What better way to lose oodles of fat than sleeping soundly through the night after making certain changes in your diet and exercise.

Actually you can double your chances of reaching your ideal weight if you get between six and eight hours` sleep daily, according to scientists.

More sleep will render you inactive and less of it will push your stress levels higher with cravings for unhealthy food, reports the Telegraph.

The research by Kaiser Permanente, a health consortium in the US, found that people trying to lose at least 10 lb or four kg were more likely to succeed if they had lower stress levels and slept moderately. Nearly 500 obese adults with average age of 55 took part in the study.

An ideal weight loss diet

`This study suggests that when people are trying to lose weight, they should try to get the right amount of sleep and reduce their stress,` said Charles Elder, who led the study at Kaiser.

They were asked to attend 22 counselling sessions, reduce their diet by 500 calories a day and increase the amount of exercise they took to at least three hours a week, according to a Kaiser statement.

They also had to keep a diary of their habits, including their sleep patterns and stress levels. After six months, 60 percent of the participants had lost at least four kg.

Researchers found that the successful dieters were more likely to report that they had slept between six and eight hours each night.

More on weight loss

Almost three quarters of dieters who had both low stress levels and six to eight hours sleep a night were likely to achieve the 4 kg weight loss target.

Text: IANS
Image: Flickr/creativecommons alyssa miller