Many people are concerned about weight loss and management. And why not?
After all, it is the root cause of several and severe diseases. A pragmatic solution for successful and sustainable weight loss can have all clues in preparing a ‘do everything right at night’ list and sticking to it.
Have quality sleep
There is no way to undermine the effects of good quality of sleep at night. It is a good way to press pounds and get back to your slimmer avatar. No matter how much calorie cut you make in your daily diet chart, how many miles you walk, and how long you exercise, nothing will bear fruits if you don’t have enough quality sleep every night.
Enjoy a cup of tea
What to eat at night to lose weight? Well, eat light dinner, and just before bedtime, feel relaxed with a cup of rooibos tea. Grown exclusively and extensively in South America, Rooibos tea is naturally decaffeinated and extracted from the “red bush” leaves. It helps to burn belly fat. According to researchers, Aspalathin, a unique and powerful agent present in rooibos tea, can indirectly curb food craving and fat storage by reducing stress hormone secretion.
Increase your tryptophan intake
Tryptophan is an amino acid. Most meats are rich sources of tryptophan. Researchers have discovered that the agent produces strong sleep-inducing effects. According to a study on insomniacs, only ¼ gram – this much is easily found in a skinless chicken drumstick – can significantly increase and improve hours of sound sleep. The study demonstrated that three ounces of lean turkey meat would produce the same result. As deep sleep and slimming are intimately related, you can easily realize what loading up on tryptophan could do for you.
Eat cottage cheese
It’s a myth that skipping food before sleep accelerates weight loss. In reality, it might derail your goals of pound shedding. Rumbling tummy makes it difficult to catch sleep. Furthermore, you might wake up craving for food and tend to gorge on a tummy-bursting breakfast. Choose cottage cheese before going to bed. It contains digestion-slowing casein protein and also amino acid tryptophan, a sleep-promoting agent.
Enjoy a protein shake
Delicious shakes are a cool favorite these days and often find a place among the breakfast items. Researchers from Florida University have recently found out that the subjects, who consumed 30 grams of casein protein or whey as snacks in the evening, had a higher resting metabolic rate than those who ate nothing. Protein yields more energy than carbohydrates or fat, which means your body needs to burn calories to digest it.
Observe a 20-minute rule
If a 20-minute chilling out will get you nowhere, give up the comfort of your bed, come out of the room and do something that you can do without any intrusion in others’ sleep. You may read a book, flip through a magazine, or do other things. However, watching TV won’t be a good idea as it might disturb others and won’t make it easier for you to sink into a deep slumber.
Relax yourself
Nothing could be more frustrating than changing postures and yet failing to doze off when the night is slowly dragging to a new dawn. If reading books or doing some cool activities for a few minutes offers no help, comfort yourself by repeating that having some rest will keep your body and mind relaxed, and rekindle your energy. Once you get rid of frustration about your failure to catch sleep, it will come automatically without any effort from your end.
Practice some bodyweight exercises
Workout before bedtime? Yes, that helps a lot. Bodyweight exercises such as pull-ups, push-ups, dips, and squats target muscles in a unique and effective way. These make you feel relaxed and help you doze off quickly.
Do resistance training
Pre-sleep resistance training is an effective way to optimize the amount of sleep-induced weight loss. According to a study published in International Journal of Sport Nutrition, the subjects of the study, who performed resistance exercises, experienced a much higher resting metabolic rate for 16 hours (on average) after their workout. If you do a regular workout in the morning, the spike in metabolism will have no impact on sleep-induced weight loss.
Take a bath
A UCLA study on some of the last remaining hunter-gatherers in the world suggested that temperature drop was an important sleep trigger for our Paleolithic ancestors. The civilized ‘we’ don’t sleep under the star-studded sky amidst the calmness offered by nature around. However, you can recreate the magic feel by taking a hot shower before bedtime. It will help you fall asleep faster and enjoy some pound-pressing shut-eye better.
Make a must-do list
Thoughts of the next-day activities envelope your brain in such a way, and these never allow you to get into the comfort zone for 8-hour quality relaxation. Make a note of the most important to-do things for the next day and leave some room for deep refreshment and nourishment of your body and soul.