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How to Burn Calories While Sleeping

If you're limiting calories and exercising, you may be wondering what else you can do to lose weight. Although everyone burns calories while they sleep, you might be sabotaging yourself because of poor eating or sleeping habits. To...

Changing Your Eating Habits

  1. Create a regular eating schedule so your body efficiently burns calories. Try to stick to the same eating times so your body learns how to use the energy throughout the day. If you eat at dramatically different times, your body may store more of the calories.[1]
    1. For example, if you eat a really late dinner, your body might not need as many calories, especially since you need fewer calories while you're sleeping.
  2. Eat smaller meals instead of 2 or 3 large ones. If you find yourself eating a few meals with big portions, switch to smaller meals so you're not consuming as many calories. This is especially important if a late dinner is your biggest meal of the day.[2]
    1. For example, instead of skipping breakfast, having a large late lunch, and eating a big dinner before bed, eat a small breakfast, a nutritious lunch, a healthy afternoon snack, and a small dinner at least 2 hours before bed.
  3. Limit your alcohol intake 3 hours before bedtime. Alcoholic drinks are full of calories that don't offer a nutritional benefit and your body works to metabolize the alcohol instead of burn calories from the food you ate. Try to cut back on how much you drink and stop drinking alcohol at least 3 hours before you go to sleep.[3]

    Tip: Drinking alcohol also makes it harder to get a full, restful night of sleep. This is because your body begins to metabolize the alcohol about halfway through the night, which can disrupt your sleep.

  4. Have a bedtime snack that's high in protein to help you burn calories faster. If you wake up starving, it's easy to eat too much at breakfast. Instead of fasting or eating a big meal before you go to bed, have a small snack that's high in protein. This little snack can help you burn calories faster while you're sleeping, which is known as resting energy expenditure.[4]
    1. Try having a few cubes of cheese, a small protein shake, or a few crackers with nut butter.
  5. Set a cut-off time for eating in the evening. It's easy to keep snacking right up until bedtime. Unfortunately, your digestion slows down while you sleep so it takes longer for you to digest snacks or late-night meals. Give yourself a cut-off time that's at least 2 hours before you go to bed.[5]
    1. If you have a medical condition like diabetes, ask your doctor if they recommend having a small snack that's high in nutrients before bed.

Adjusting Your Bedtime Routine

  1. Exercise during the day instead of right before going to bed. You probably know that staying active is one of the best ways to burn a lot of calories. Your body also uses calories at night to repair muscles and help them recover, especially if you worked out a lot earlier in the day.[6]
    1. If you exercise right before going to bed, you might find it harder to relax and fall asleep.
  2. Turn your bedroom temperature to 66 °F (19 °C). It might seem strange, but turning down the thermostat makes your body work harder to stay warm. If you usually keep the temperature between 75 and 80 °F (24 and 27 °C), turning it down to 66 °F (19 °C) will help you burn an extra 33 calories a night.[7]
    1. If it's summertime, crank up your air conditioner before you go to bed so the temperature falls to 66 °F (19 °C).
  3. Stop looking at screens at least 1 hour before going to bed. Don't look at phones, tablets, computer screens, or televisions since they emit blue light. The blue light messes with your circadian rhythm, which affects your metabolism and makes it harder to fall asleep.[8]

    Did You Know? Researchers found that increased light exposure before bed can actually lead to weight gain, even if you're exercising and counting calories.

  4. Sleep in complete darkness so you produce more melatonin. Hang a pair of blackout curtains in your room and remove night lights. The absolute darkness helps your body release more melatonin. You've probably heard that melatonin helps you sleep, but it also creates fat cells that burn calories.[9]
    1. If your room still isn't as dark as you'd like, buy a sleep mask that you can pull down over your eyes. This can comfortably block light so you can get restful sleep.
  5. Try yoga or a relaxation technique before going to bed. Yoga is a great way to physically and mentally unwind before crawling in bed. It's a gentle way to burn a few calories and practicing yoga has been shown to help with maintaining weight loss.[10]
    1. If you don't want to do yoga, spend a few minutes meditating or breathing deeply. This can calm you and make it easier to fall asleep quickly.
  6. Get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep to regulate your metabolism. Your body does a lot of work while you sleep! As you rest, your body releases hormones that repair muscle and help your cells grow, both of which use up calories. Hormones that control your metabolism also burn calories while you sleep.[11]
    1. People who get less than 6 hours of sleep a night are more likely to be overweight or obese.
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