Lower stress and amount of sleep affects weight loss.

Research has shown that sleeping 7-8 hours per night can make it easier to lose weight.

What makes the study reviewed here interesting is that stress in addition to sleep can have an impact on weight loss (Elder CR, et al. 2011). The participants in this research were obese individuals with a body mass index of 30-50 and the intervention consisted of 22 group session over 26 weeks.

The results documented that sleep time and lower stress at the entry of the study predicted success in weight loss. The participants with lower stress predicted greater weight loss.

It was also interesting that weight loss was significantly correlated with declines in stress and depression.

 

 

Elder CR, Gullion CM, Funk KL, Debar LL, Lindberg NM, Stevens VJ. Impact of sleep, screen time, depression and stress on weight change in the intensive weight loss phase of the LIFE study. Int J Obes (Lond). 2011 Mar 29.