Wouldn’t it be nice to burn calories while doing nothing or even in your sleep? The truth is, you do burn calories while sleeping. In fact, the body consistently burns calories to provide energy for involuntary bodily functions such as breathing.
While you sleep, however, the rate of burning calories is very low. People who are 125 pounds will burn 19 calories every 30 minutes of sleep. Those who weigh 155 pounds tend to burn around 23 calories, and those who are 185 pounds burn 28 calories.
You might be wondering if it’s possible to just sleep your way to your goal weight. Although it might seem impressive to burn 19 to 28 calories every 30 minutes while asleep, this is your body’s fat-burning rate at its lowest. Even during sedentary activities like sitting on a chair burns around 42 calories. What calories you burn in 30 minutes while jogging or doing other forms of exercise is what you earn during a full 8 hours of sleep.
Burning calories is how you lose fat. While your body doesn’t really stop burning calories, vigorous activity will elevate your rate and help you lose fat faster. That said, it can be possible to boost your basal metabolic rate and increase the calories you burn while sleeping.
Lying down isn’t a logical way to burn calories to help you lose fat, but the rate of calories burned during sleep means rest is also helpful with your health. The way to lose fat is to burn more calories than you consume.
Everyone has a unique basal metabolic rate and burns calories at different rates. If you increase your muscle mass, you can elevate your BMR by up to 15%, and every pound of fat you add to your body can burn an extra 50 calories per day while you rest.