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The Easiest 1 Month Weight Loss Challenge Ever

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Would you like to look like a snack…without actually giving up snacks? If the answer is yes, brace yourself. Because I have the EASIEST 1-month weight loss challenge ever.

It doesn’t require you to give up your favorite foods or to track calories. You don’t even have to exercise if that’s not your jam.

In fact, the only thing you have to do is something you probably wish you did more of anyway.

What is this miracle weight loss challenge? Read on to find out.

The Easiest 1 Month Weight Loss Challenge

What is this weight loss strategy for lazy people I’ve been teasing you about?

It’s sleep. You need to sleep more.

In a randomized clinical trial published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, adult men who increased their snooze time from 6.5 to 8.5 hours per night for just two weeks decreased their calorie intake by an average of 270 calories per day.

Some of the men in the study even ate up to 500 calories per day less, just by going to bed earlier!

Wondering how this could be true? It comes down, in large part, to your hormones. Sleep deprivation does a number on the hormones that regulate your appetite, causing you to get hungry more often and to need more food to feel satisfied.

And as if this isn’t bad enough, poor sleep also makes your brain’s reward center more excited by highly palatable foods–like sweets and fried foods.

So, the quick answer to how sleep helps you to lose weight is, it makes it easier to get into a calorie deficit.

I don’t know about you, but sign me up!

How Much Weight Could You Lose?

At this point, you might be wondering how much weight you could lose in 1 month just by sleeping more.

And I’m going to level with you. The answer is, probably not that much.

The conventional thinking is that a deficit of around 3500 calories translates to a weight loss of one pound, although this varies to some extent.

But using 3500 as an estimation point, you could lose a couple of pounds in one month just by spending more time in bed.

My apologies if you were expecting more. But if you know me at all, you know I’m not into quick-fix diets.

And besides, getting more sleep feels amazing and makes you healthier in so many ways! Even if you don’t lose a single pound, I can assure you this is a worthwhile challenge to undertake, especially if you’re consistently getting fewer than 7 hours per night.

Ready to get started? Click here to learn more about how to set a good nighttime routine for better sleep, then grab a free printable habit tracker to stay motivated (it’s at the bottom of the post).

Sleep tight!

Image: Total Shape/Unsplash

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