Wake up hotter tomorrow with these nocturnal calorie burners
You may have tried every trick in the book to burn calories during the day, from a hard-core diet plan and a serious exercise regime to one of those treadmill desks at work. But are you still frittering away seven hours or so of submaximal calorie burn? A recent study at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, found that those who simply went to bed earlier, thereby cutting their waking calorie-eating hours from 14 to 11, lost 3.5 percent of their body fat in just six weeks. And that’s not the only way to maximize your downtime. Use these clues to lose while you snooze.
1. Throw Out the Night-Light
Exposure to light at night doesn’t just interrupt your chances of a great night’s sleep, it may also result in weight gain according to a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Study subjects who slept in the darkest rooms were 21 percent less likely to be obese than those sleeping in the lightest rooms.
2. Let in the Cold
A study published in the journal Diabetes suggests that turning down the heat in winter may enhance the effectiveness of our stores of brown fat—a type of cell
that keeps you warm by helping you burn through the fat stored in your belly. Participants spent a few weeks sleeping in bedrooms with varying temperatures: a neutral 75 degrees, a cool 66 degrees, and a balmy 81 degrees. After four weeks of sleeping at 66 degrees, the subjects had almost doubled their volumes of brown fat. (And yes, that means they lost belly fat.)
3. Boost Before Bed
Having a protein shake before hitting the sack may boost your metabolism, according to one Florida State University study. Researchers found that men who consumed an evening snack that included 30 grams of protein had a higher resting metabolic rate the next morning than those who ate nothing.
4. Eat More Whole Grains
“Serotonin converts to melatonin in your stage-3 REM sleep, and serotonin is sourced from whole-grain complex carbohydrates,” says Cat Smiley, owner of the weight-loss retreat Whistler Fitness Vacations. About 20 grams of insoluble fiber is important to
enable you to sleep, so aim to eat that daily, and you’ll ensure you can convert enough serotonin to sleep well.
5. Take a Hot Shower
“A hot shower can increase the level of oxytocin—a ‘love’ hormone released by your brain—which can be very soothing,” says Julia Falamas, director of programming and operations at Epic Hybrid Training fitness studio. The heat from the shower also gives your body temperature a lift, resulting in a quick drop in temp when you get out and towel off, a dip that helps relax your entire system and induce sleep.
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