Hey, just as the title states, i have toruble staying asleep following a time restricted eating diet. I eat my last meal around 7-8 at night and fall asleep around 12, while waking around 3-4 am. at this point im still tired but i am hungry. i find getting out of bed and going downstairs for 15 minutes or so then going back up i can fall back asleep decently. i fall back asleep but then sometimes i will wake up in a light sleep state again or before im supposed to wake up in the morning which is at 9. i eat around 100-120 carbs a day and exercise daily as well. my last meal is probably 20-25 carbs as an estimation. i take magnesium,fish oil, multi, and vitamin d. i take the magnesium with my last meal. any suggestions or similar resolved stories i would love to hear. ill answer any questions asked as well. thanks
I have insomnia in the early morning hours, it’s worse when I’ve ended my eating window early. I read that it was low glucose levels causing the waking, and that having a shot of juice, honey, etc can help you to fall back asleep within 15 min or so. Haven’t tried it yet - I’m trying to decide if adequate sleep is more impt, or 12+ hours of digestive system “rest”…….
@Zachswain: Sort of mirroring the thoughts of others here. The main thing that jumps out at me is that you only mention carbs in your last meal. Your last meal should, if anything, be a little bit higher in the macros that help more with satiety: namely, protein & fat. Fiber is also good for satiety, but in general a high carb meal as your last meal has two downsides:
wow, thats good info. does melatonin start shutting the insulin process down in the presence of low light? or just based off of circadian rhythm 2-3 hours before your usual bed time? because i know melatonin starts ramping up in the absence of light, right? also, what would you consider an ok amount of carbs at dinner for a male 160lbs 5'11 to consume? just so i can have a number to work fiber/fat/protein around?
This whole melatonin angle is actually one of the topics covered in an upcoming FoundMyFitness podcast with Dr. Satchin Panda.
Giving you fine-grained recommendations for your macros is sort of a little beyond the level of detail I personally operate at (sorry), but I’ll share a paper on the melatonin pancreatic production of insulin link.
What kind of fats are best for the last meal of the day? From the last interview with dr panda i gathered saturated fats are better handled earlier in the day. Im having a bit of trouble staying asleep still and might need to just stop tre altogether at least for now because im not doing it right. I started eating most of my calories/ fat at breakfast because it was stated in the podcast that fat eaten in the first meal is stored as energy. This did seem to help with satiety during the night as im not hungry when i wake up but for some reason i wake up once and am up for 20 minutes or so it seems then a couple hours before alarm time i am in and out of sleep. Not asking for diet advice but any information would be helpful
nothing to be sorry about man. you guys have helped me a lot. not only in this comment section but foundmyfitness as a whole. i slept deeper than ive slept in a little while the last two nights. that alone means a lot to me. not to mention the mental/physical improvements ive made to myself since listening to the podcast. i could write a lot about my gratitude for the research done. thanks for letting this thread air out also. i realize this is more of a news section and not a forum but i needed help
I think the fact that you are waking around 3-4 am might be a sign that you are actually not eating enough. Remember that time restricted eating is not a diet, meaning that benefits are seen when a person eats a full day worth of calories in a restricted window of time.
So try to calculate your basal metabolism then add your energy expenditure to figure out your calorie requirements. Mine happens to be about 1300 + 500-900, so, 1800 - 2200 calories depending on exercise, ect.
I don’t sleep well when I am hungry, and if I don’t have enough food at my last meal it might disrupt my sleep. I usually eat a bit more than I think I should at my last meal, but as long as I stay in on the time restricted schedule I never gain fat.
Also, try getting a good amount of fat and protein into that last meal!
hey what kind of fat do you eat for your last meal?
hey, i thought ive this as well. especially with the exercise i do. i usually walk for 10-15 minutes after meals(3 times a day) then do whatever workout i have for that day as well. i lift, hiit, yoga, or bike. those workouts are usually about 30 minutes. i eat 3 times a day as i stated. i eat more fat than anything (nuts, flax, olive oil, almond butter etc,) but i get full because there is usually a good amountn of fiber in those foods so my dilemma is trying to get enough calories in each meal while not getting full. is just downing a bunch of olive oil to reach caloric goals the solution?
What are you trying to achieve with your body? Are you looking to lose weight, maintain weight, or increase it?
The simple answer to your question of reaching caloric intake using oil is “no”.
i like my weight where its at, which is 160 at 5'11. yesterday i ate less carbs than normal as well as eating more calories from fat. i had a bit more trouble falling asleep at first but felt like i slept deeper when i was asleep. would your answer to the olive oil question be because it isn’t nutrient dense and isn’t something that is necessarily broken down like say nuts or fish?
If you are going to be following time restricted feeding, then a high carbohydrate diet won’t be the easiest thing for you to do. The reason is because carbs are processed by the body in 2-3 hours. This is going to cause you to crave more food more quickly than if you are on a low carb diet.
However excluding diet, you may also want to look into limiting your exposure to light an hour or two before going to sleep. The more blue light you expose yourself to before going to sleep, the lower your melatonin production will be. Avoid looking at any kind of artificial light sources at least 1 ½ hours before going to sleep. You can use candle light, or if you absolutely need to have lights on or need to watch TV, then buy sunglasses that block blue light. Uvex makes some that you can buy for under $10. What ever your decision is in reducing blue light exposure, you’ll need to give it a minimum of 2 weeks to allow your body’s circadian rhythm to adjust.
Hey, i already limit my exposure to blue light before bed while at the same time i am in a dark room(no my bedroom) for hours before bed. my room is blacked out for sleeping as well. i can try to cut back on carbs to see how that helps