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Sleeping burns calories…
but how much and is it worth it?
When we sleep our bodies don’t exactly just shut down and do nothing, yes we may be sleeping and recovering from the day we had and preparing for the day we’re about to have, but our body still burns calories.
Our lungs, heart, digestive system and brain are all still active, plus the movement while we sleep, yes it’s minimal, but depending on how many hours your get per night/per week it all adds up.
So how many calories do we burn when we sleep?
Roughly it’s about a half a calorie per pound of body weight per hour.
It might not sound like a lot, but let’s take a look at the maths before you shut it down completely.
If you’re a 200lbs male that’s 100 calories per hour of sleep. If you get 7–8 hours sleep that’s between 700–800 calories per night and over the space of a week, that is, give or take 5000 calories.
If you’re a 150lbs female that’s 75 calories per hour of sleep. If you get 7–8 hours sleep that’s between 525–600 calories per night and over the space of a week that’s could be 3,500+ calories.
A pound of body fat is 3,500 calories, getting a good night’s sleep most of the week could lose you a pound if not more per week.
