SLEEP QUALITY AND FAT LOSS - How much quality sleep you get is a really important yet often overlooked factor when it comes to both fat loss and lean body mass (muscle) - A recent study by Wang and colleagues (2018) looked at the effect sleep had on weight loss during 8 weeks of caloric restriction - The study compared two different groups where one group slept approximately 1 hour less than the other during the weekdays (monday-friday). To mimic real life, the group who slept less during the weekdays were able to catch up on sleep during the weekends - Both groups had similar weight loss after 8 weeks, but the sleep restricted group had less loss of fat and more loss of lean body mass then the non-restricted sleep group - This highlights the importance of enough sleep when you're dieting if you want to preserve your muscle mass. It also tells us that "catching up" on sleep during the weekends will not reverse the adverse effects poor sleep can have on your body composition - 📚 Wang, X., Sparks, J. R., Bowyer, K. P., & Youngstedt, S. D. (2018). Influence of sleep restriction on weight loss outcomes associated with caloric restriction. Sleep, 41(5), zsy027 . . . . . . Dr Ayaz Physiotherapy weight loss hair and skin clinic nallasopara