Doctors Say These Are The Two Changes You Need To Make To Your Evening Routine To Lose Weight With Ease

Losing weight is hard to do, but it can be done healthily over time. We spoke with doctors, dietitians and health experts to find two changes you can make to your evening routine if you want to lose weight, and the good news is that they aren’t too difficult to implement.

The main changes you need to make are going to bed earlier (if possible), getting six to eight hours of shut-eye and limiting post-dinner snacking. This is helpful in avoiding late-night hunger and midnight cravings that can deter you from your longterm goals. With this in mind, we rounded up the best tips for how to update your evening routine and achieve the best results from your weight loss journey.

Firstly, each expert we spoke to stressed the importance of a good night’s sleep if you want to lose weight. A healthy sleep routine benefits the body in numerous ways. but most importantly, adding a consistent sleep schedule to your daily exercise and healthy diet will make losing weight easier over time.

“One of the biggest things we can do with our evening routine to lose weight has nothing to do with food, and everything to do with sleep,” says Dr. Neha Pathak, WebMD, Chief Physician Editor, Health and Lifestyle Medicine. “One of the most important, but overlooked factors for healthy weight loss is actually getting a good night’s sleep.”

Pathak says that an ideal amount of sleep includes both “quantity” (7-9 hours consistently every night) and “quality” (a full night’s sleep without interruption). How inconsistent sleep contributes to weight gain, Pathak says, is linked to several factors. The first is hormonal disruption such as that of cortisol, “our stress hormone,”  and leptin and ghrelin, “our hunger and satiety hormones” which occurs with lack of sleep.

Another factor is how inadequate rest affects our mood, which can then cause increased hunger. “Our mood can be negatively affected when we don’t sleep well, causing us to eat poorly,” Pathak explains. The third important sleep-related factor contributing to weight gain is a condition like sleep apnea. Her main message is that “healthy sleep patterns can help us keep our waistlines from growing.”

Dr. Nicole Marcione, PhD, NBC-HWC, adds that not eating at least three hours before bedtime is also important. “Digestion interferes with our sleep and our body’s time to regenerate and heal,” says Marcione. “If our body is busy using energy to digest while we sleep, that energy is not going towards getting our brain and body ready for the next day.” She says this can lead to stress and anxiety, which is “definitely not useful” for losing weight.