Hello darling! 

When we think of body transformation, losing excess body fat and creating a strong body, sleep isn’t usually at the top of our list. We usually think about food and exercise, don’t we?

But sleep is not a luxury when it comes to body transformation. It is one of the most powerful foundations of a healthy metabolism, balanced hormones, and a body that can naturally release excess weight, both body fat and water retention. 

In this post we are going to discuss the 10 reasons why poor sleep is sabotaging your weight loss efforts (even if you’re doing everything right), and then I’ll give you the exact step-by-step guide on how to heal your sleep. 

I wrote a sleep ebook which goes into more detail. I cover sleep environment, melatonin, meditation, EMFs, caffeine and more. There’s a sleep checklist at the back of the book which you can print off and keep handy for as long as you need.

How Sleep Deprivation Affects Losing Body Fat 

I came across this old photo when I used to fly with Virgin many years ago!

We flew home from a 3-nighter in Antigua, Halloween 😂

Seeing the size of my tummy reminded me that I was tired A LOT of the time, mainly due to alcohol consumption, so I never got true quality rest.

I had terrible sleeping patterns, alcohol, eating sugar and wheat at all hours of the day and night.

My skin was awful

I was bloated all the time

My emotions were up and down

I loved flying, but it wrecked my health.

The biggest thing that I learned was that SLEEP DRIVES EVERYTHING!

Poor sleep increases the hunger hormone Ghrelin. You literally can’t fight it. Will power only took me so far, it was such a struggle.

I didn’t have any kind of exercise routine as I always felt tired. No motivation. Lethargic.

I packed on 19 POUNDS in 5 months 🫣

Have you ever noticed that when you don’t sleep well, you have insane cravings?

Related reading:

• About Sam
• The Ultimate Morning Routine for Fat Loss over 40
• Why Doing Less Attracts More: 6 Secrets to Real Body Transformation (it’s not what you think)

10 Reasons Poor Sleep Can Cause Weight Gain

1. Increased Hunger Hormones (Ghrelin)

When you don’t sleep enough, the body produces more ghrelin, which is the hormone that stimulates hunger. If you battle with cravings, poor sleep is one of the reasons that not many of us think about. We often blame cravings on not having enough willpower or being hormonal, but it’s most commonly down to poor sleep too. 

Tired = cravings = overeat sugar = fat gain

2. Reduced Fullness Hormone (Leptin)

Sleep deprivation reduces leptin, which is the hormone that signals to the brain that you’re full.

We often struggle to recognise when it’s time to stop eating. It’s not until I say “I’m so full I could burst” that I’ll put the fork down! By the time this happens, the damage is already done.

3. Increased Cravings for Sugar and Carbs

Lack of sleep affects the brain’s reward centre.
You crave quick energy foods like sugar, bread, pasta and processed snacks.

Your brain is trying to compensate for low energy.

4. Elevated Cortisol (Stress Hormone)

Poor sleep increases cortisol levels, which tells the body to store fat. This is one of the things I have noticed during a stressful period of my life. 

When I feel stressed for prolonged periods of time, I’ll always develop a belly. At severe times of stress and I’m not eating much, I still have had a big belly. Maybe you can relate to this in yourself, or you’ve seen someone with slim arms and legs but has a tummy, “skinny-Fat”, that’s cortisol belly. 

Lack of sleep IS a stressor to the body. 

Fat will always accumulate around the abdomen when experiencing stress and sleep deprivation. 

5. Slower Metabolism

Sleep is when the body restores all its metabolic processes. Our bodies are truly magical at night, so many processes happen throughout the night that we don’t even know about! 

Skin cellular regeneration happens (beauty sleep), all of our organs are repairing and regenerating through the night. Incredible. 

When sleep is poor, the metabolism becomes less efficient at using body fat as fuel.

6. Reduced Insulin Sensitivity

Sleep deprivation affects how your body processes glucose.  Higher blood sugar levels will almost always result in storing body fat.

7. Lower Energy for Exercise

When we’re exhausted, our motivation to move naturally disappears. We want to do it, but motivation just isn’t there. 

8. Emotional Eating

Poor sleep affects emotional regulation in the brain. Which most women find that they have an uncontrollable tendency to reach for comfort food. To self-soothe feelings of low, overwhelm, depression, and anxiety. 

There are so many scientific studies now that show us that a high percentage of people who experience depression also have dysregulated sleep. 

9. Increased Fat Storage

Sleep plays a key role in regulating growth hormone, which supports fat metabolism, muscle growth and repair.

Without enough sleep, the body shifts toward storing fat rather than burning it. 

On the subject of muscle growth, when we’re actively trying to build more strength and grow our muscles through weight training, when we don’t have enough deep rest, we don’t get the benefit of Growth Hormones. A huge amount of GH is released during deep sleep, so if we’re not getting enough, we’re debilitating muscle growth and repair. 

10. Disrupted Circadian Rhythm

Your internal clock regulates hormones related to hunger, metabolism, and energy. Irregular or poor sleep confuses these signals and can lead to fat accumulation.

How To Heal Your Sleep To Maximise Fat Loss

After years of being my own guinea pig and working with hundreds of women. These steps I’m about to share with you are not only tried and tested by myself and many others, but they will work for you too, and they are also rooted in science and human physiology. 

• Limit caffeine and any other stimulants, or completely eliminate them if you have any sleep issues.
• Horizon gazing first thing in AM and in late afternoon to set circadian rhythm.
• No screens after 7-8pm. This will support the release of the sleep hormone melatonin.
• Exercise at least 3 times per week. Preferably weight-bearing. 
• Last meal no later 7pm – you should be sleeping not digesting.
• Create your cave – put up blackout blinds, or use an eye mask.
• Establish a routine where you go to bed and get up at a similar time each day.
• Remove all electronics from your room that have a send/receive signal, this includes mobile phones, laptops, tablets and TV’s.
• Take anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes for meditation or listening to Alpha Brain Wave music. My favourite app is Insight Timer. It’s free and has thousands of beautiful meditations and sounds for sleep.
• Stay hydrated! Dehydration = Stress = Cortisol = Reduced Melatonin
• Remove Alcohol – it’s wrecking your sleep.
• -Supplement with Magnesium Glycinate. I take an oral magnesium and also have a magnesium balm that I use on the soles of my feet at night. Unfortunately, we just don’t get adequate magnesium through our food anymore, unless of course you’re growing all your own food and know the soil is high quality and not being sprayed with chemicals!

You don’t have to do all of these all at once, pick 1 or 2 that feel intuitive and implement them.

Once you’re in the flow and habit, then you can move on to the next thing that’s most important for you. 

Can you see yourself implementing just one of the above?

Imagine if that 1 thing could create just an extra 10% improvement in how you sleep!?

Imagine if you could, for once, wakeup feel refreshed rather than groggy and needing coffee to get through the day (this was me for a long time!)

On one final note, when I healed my sleep, one of the things that I realised when creating healthy sleep habits was that choosing to go to bed early instead of scrolling or watching shit on T.V, is actually an act of self-love.

It’s choosing ourselves, our sleep, caring for our precious bodies that do so much for us.

Let me know what you decided to work on first. I’d love to hear from you.

In Love & Health, 

Sweet dreams,