Don't allow lack of sleep to keep you from reaching your fat loss goals!

Commuting to work this morning I fell asleep twice, barely able to keep my eyes open. One time so embarrassed as I had accidentally rested my head on the poor young lady next to me with my mouth wide open before being woken by the bus driver slamming his foot on the brake!

After managing only 5 hours sleep last night, and minimal sleep every other night prior to this, it suddenly occurred to me that lack of sleep is holding me back from dropping more fat! How many other people are in the same boat as me? How many people are frustrated that their fat loss has plateaued and haven't made any real changes for a while now?

So today I want to quickly outline some important points that serve as a great reminder for us ALL to get back on a good sleep schedule!

We all know that sleep is important. But how does this affect our ability to achieve fat loss?

1. Sleep "recharges" your system
2. Sleep decreases stress hormones
3. Sleep reduces fatigue

Things you might not know about restful sleep:

1. Sleep protects your brain from toxicity damage and even debilitating diseases like Alzheimer's later on in life
2. During sleep the brain clears out potential harmful waste the builds up during the day as it's difficult for the brain to perform this during the day while already over-active and preoccupied with performing every day tasks.

Lack of restful sleep affects our fat loss because we are less likely to perform well during our training sessions. We feel weak and unmotivated because we're tired. We take longer to recover in between sets and after the session may experience prolonged muscle soreness that lasts longer than usual. Our endurance suffers and our lack of concentration affects our coordination making us more susceptible to injuries.

How can we achieve fat loss if the intensity and quality isn't there during our workouts? We can't!

If you want to achieve greater fat loss AND keep your brain healthy and free of toxins, strive for:

1. 7 - 8 hours of sleep each night.
2. Supplement with Magnesium, Melatonin and/or GABA to ease the mind and relax the muscles in your body.
3. Set yourself a sleep schedule, just like you set your work and training schedule. For example go to bed at 10pm, read for 1/2 hour, lights out at 10:30pm. Set your alarm for 6:30am the following day.
4. No stimulants such as coffee after 3pm. You get the idea. Friday, Saturday chances are you'll have a slip up but that's OK! Just aim to get better at sticking to your sleep schedule.

Nothing-new there, but this little reminder just may cause you to make it more of a priority! I know it will for me!