Not sleeping well...

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butterfly1210
butterfly1210 Posts: 11 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am wondering if this is happeing or has happened to anyone else. I am having a really hard time sleeping since I cut back on my calories/carbs. This happened to me years ago when I did the Atkins diet and then again when I switched to South Beach, but that was when I was limited to NO carbs other than veggies and right now I eat whole grain toast, brown rice, TLC crackers and other Kashi products. So I fall asleep ok but between 1 and 3 in the morning I wake up and cannot fall back asleep. And then I start to feel jittery. Anyone experience this too? Or know what is going on? I eat all my calories, I only have coffee in the a.m. and I'm exercising almost daily.

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  • Dlibo1013
    Dlibo1013 Posts: 883 Member
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    Yesssssssssssss, welcome to my world
  • MzBug
    MzBug Posts: 2,173 Member
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    I try to save about 150 cals for a snack about an hour before bed. Usually yogurt and fruit or a Skinny Cow product. Something with a bit of protein in it to keep your tummy happy overnight.
  • bubbacheese
    bubbacheese Posts: 2
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    having a low calorie protien and carb together should help you get through the night. i love carrots and peanut butter. good luck
  • madijo41
    madijo41 Posts: 367 Member
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    I thought it was just me.
  • sarahsmom1
    sarahsmom1 Posts: 1,501 Member
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    I haven't slept thru the night since 1984 but I just read the breakfast food is good in the evening so i am going to try and have some oatmeal at night for my evening snack. Hope it helps
  • VickieMW
    VickieMW Posts: 285 Member
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    I too have tried many diets and changed the way I eat so that you are only eating vegetables and protein at night. Any time I change my diet it effects my sleep for 2 - 7 days. I have found some things that help.

    Get some Magnesium if you can find Tri-Magnesium that's what I recommend and you take it at night, I take it after dinner.
    For the first few day (even though it's not on your diet) eat ONE small red potato. It boosts your seriton levels and helps you sleep.
    Turn off your computer 1 hour before you go to bed this really makes a difference when you are having trouble sleeping.
    Exercise for 30 minutes between 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. (just a walk) This will naturally make you tierd and help you stay asleep.
    These are really easy changes to make to help you sleep. Blessings Vickie
  • kwardklinck
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
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    A bowl of cereal before bed puts me to sleep every time, but I also know that if I stop the carbs at 4:00, weight loss is easier. I don't know if i'm good to give advice because I have sleep difficulty myself. I do know that sometimes I'm hungry in the middle of the night and it's almost impossible to sleep. I will usually just eat a little bit of protein and drink a bottle of water. Then I can go back to sleep and it has no negative effect on my morning weigh in.
  • kristinlough
    kristinlough Posts: 828 Member
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    Don't forget about caffeine. You should not have a caffeinated drink after 3 p.m. But if you're having time sleeping, you should probably stop drinking caffeine after about 11:00 a.m. It might take a couple of days, but that might help.

    Sorry :frown: I get that wake up in the middle of the night so nervous and stressed that I'm going to freak out and die. But I think graduating from law school and making one more huge life change will solve that.
  • butterfly1210
    butterfly1210 Posts: 11 Member
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    Thanks for all the suggestions! I think tonight I will try some protein an hour before bed and not look at the tv or computer either... see if that helps. Also, I may start trying that one red potato a day. I really do seem to have this problem mostly when I cut out the white food. Of course it doesn't help either that my kids take turns waking me during the night... but that is another issue all together!
  • Teemo
    Teemo Posts: 338
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    Thanks for all the suggestions! I think tonight I will try some protein an hour before bed and not look at the tv or computer either... see if that helps. Also, I may start trying that one red potato a day. I really do seem to have this problem mostly when I cut out the white food. Of course it doesn't help either that my kids take turns waking me during the night... but that is another issue all together!

    Try the opposite: having a little bit of carbs before bed, like a half slice of bread or whatever. The pre-bed protein is more likely to keep you up (IF the food is a problem/reason for your sleeplessness.)

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