Health & Fit Why Intermittent Fasting May Be a More Realistic New Year's Resolution for Weight Loss

Don't count sheep, eat lamb! Or better yet, a bit of turkey. Tryptophan, an amino acid found in most meats, has demonstrated powerful sleep-inducing effects. A study published in The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease among "mild" insomniacs found that just 1/4 gram—about what you'll find in a skinless chicken drumstick or three ounces of lean turkey meat—was enough to increase hours of deep sleep significantly. And that can translate into easy weight loss.

"Any tryptophan-containing food, which includes nuts, chicken, fish, lentils, and eggs, can help usher in sleepyhead syndrome," says Julia Falamas, coach at Crossfit Spot Barbell in New York. "If you're the type who can't sleep on an empty stomach, a healthy source of fat like avocado or nut butter can help stave off hunger, while providing restorative properties," she adds.

Read more: The Best Foods For Improved Sleep

"There is something about the ritual of sitting down to a soothing cup of tea that tells your brain to slow down and relax," says Falamas. "Some of the best teas for sleep are chamomile, peppermint, lavender and Valerian, which actually does have some sedative properties."

Which teas should you stock up on? Here are the 22 Best Teas for Weight Loss.

You know to avoid big meals, coffee, colas, and alcohol before bed, but did you know that it's best to eat your complex carbohydrates at lunchtime, not with dinner? "Serotonin converts to melatonin in your stage 3 REM sleep, and serotonin is sourced from whole-grain complex carbohydrates. So you don't need to have carbs before bed to sleep, just have them at some point through the day," says Cat Smiley, owner of Whistler Fitness Vacations, a weight-loss retreat for women.

Twitter Is Fired Up About This Intermittent Fasting App's Ads

Twitter users are criticizing ads for the app, DoFasting, for seemingly promoting eating disorders. DoFasting is an intermittent fasting app that offers workouts, a fasting timer, and a weight progress tracker for an annual subscription of $100 a year. ICYDK, intermittent fasting is the practice of cycling between periods of eating and fasting. Those eating and fasting time windows can vary, but one common approach is 16:8, which involves eating within an eight-hour window and fasting for the remaining 16 hours of the day.

Also, to meet your daily fiber goal, "about 20 grams of insoluble fiber is important to enable you to sleep, so aim to eat that daily, and you'll ensure you can convert enough serotonin to sleep well." That's about two pieces of whole grain sprouted bread (we like Ezekiel Bread)—avocado toast beckons!—or a cup of brown rice. Not sure how to get more fiber? Here are 20 Easy Ways to Add Fiber to Your Diet.

Nighttime fasting—aka closing the kitchen early—may help you lose more weight, even if you eat more food throughout the day, according to a study in the journal Cell Metabolism. Experiment with closing the kitchen at 8 p.m. and skipping breakfast.

Having a protein shake before hitting the sack may boost your metabolism, according to one Florida State University study. Researchers found that men who consumed an evening snack that included 30 grams of protein had a higher resting metabolic rate the next morning than when eating nothing. Protein is more thermogenic than carbs or fat, meaning your body burns more calories digesting it.

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Use vegan protein powder, which will give you the same fat-burning, hunger-squelching, muscle-building benefits, without the bloating that comes from whey.

RELATED:The 7-day diet that melts your belly fat fast.

Striking some poses before bed can have a powerful influence on sleep quality because of yoga's focus on breathing and meditation. "Yoga offers a variety of benefits, from increased flexibility and strength to a calmer mind," says Mark Balfe-Taylor, director of yoga at TruFusion. He recommends the Deaf Man's Pose.

"It can calm the nervous system, release the shoulders and neck and, most importantly, allows you to focus inward, block out stress and relax," he says. Relaxing is the key! Need more proof? Here are 10 Ways to Relax So Healthy Eating Works.

A striking new study published in the journal Diabetes suggests that simply blasting the air conditioner or turning down the heat in winter may help us attack belly fat while we sleep. Colder temperatures subtly enhance the effectiveness of our stores of brown fat—fat keeps you warm by helping you burn through the fat stored in your belly. Participants spent a few weeks sleeping in bedrooms with varying temperatures: a neutral 75 degrees, a cool 66 degrees, and a balmy 81 degrees. After four weeks of sleeping at 66 degrees, the subjects had almost doubled their volumes of brown fat. (And yes, that means they lost belly fat.)

And speaking of turbocharging your body's fat burn, learn how stubborn weight gain may not be your fault, and turn off your hunger hormones with the help of our exclusive report, 25 Foods That Make You Hungrier!

Exposure to light at night doesn't just interrupt your chances of a great night's sleep, it may also result in weight gain according to a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Study subjects who slept in the darkest rooms were 21 percent less likely to be obese than those sleeping in the lightest rooms.

That leads us to our next sleep-slimming trick….

Did you know lean people watch less TV? A recent analysis of studies published in JAMA found that for every two hours spent watching TV, the risk of developing diabetes, developing heart disease, and early death increased by 20, 15 and 13 percent, respectively. Scientists are still figuring out exactly why sitting is so detrimental to health, but one obvious and partial explanation is that the less we move, the less fuel we require; the surplus blood sugar floods the bloodstream and contributes to diabetes and other weight-related risks.

Discover how just a few other easy tweaks can help you lose up to 4 inches from your waist—fast—with these 25 Best-Ever Nutrition Tips!

Light-blocking curtains make a huge difference when it comes to falling asleep. Outside light makes it harder for your mind to shut down, even if you think you're immune to such instinctive signals. Melatonin, the hormone involved in putting your body to sleep, is compromised when light is present.

"Darken your room so that going to bed, even early, feels natural," Smiley says.

If you normally bathe in the a.m., listen up. "A hot shower is great for ensuring a good night's sleep because it can help relieve tension and relax sore muscles. Additionally, it can increase the level of oxytocin—a 'love' hormone released by your brain—which can be very soothing," says Falamas. The heat from the shower also gives your body temperature a lift, resulting in a quick drop in temp when you get out and towel off, a dip that helps relax your entire system. A hot bath will also have the same effect.

A shower takes just minutes. But there are even quicker ways to lose weight, and we've collected them in this special story (that takes just seconds to read): 33 Lazy Ways to Lose Your Belly—Fast!

Don't get us wrong; we love chocolate. In fact, any bar that contains at least 70 percent cacao is one of our favorite low-sugar snacks or desserts because of its high concentration of antioxidants and stress-busting abilities. Unfortunately, if eaten too late that chocolate could be the reason you can't fall asleep. Dark chocolate contains caffeine—about 40 to 50 mg of caffeine per 40-gram serving, according to Consumer Lab testing—which can prevent your body from shutting down when you want it to if you're sensitive to the compound.

Chocolate bars have varying amounts of caffeine, but an average two-ounce, 70 percent dark chocolate bar contains around 79 milligrams. For reference, an eight-ounce cup of coffee contains around 145 milligrams. For a different late-night indulgence, try these filling, guilt-free 50 Best Healthy Snacks for Weight Loss.

Wine is our favorite "healthy" alcoholic drink due to its resveratrol—a plant compound that has been linked to heart-healthy benefits, although more research needs to be done, according to a review published in the journal Nutrients. However, that evening glass of wine is also considered a high-sugar beverage, according to Smith. Drinking too much can hinder your ability to snooze. It may feel like that nightly glass of wine is relaxing you and helping you fall asleep faster, but it actually prevents your body from fully indulging in its REM (Rapid Eye Movement) cycle, which is where truly restful sleep and dreaming occurs.

Enjoy a glass earlier in the night—about two hours before bedtime—to avoid sleep disruption, and close the home bar after one or two glasses, tops.

When it comes to a better night's sleep, some gadgets are total ripoffs (like those as-seen-on-TV anti-snoring contraptions), but investing in the right pillow is key. "Buying an orthopedic pillow keeps your neck aligned. You'll wake up in the morning with no neck pain," says Smiley.

Sleeping for less than the recommended eight hours of sleep is damaging your weight loss progress, according to this study conducted by Annals of Internal Medicine. The study notes that lack of sleep can actually slow down weight loss, and participants who slept only 5.5 hours had less fat loss and lost more lean body mass than those who slept 8.5 hours.

Keeping a sleep diary is another way to help distract yourself from mindlessly eating and it's also a great way to note and keep track of your sleep schedule, according to The National Sleep Foundation. Make sure you're also avoiding these 7 Sleep Mistakes Everyone Makes to keep your sleep (and waistline) on the right track for a healthier you.

Setting your alarm earlier can make your waistline go down. Brigham Young University reports that women who had consistent sleep schedules, which included sleeping and waking up at a set time daily (yes, even on weekends when we all want to sleep in), were able to lose more weight than those who didn't.

Looking for more expert advice to keep those unwanted pounds off? Here are 25 Doctor-Approved Weight-Loss Tips.