Not getting sleep help

vinoo15

Hi, I am dieting and exercising a little to reduce few lbs for past couple days and I noticed not able to sleep at night. I'm having my dinner @ 8pm mostly veggies steamed and some proteins and I go to sleep at 11pm, there I ding myself hungry and not sleepy. Help me, suggest me some diet plans please, thanks.

SR1986

Hi! I know what I'm about to tell you goes against everything you've probably been told, but I advocate a pre bedtime snack. Even before I read the article I'm going to link you, I would always have a tablespoon of reduced fat peanut butter before bed. I'm addicted to peanut butter. Well, peanuts in general. When I was younger I read somewhere that a tablespoon of peanut butter before bed helped your body continue to burn calories long after you'd fallen asleep. I don't know if it's true or not, just any excuse to eat peanut butter The article I'm going to link is advocating a before bed snack. I believe the author is a dietician. And I can tell you that I ALMOST ALWAYS have a small snack before bed. I am not "overweight" , I don't feel like it's made of gain weight or necessarily made me lose any, but I do know I don't lay in bed thinking about food instead of sleeping (like I do if I'm just too tired to eat something before turning in). I hope it helps! https://www.healthysimplelife.com/5-reasons-why-you-should-eat-before-bed/

TavistockToad

What time are you getting up?

DopeItUp

If you can't sleep due to hunger, eat something before bed. I eat just before bed almost every single night. A small protein-heavy snack makes all the difference in the world for me.

shor0814

DopeItUp wrote: »

If you can't sleep due to hunger, eat something before bed. I eat just before bed almost every single night. A small protein-heavy snack makes all the difference in the world for me.

Protein shake before bed helps me with the hunger and is a nice "dessert." I like casein because I seem to stay fuller feeling and don't wake up in the middle of the night wanting to eat something.

comptonelizabeth

I just posted a similar question in the weight gaining section ! I feel your pain.....
I do find that a small snack before bedtime helps a bit as I find I wake up hungry. But I'm trying to gain weight so in terms of extra calories it's not a problem for me.

Packerjohn

SR1986 wrote: »

When I was younger I read somewhere that a tablespoon of peanut butter before bed helped your body continue to burn calories long after you'd fallen asleep. I don't know if it's true or not, just any excuse to eat peanut butter

It's not. Your body burns calories throughout the night no matter what or when you eat.

Nothing wrong with peanut butter or a pre-bed snack (assuming no digestive issues) but the timing of when it's eaten makes not difference.

deannalfisher

my bedtime snack (a bowl of cereal) is the first thing that goes into my MFP diary every day - so that way I know I have the calories for it

jemhh

How many calories are you eating all day long?

What are your height and weight and activity level?

Charlene_1985

I have a cup of 2% milk and a Fiber One cookie (total 250 cals) before going to bed. Or I have some fruit and whipped cream or 1.5 servings of ice cream.

kaizaku

I would say, ease into the diet. Since it's only been couple of days your body hasn't adjusted yet. I won't be surprised if you feel tired often, migraine etc. Also it depends how many meals you having throughout the day. If you sleep around 11ish, then eat around or after 9.

Sedu1906

Melatonin

Christine_72

Sedu1906 wrote: »

Melatonin

When i was having trouble sleeping, i asked my doctor to write me script for melatonin. His exact words were "It's very expensive and is a waste of time and does not work". So that was that, and i never got to try it.

OP i definitely advocate for having a snack before bed if you're waking up hungry. Eat what you like, but casein is often recommended.
I like chocolate/peanut butter casein mixed into cottage cheese.

MacaronStyle

Shift your calories around (like eat a smaller lunch) so you can have a snack before bed and/or eat a larger dinner. If you still have this problem then a cup of herbal tea can do wonders.

sarabushby

100g of Fage 0% Fat Yoghurt is a good pre-bedtime snack full of Caesin slow release protein to help rebuild your muscles whilst you sleep. Also likely to be lower calorie than the peanut butter option which would be all too easy to eat a heaped tablespoon which is actually a lot of calories and a lot of fat and would probably be harder to fit into your calorie allowance for the day.

teicu1

I also frequently have trouble falling asleep. There are days when I go to bed and can’t fall asleep for 2 or 3 hours. I use Melatonin, but all it does is help me experience deeper sleep in the last hour or so I spend in bed. It doesn’t help me go to sleep. I used to do a bedtime snack, but all that did was make weight loss/control more difficult. Now I just live with bedtime hunger (which I think is a good thing and doesn’t keep me awake) and try to make sure I’ve got myself sufficiently worn out and tired so I can successfully fall asleep when I go to bed. I wish I could be more encouraging but my experience is what it is and I really wish there was a highly effective “magic bullet”, but if there is one I just haven’t heard of it yet. Good luck with this annoying problem. Hope you obtain better results than I’ve gotten so far.