The above graph comes from The Nurses Health Study conducted by the Harvard Medical School which was one of the first studies done showing a link between sleep & weight gain.
As you can see - the less sleep you get, the more weight you gain as the years go by.
The infographic below comes from Sleep Genius and is a good overview of the connection between poor sleep and weight gain.
We're not saying it's impossible to lose weight if you're sleep deprived, but you're definitely going to find it tough.
So what can you do?
Well as they say, the first step is to admit that you have a problem. You need to acknowledge that you're not getting enough sleep, and it's potentially stopping you from losing weight.
Next, you need to start looking at what changes to make so you can start sleeping better.
As tough as it can be for a shift worker, you need to start making your sleep a priority.
If it comes down to a choice between sleep and exercise - take sleep! And that's coming from someone who has spent time as a personal trainer so you know how serious we must be.
The good news is that even though you're a busy shift worker, there are still plenty of ways for you to get better sleep and lose weight more easily.
By signing up with us today you can get access to a new product that's the most comprehensive sleep program ever put together for shift workers.
'Ultimate Sleep Solutions For Shift Workers' is a unique program that takes a close look at the different areas that effect your sleep and gives you various strategies you can use to sleep better and transform your health.
This powerful strategy has been scientifically demonstrated to help nurses add an extra hour of quality sleep after each night shift worked above and beyond what you would normally be able to get.
Sometimes it's just not possible for you to get more sleep, so you need to be doing everything possible to make sure the quality of your sleep is top notch. You'll learn how to become a more 'efficient' sleeper - 6 hours sleep will feel like 8!
The length and quality of sleep you get immediately after your shift is hugely dependent on how well you can transition your body & brain to a state of relaxation after the stresses of a long night at work.
The science of napping has come a long way in the past decade and the push is now on for napping to become a more commonly acceptable approach to combating issues related to working night shift.
Specific exercises done at specific times can help with post-shift insomnia as well as sleep duration and quality.
Eating the wrong food at the wrong time could be sabotaging your sleep efforts. And if you're missing certain key nutrients your body struggles to produce the right hormones needed for sleep.
You'll get access to the very latest info on exciting advances in sleep tech and how this tech can be effectively used to help you sleep better.
Supplementing for sleep is a controversial area. We'll cover a wide range of drugs and supplements marketed as 'sleep aids' and help you decide for yourself which ones are worth trying.
Discover the sleep secrets of high paid sport stars, special forces soldiers and international pilots. Managing sleep is crucial to high performance for these groups.
Each on their own doesn't deserve its own module but just one or two of these tips could completely turn your sleep around.