Sleep deprivation causes hormonal imbalance. And that imbalance will push you to find energy in other ways. And what is the easiest way to gain energy? Food. Your body will begin to make you understand that you are hungry because it requires energy. That's why you get so hungry when you're tired or haven't slept well after a night out.

On top of that when you are low on sleep, you’re less able to burn off calories and you won't have the motivation to do sport sessions. You start understanding that not getting enough sleep can turn very quickly into a double whammy for you. Especially since it's not often the healthiest food you want to eat when you're tired.

But that's not all. Did you know that you can burn more calories when you are asleep than when you are just lying in bed. Recently it has been shown that the body burns more calories in REM sleep than in any other stage of sleep. During REM sleep your brain is the more active. In fact it can be more active than when you are awake. 

The thing is that we experience more REM sleep as we move deeper into our sleep cycles. So if you get short sleep periods then you will cut off your sleep cycles, you won't get enough REM sleep and lose the benefit associated to it.

Sleep loss affects weight loss from your ability to burn calories to the food choices you make. Frankly, of all the sacrifices you have to make to lose weight, sleeping well is still the one that requires the least effort while it’s the foundation for all of your efforts. So start with a commitment to sleeping better and you will see improvement without changing anything else.

The Circular ring can help you to undertand your sleep and improve it in the long term. The ring automatically detects your sleep cycle length, assesses how you respond to your current sleep schedule by analyzing several biometrics and parameters that reflect your energy such as your heart rate variability, resting heart rate, temperature, your sleep quality, your time to fall asleep, your activities, etc... and recommend you the perfect duration you need to sleep and how to improve its quality.

You can also read our post on Sleep better and fall asleep faster.

Scientific sources:

• Rapid Eye Movement Sleep in Relation to Overweight in Children and Adolescents. Xianchen Liu, MD, PhD, Erika E. Forbes, PhD, Neal D. Ryan, MD, Dana Rofey, PhD, Tamara S. Hannon, MD, and Ronald E. Dahl, MD. 2009 Aug.
• Percentage of REM sleep is associated with overnight change in leptin. Christy A. Olson, Nancy A. Hamilton,  Virend K. Somers. 2016 February.
• Sleep deprivation and obesity in adults: a brief narrative review. Cooper CB, Neufeld EV, Dolezal BA, Martin JL. BMJ open sport & exercise medicine. 2018 Oct.
• Sleep restriction leads to increased activation of brain regions sensitive to food stimuli.St-Onge MP, McReynolds A, Trivedi ZB, Roberts AL, Sy M, Hirsch J. The American journal of clinical nutrition. 2012 Apr.