A Dream Diet
Sleep-deprived people eat more because they’re hungrier, they’re awake longer and they may be tempted by foods everywhere they go. "The less slepp you get, the more likely you are to head to the kitchen after wake up," explains Michaud. She cites a study out of Arkansas that found that less than a week after getting two extra hours of sleep a night, formerly sleep-deprived people reduced their usual caloric intake by roughly 300 calories a day.
But it’s not a matter of just spending some time between the sheets. Not getting seven to eight hours of quality sleep a night rises a person’s chance of becoming obese by 27 percent, explains Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum of the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers in Maryland, which studies chrinic syndromes.
So what can you do than count sheep? Start a sleep diet! Experts say that adopting certain de-stressing habits — like taking an hour to relax in the evening and avoiding caffeine and exercise before bedtime — is the key to a better night’s sleep and a better body. "The studies are consistet," says Michaud. "It doesn’t seem to matter if you’re 4 or 40, male or female — less sleep means more weight."
