Sometimes, all you need is a good night’s sleep. A recent study posted on ScienceDaily.com has found that losing weight improves the quality of sleep you get. This is especially true when shedding off belly fat. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine gathered 77 people for the study which ran for six months. The participants were either positive for type-2 diabetes or have pre-diabetes, but all were either obese or overweight.

A sleep survey was initially given to find out their sleep-related problems, among them sleep apnea, daytime fatigue, insomnia, and use of sedatives to sleep. One group then went on a weight-loss diet coupled with exercise training, while the other group was just given a diet intervention. Of the participants, 55 successfully completed the program. Their body mass indexes (BMI) were also taken at the beginning and end of the study.

After the trial, the participants lost an average of 15 pounds and roughly the same amount of belly fat. The researchers found that when the group took the sleep survey again, the overall scores improved by 20 percent.

"The key ingredient for improved sleep quality from our study was a reduction in overall body fat, and, in particular belly fat, which was true no matter the age or gender of the participants or whether the weight loss came from diet alone or diet plus exercise," lead studyauthor Kerry Stewart, Ed.D. explains

If you’re having sleep problems or if you feel like you never seem to get enough rest every time you wake up in the morning, try losing those love handles and muffin tops with quick but effective exercises you can do on a daily basis. Check out our related articles below to see which exercise routines can suite you best.

(Photo by Timothy Krause via Flickr Creative Commons)