Can't Sleep...anyone else?

michael_jordan7

I lost over 100 lbs. about a year and half ago, when going through the process I found myself only sleeping 4 or 5 hours a night, over the last few months I have gained about 40 lbs back, and I slept all night long. Now I am losing again, trying to get back to my goal weight and find myself looking at the clock for most of the night. Anybody else experienced this???

jenmarrs429

Yep

bethany_rose8

Take your vitamins, ensure you have a meal an hour before bed to make sure you are not too hungry. When I had my eating disorders I couldn't sleep of hunger and then when I began to recover, I would wake up in the middle of the night even when "healthily dieting". St. John's wort helps me sleep if I am having trouble with this.

YarnGoddess47

Almost every night. It's like I'm nocturnal or something. I can go and go on not much sleep.

becky19_80

Yes just woke up its midnight and im starving

tinkerbellang83

Yeah, I only get a couple of hours deep sleep a night

Heather4448

Have you tried melatonin? It helps most people.

WickedPineapple

Yes, I've had trouble falling asleep while in a deficit. I would recommend saving some calories for right before bed, especially if hunger is keeping you up. Eat something small, with tryptophan (eggs, milk, etc.) or melatonin (cherries) if possible. Avoid anything high fat if you get acid reflux and obviously anything with caffeine (chocolate, coffee, etc.). Sometimes I'll just have a couple crackers and that will satisfy me enough to get to sleep.

You might also try having chamomile tea before bed, to help to feel fuller and get to sleep.

Geocitiesuser

I have the worst insomnia sometimes. Figure out what "keeps you up". I've found that I absolutely can not sleep if I'm either too warm, or if I'm too hungry. I also need white noise. So to help me sleep I have an air filter for noise, I save calories in my budget for a pre bed snack, and I have a fan/ac for the summer.

I even bought a new bed.

I've read lots of articles on sleep, most just suggest making a pattern. If you REALLY can't sleep try getting up, doing something for 10 minutes, then laying back down and trying again.

Iamnotasenior

Maybe you are hungry? Try budgeting for a small high-protein snack like some turkey lunch meat, a handful of nuts or cheese 30 minutes before bed.

kshama2001

michael_jordan7 wrote: »

I lost over 100 lbs. about a year and half ago, when going through the process I found myself only sleeping 4 or 5 hours a night, over the last few months I have gained about 40 lbs back, and I slept all night long. Now I am losing again, trying to get back to my goal weight and find myself looking at the clock for most of the night. Anybody else experienced this???

When you lost the 100 pounds, how many pounds did you average losing a week? When people create too big a deficit, hunger often wakes them at night.

With 40 pounds to lose, a reasonable weekly weight loss goal for you would be a pound a week. Consider budgeting some of those calories for a bed time snack.

rsclause

When I was at my lowest weight I would only get 4 or 5 hours according to fitbit. After gain twenty pounds back now its about 7 hour a night. Funny that I never put the two together.

sllm1

I guess I'm the oddball - I sleep worse when I eat a big meal before bed. The deficit doesn't bother me; in fact, evening exercise makes me drop into a sleep quickly.

2wise4u

I think I have insomnia because I go to bed around 9 or 10 and I'm up at 4 to go to the gym. My problem is the fact that I always have a million things to do with my daughter and housework and my husband has selective vision (but I love him though)

kshama2001

sllm1 wrote: »

I guess I'm the oddball - I sleep worse when I eat a big meal before bed. The deficit doesn't bother me; in fact, evening exercise makes me drop into a sleep quickly.

I didn't see anyone recommending a big meal. Many of us were recommending a snack. To quantify mine, it's about 300 calories. I wouldn't want > 700 ish calories right before bed either.

ruqayyahsmum

2wise4u wrote: »

I think I have insomnia because I go to bed around 9 or 10 and I'm up at 4 to go to the gym. My problem is the fact that I always have a million things to do with my daughter and housework and my husband has selective vision (but I love him though)

You sleep 6 or 7 hours? Thats not insomnia, thats normal

I sleep less than 2 hours on a bad night and 5 hours on a good night but in broken chunks.

I have a daughter with a sleep disorder, she hardly sleeps at all. They tried her on melatonin and even on the highest dose she was still awake 5 hours later

WickedPineapple

kshama2001 wrote: »

sllm1 wrote: »

I guess I'm the oddball - I sleep worse when I eat a big meal before bed. The deficit doesn't bother me; in fact, evening exercise makes me drop into a sleep quickly.

I didn't see anyone recommending a big meal. Many of us were recommending a snack. To quantify mine, it's about 300 calories. I wouldn't want > 700 ish calories right before bed either.

^ I definitely wouldn't recommend a whole meal. I usually go for 50-200 calories.

robynmoosehead

bethany_rose8 wrote: »

Take your vitamins, ensure you have a meal an hour before bed to make sure you are not too hungry. When I had my eating disorders I couldn't sleep of hunger and then when I began to recover, I would wake up in the middle of the night even when "healthily dieting". St. John's wort helps me sleep if I am having trouble with this.

Just an aside as it isn't relevant to OP.

If taking any form of hormonal contraceptives, you should be careful about using St John's Wort as it's known to reduce effectiveness.

unstoppable46532

I once went on an incredibly stupid diet that was very limited and VERY low calories. I had insomnia for months because I was not fueling properly and was basically starving myself. I went to see a TRUE dietitian who told me that I needed to bump up my caloric intake and be more balanced. She helped me put a healthy balance diet that would still create the caloric deficit I needed to lose weight. Best decision I've ever had and now I don't struggle near as much with sleep as before.

Rosyedwards

Listening to the Liquid Mind station on Pandora puts me out in less than 5 minutes. Journaling before bed plus not drinking water has helped me. I read that water keeps you waking up to go pee and that was my issue.

WickedPineapple

ruqayyahsmum wrote: »

2wise4u wrote: »

I think I have insomnia because I go to bed around 9 or 10 and I'm up at 4 to go to the gym. My problem is the fact that I always have a million things to do with my daughter and housework and my husband has selective vision (but I love him though)

You sleep 6 or 7 hours? Thats not insomnia, thats normal

I sleep less than 2 hours on a bad night and 5 hours on a good night but in broken chunks.

I have a daughter with a sleep disorder, she hardly sleeps at all. They tried her on melatonin and even on the highest dose she was still awake 5 hours later

Normal ≠ Healthy... I think something like 1/3 of people in the US are sleep deprived.

Also, 6 or 7 hours assuming she falls asleep right when she goes to bed. Even so, that's still not necessarily enough. It wouldn't be enough for me personally. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-9 hours for adults with 6 hours as a minimum or 10 hours a maximum being appropriate for some people. Getting enough quality sleep is arguably just as important for your health as exercise, nutrition, stress management, body fat %, etc.

michael_jordan7

Thank you to all who have responded. I just wanted to know whether others had similar experiences, it is good to know that I am not alone!