green tea can help you burn 3.5 per cent more calories when you sleep.

When on Intermittent fasting, the body exhausts its sugar stores and starts burning fat. This is referred to as metabolic switching. The practice of consciously having calorie-free blocks of time throughout your day or week, intermittent fasting is a popular diet plan that helps people drop kilos.