The study featured 80 overweight adults who habitually sleep less than 6.5 hours a night (already below the recommended seven-plus hours) and found that when these people extended their sleep, they consumed an average of 270 fewer calories the following day.“To increase the amount of time they slept, we did personalized sleep hygiene counseling sessions,” Tasali said. “We did two weeks of monitoring their usual sleep habits and then two weeks of extending their sleep in one group, while the other group continued to follow their habitual sleep routine.”