Many Americans are starved for sleep, and experts said the results may be showing up on your scale.

Numerous studies suggest not getting sufficient sleep makes it more difficult to lose weight or keep it off. Experts said restful sleep raises the level of a hormone that regulates hunger, but not getting enough sleep increases a hormone that stimulates the appetite.

Sleep experts Michael Breus, Ph.D. and Steven Lamm, M.D., created a "Sleep Diet" to counter this problem and tested it with seven women.

The "Sleep Diet" calls for a minimum of seven and a half hours of sleep every night. Experts said some people may need more than that. The other rules include not consuming any caffeine after 2:30 p.m. and avoiding alcohol within three hours of going to bed. The final guideline is to go to sleep at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning.

The complete results of the "Sleep Diet" experiment are profiled in the March edition of Glamour Magazine, and they are encouraging. The participants lost 6 to 15 pounds in 10 weeks without making deliberate changes in what they ate or how much they exercised.

The program may sound simple, but experts said it would be a major change for many women. According to the National Sleep Foundation, the average woman gets six hours and 40 minutes of sleep each night.

Some of the participants admitted it was tough to stick with the plan after the 10-week test period ended, especially during the busy December holiday season.

To find out more about the "Sleep Diet," click here.

To learn more about the connection between sleep and weight, click here.