Insomnia caused by weight loss... is the weight loss unhealthy?

back2ballet

I'm a 5'7.5" girl who currently weights 126.5 lbs. I'm interested in losing more weight without becoming "underweight". That would mean losing about 8 pounds. I'm a dancer, so weighing much more than 120 is hard on men who would lift me). However, every time I start to lose weight or increase exercise, I suffer from horrible insomnia (up all night/tossing and turning/etc.). Has anyone had this experience? If so, how did you handle it? I'd hate to cut my weight loss goals short, but I'd prefer to sleep lol.

ana3067

At 126lbs a 5lb difference won't mean much to guys lifting you. They should probably lift weights if they have that much trouble.

I've never had this experience, but then again I've only ever dieted with reasonable food intake. So if you are doing weight loss in an extreme fashion (starving yourself, as many new people here seem to do), then that could be your issue.

GingerbreadCandy

I think ana may be right. I had the same issue at the beginning of my diet, where I could not sleep due to eating too little at night and eating too little overall. (Although, in my case, it wasn't per choice…) Now that I managed to find a few tricks (eating larger portions in the evening, eating more at dinner) I am perfectly fine.

IILikeToMoveItMoveIt

Magnesium deficiency can cause insomnia...

Sabine_Stroehm

Magnesium was my first thought. Or that you're doing very low carb, which I understand can also cause insomnia.
And yes, perhaps you've lost enough.

girlviernes

I know weight makes a difference for dance, but your body is giving you signs that losing weight is not going to be healthy for you. So you'll need to decide your priorities. Remember as well that because you are a dancer you have more muscle than usual so the normal weight ranges don't really apply.

tomatoey

No way - I'm 5'7, was at 124 for the longest time. Any lower than where you're at and you're just not going to feel good, and you'll probably look like hell.

I don't buy your justification. Your fellow dancers can handle your 126.5 lbs. If they can't, they need to strength train. Contemporary dancers have muscular (so probably heavier) bodies, and they throw each other around all the time.

aqualeo1

I started getting insomnia when I started losing weight three years ago. I started waking up so many times during the night (like every hour on the hour) and unfortunately it has never gone away even though I've been in maintenance for over a year. Sucks

f1redshoes

My old dance partner, only 5' 6", lifted the 180lbs girl in our class alright, and most of the rest of the class were at least 130lbs and he managed them just fine.

Honestly, if you think you only need 8lbs off? Probably best trying to stay that weight but change composition slightly (either through gaining muscle then losing any extra fat, or recomp). Being light isn't as useful as being strong.