Finding it hard to sleep

dgatesy
dgatesy Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
I am 37 years old and after a long period of inactivity and weight gain I decided to do something about it in the new year. I have been doing the spartacus workout 3 days a week and cardio on the other 3 days with Sunday off. I joined my fitness pal to help me manage my diet with a thorough calorie count and have been sticking to it well........ Big change from carry outs and substantial amounts of fizzy drinks !!!!

I started at 216lb I'm almost a month in and have lost 11lb so far which I'm delighted with but am starting to find it harder to get a good nights sleep. Most nights now consist of not being able to get over until 1/2 am and waking up a few hours later before getting over for another hour. I have read up a bit on this and it seems to happen to people who workout late or go to bed hungry neither of these are the case with me. I workout every morning at 7.30am and don't feel hungry going to bed

Any ideas / explanations or remedies would be a great help

Cheers

Replies

  • toomuchbootyindapants
    toomuchbootyindapants Posts: 811 Member
    Are you taking any supplements or vitamins?
  • dgatesy
    dgatesy Posts: 6
    No none at all
  • spamantha57
    spamantha57 Posts: 674 Member
    Do you drink soda or coffee?
  • dgatesy
    dgatesy Posts: 6
    I'm not a coffee drinker at all and have stopped all fizzy based drinks when I started exercising I used to drink a lot of them but none now at all
  • spamantha57
    spamantha57 Posts: 674 Member
    Like you mentioned, it's not uncommon for people to have difficulty sleeping if they exercise, especially later at night. Even though you do in the morning, your body is probably still energetic more throughout the day than you're used to. You're doing better things so it so it's happy! It wants to keep being happy & stay up even if you're been up all day.
    That's somewhat happened to me a little bit this past month now that I'm able to exercise again.
    If you don't drink coffee or soda (even diet soda or other caffeinated drinks like black teas can cause sleep issues) you could try having warm milk or chamomile tea before bed. Cheese (any dairy really) also has natural melatonin in it - melatonin is that thing your brain releases telling you it's time for sleep.
    Edit: So basically your body could just be getting used to this new great lifestyle of yours. But it should get used to it within a couple of months, so there are little things you could do in the meantime. It takes a boatload for me to get to sleep, but I don't like to suggest popping pills or anything. So calming teas or things with natural melatonin can be a good option.
  • tapdance66
    tapdance66 Posts: 29
    I've never been a good sleeper at all, although it's worse now than when I was younger. 5 hours is a really good night for me. I will say that when I do fall asleep, I'm out. It's five solid hours and not a lot of tossing & turning. I also don't work out at night nor do I eat right before bed. It concerned me for a while and then I talked to my doctor about it. She said that as long as I'm staying healthy and I am not excessively tired (i.e. can't stay awake during the day), I shouldn't worry about it. Everyone has a different rhythm and as we get older (my favorite words from my young doctor!), most people do not sleep as much as they did when younger.
    If your lifestyle is new, it might just be your body adjusting to it and over time, you will probably find that your pattern settles out. However, if it continues or if you feel stressed or anxious, I would recommend talking to your doc about it. There might be some underlying condition that's causing your sleeplessness and your new lifestyle is bringing it out.
    Good luck with everything!
  • dgatesy
    dgatesy Posts: 6
    Thanks Sam for your replies much appreciated
  • dgatesy
    dgatesy Posts: 6
    Big thanks to you too tap dance for taking the time out to reply will take all on board

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