How To Catch Some Skinny ZZZ's

It may sound too good to be true but implementing some simple steps to your sleep routine can ensure you burn some extra calories as you sleep. In fact, you can burn as much as an extra 400 calories if you are brave enough to take a cool dip before bed. 

1. Prioritize Sleep: We all know that a late night here or there is unavoidable, but making it a habit will not only affect your mood but your waistline too. Getting less than 8 hours sleep a night increases the level of the stress hormone ‘cortisol’ in your body, which in turn affects the microbes in your gut. The result, a slower metabolism and an increase in carbohydrate cravings. 

2. Gym after work: Heading to the gym means you boost your metabolic rate for up to 16 hours following your session, depending on how hard you work out. Exercising later in the day can ensure you burn off that dinner a little easier as you sleep. 

3. Wash cold. While a hot shower before bed is ideal, a cold shower will ensure you burn up to 400 more calories as you sleep. How? A study has found that a 30-second freeze is all it takes to activate our body’s brown fat. Dip you head under the shower to ensure maximum results as a large portion of our brown fat is located in our neck and shoulder area. 

4. Sleep cool: While many of us love an extra blanket and the heater turned up while we sleep, The National Institute for Diabetes has found that sleeping in a cool room can burn as much as 7% more calories while you sleep. This is because our body burns fat to maintain core temperature.