Massive trouble sleeping :-(

kellyrosiemfp
kellyrosiemfp Posts: 14 Member
edited December 24 in Health and Weight Loss
I’m the heaviest I’ve ever been and have decided to go back to my fitness pal the past few weeks I’m doing 4 days 1200 calories and from Friday to Sunday I’m being relaxed about my eating. However on the lower days I’m not sleeping until around 2am I am so alert as I feel empty so I guess I get insomnia if I don’t have enough calories. Has anyone else had this and a way to combat it or help? I’ve tried everything - a banana before bed, herbal sleeping tablets (nytol) i then take magnesium citrate, 5htps, lavender oil AND magnesium oil... all from 9pm and nothing works and it’s really effecting me, I’d also like to mention even when I up my intake to 1600 it still happens!! Please help!

Replies

  • Nimbkar
    Nimbkar Posts: 63 Member
    try Vitamin D supplements and see if it helps
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    Weight loss and change can be stressful, maybe try some licorice root (not for people with high blood pressure) or nervous fatigue...this might help feed the adrenals and calm them if they are overstimulated from the stress of diet changes and weight loss.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    Talk to your doctor. It could be something like sleep apnea which does affect people who are overweight. It not only disrupts sleep, but it is dangerous as you actually stop breathing during sleep.
  • kellyrosiemfp
    kellyrosiemfp Posts: 14 Member
    I just can’t get to sleep but fine when I do it’s definitely not apnea! I’m not that overweight just a few pounds lol :-)
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,142 Member
    If it's because you feel "empty" and this only happens when you're in a deficit, try playing around with your eating schedule, it's totally fine to eat late if it doesn't cause you any digestive issues. I used to eat dinner around 9pm when I was losing weight.

    Also consider reducing your rate of loss, if you have only a couple of pounds to lose, 0.5lbs per week is more appropriate.
  • kiwiroz
    kiwiroz Posts: 57 Member
    I would be averaging the calories over 7 days rather than 4 because my priority would be getting a decent night sleep.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,622 Member
    kellyrosiemfp wrote: »
    I just can’t get to sleep but fine when I do it’s definitely not apnea! I’m not that overweight just a few pounds lol :-)

    If it's mind racing kind of stuff, maybe try a meditation or guided relaxation app?
  • NatalieHitoun
    NatalieHitoun Posts: 2 Member
    I sympathise with your having insomnia while reducing food intake. ( I am also trying to manage sleeplessness with food reduction). I would try several of the suggestions above: reduce caffeine intake (I just dropped to one coffee a day at breakfast), exercise/work out in the morning if you can, a cup of warm milk with half a teaspoon of honey at bedtime works for me. Eat most of your allowance at lunch and dinner (or dinner). No crime thriller TV at bedtime! Reading a book helps me fall asleep, especially if the book is slow! Good Luck, A smaller weekly weight loss might be better too.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,312 Member
    edited January 2020
    +1 for choosing a much more moderate pace of loss (instead of 2lbs a day) and choosing to cram it all in a three or four days of intense deficit while eating "normally" the rest of the time.

    It may have sounded like a good idea. But it is not proving to be that great given the lack of sleep and long list of attempts to fix it.

    Also you mentioned only a few lbs.

    Change tack.

    Aim for -250 or -500 and a much longer time period of more moderate restriction.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    kellyrosiemfp wrote: »
    I just can’t get to sleep but fine when I do it’s definitely not apnea! I’m not that overweight just a few pounds lol :-)

    I could give you a gazzilion tips on sleeping but that would only be treating the symptom, and not the problem, which is that you need to be eating more than 1200 calories.

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  • kellyrosiemfp
    kellyrosiemfp Posts: 14 Member
    The thing is my weight loss is steady I am only losing a pound a week, my social life style doesn’t allow me to eat 1750 every day, I literally gain weight from this because I drink at weekends etc, so when I reduce for 4 days and then go out with my friends at the weekends I have a one pound loss for me and my lifestyle I can’t see another way around it
  • vollkornbloedchen
    vollkornbloedchen Posts: 2,243 Member
    kellyrosiemfp wrote: »
    I’m the heaviest I’ve ever been and have decided to go back to my fitness pal the past few weeks I’m doing 4 days 1200 calories and from Friday to Sunday I’m being relaxed about my eating.
    I'm sure that this method will not work.
    Three "Cheat Days" per week will most likely ruin any progress the other 4 days might have made.

    Try a controled intake with moderate deficit but for the whole week.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    kellyrosiemfp wrote: »
    The thing is my weight loss is steady I am only losing a pound a week, my social life style doesn’t allow me to eat 1750 every day, I literally gain weight from this because I drink at weekends etc, so when I reduce for 4 days and then go out with my friends at the weekends I have a one pound loss for me and my lifestyle I can’t see another way around it

    Plenty of people here make drinking and weight loss work. I'm not one of them. I eat way too much, don't sleep well, and then the next day I'm sluggish and crave high calorie/low satiety foods.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    kellyrosiemfp wrote: »
    The thing is my weight loss is steady I am only losing a pound a week, my social life style doesn’t allow me to eat 1750 every day, I literally gain weight from this because I drink at weekends etc, so when I reduce for 4 days and then go out with my friends at the weekends I have a one pound loss for me and my lifestyle I can’t see another way around it

    The way around it is to eat and/or drink less with your friends.

    An outing every now and then might be a special occasion for which you might eat more. If you're overeating three times a week, that is not a special occasion. That is a routine. You have to figure out a routine that works for you long-term, and you can see that your current routine is not working--at least, I don't consider a pound a week loss at the price of my sleep "working".
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