How Many Calories do You Burn in Your Sleep?

When you think about burning calories, you probably think of activities like running, cycling, or hitting the gym. However, the truth is that our bodies burn calories all the time, even when we’re at rest. This includes the calories burned during sleep. So, just how many calories do you burn while you’re catching some Z’s?

First, let’s start with some basics. Calories are a unit of energy, and they are necessary for the body to function properly. When we eat and drink, we consume calories. When we engage in physical activity, we burn calories. The balance between the number of calories we consume and the number we burn determines whether we gain, lose, or maintain our weight.

Now, let’s talk about the calories burned during sleep. When we sleep, our bodies are in a state of rest, which means that our metabolism slows down. This means that we burn fewer calories while we sleep than when we are awake and active. However, we still burn some calories, and this is known as the basal metabolic rate (BMR).

The BMR is the number of calories that the body burns at rest to maintain basic physiological functions like breathing, circulation, and cell production. It accounts for about 60-75% of the total calories burned in a day and is influenced by factors such as age, weight, height, and gender.

So, just how many calories do we burn while we sleep? The answer is that it varies from person to person. On average, a person burns about 0.42 calories per pound of body weight per hour of sleep. This means that if you weigh 150 pounds, you would burn about 63 calories per hour of sleep. Over the course of a full night’s sleep, this would add up to around 504 calories.

It’s important to note that this is just an estimate and that there are many factors that can affect the number of calories burned during sleep. For example, a person who is taller and has more muscle mass will burn more calories than a shorter person with less muscle mass. Additionally, certain sleep disorders, such as insomnia, can affect the number of calories burned during sleep.

So, what can you do to burn more calories during sleep? Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to control the number of calories you burn while you sleep. However, there are things you can do during the day to increase your overall calorie burn.

One way to do this is to engage in regular exercise. Exercising not only burns calories during the activity, but it also increases your BMR, which means that you burn more calories at rest, including while you sleep. Additionally, strength training can increase muscle mass, which can increase the number of calories you burn all day long, including during sleep.

Another way to increase the number of calories you burn is to maintain a healthy diet. Eating a diet that is high in protein and fiber and low in processed foods can help to increase your metabolism, which can lead to more calories burned both during the day and at night.