If you stay up late and sleep in on a regular basis, you may be at risk for weight gain. Why? A recent study conducted at Northwestern University near Chicago revealed that late sleepers consumed 248 more calories per day—mainly at dinner and later in the evening—than normal sleepers.
Kelly Glazer Baron, a health psychologist and neurology instructor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said, “The extra daily calories can mean a significant amount of weight gain—two pounds per month—if they are not balanced by more physical activity.” Makes sense.
The study followed 23 late sleepers and 28 normal sleepers, all who were about 30 years old for one week. Each participant wore a wrist actigraph to calculate their sleep and activity levels and kept food consumption diaries. Late sleepers went to sleep at an average time of 3:45 am and woke up by 10:45 am, ate breakfast at noon, lunch at 2:30 pm, dinner at 8:15 pm and a final meal at 10:00 pm. Normal sleepers on average were up by 8:00 am, ate breakfast by 9:00 am, lunch at 1:00 pm, dinner at 7:00 pm, and a snack at 8:30 pm, and were asleep by 12:30 am.
The study showed that not only did the number of calories consumed go up, but that timing was important too. Those eating after 8:00 pm were more likely to have a higher BMI, even after controlling sleep timing and duration. Guess that means eating your last meal and/or snack before 8:00 pm could help in reducing weight gain. And, if you’re trying to lose weight and maintain a routine of staying up late and sleeping in, taking steps to control when you eat and when you sleep could be a good thing.
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