I may be slightly exagerating when I say sleeping 12 hours a day can help you lose weight. Unless you are sick, most people will find it next to impossible to sleep for that length of time. Then again, if you can sleep that much, it either means you are very rich and don't have to get up to go to work or you don't have a job.
In all seriousness, you can lose weight in your sleep, contrary to the common belief that you have to hit the gym and control your calorie intake. According to ABC News, getting a good night sleep is one of the best thing you can do to lose weight.
One of the experts in Good Morning America said that there is convincing evidence that you can control your weight by getting plenty of sleep. I am sure that most of you know of someone or even a pet, like a dog or a cat that seems to sleep all day long and yet is not overweight.
These experts are telling us that if we sleep less than the recommended 8 hours a day that will boost our level of ghrelin, the hormones that make us hungry. Do you see weight gain in that picture? At the same time sleeping less than 8 hours a day suppresses the hormones called, leptin, the one that may us feel full.
Experts agree that there is a relation between people sleeping less and weighing more, for example two-thirds or more people sleep less and are unfortunately overweight while the remainder of the group sleep a good 8 hours a day and have a better handle on their weight.
What are the other benefits of getting enough sleep other than just controlling hormones? If you are well rested, you'll feel more energetic and better prepared to face physical activities and going to the gym will feel more like fun than work!
Other benefits of a good night sleep are, it will improve your appearance, make you look younger and make you more clear-headed and careful about the foods you eat.
Now I know why the call it getting your beauty sleep! As you can see, getting as much sleep as you possibly can will help in more ways than one.
