Fasting without the sleep disturbances

Hey good people of reddit, I would really like to do a modified fast where I eat one meal a day (perhaps around lunch time) or just nothing at all. My problem is that I usually incur sleep disturbances/problems when I fast. I'm curious if anyone knows how I can do a water fast/ practice intermittent fasting by eating maybe one meal a day without necessarily bringing on sleep problems? By sleep problems I basically mean waking up in the middle of the night wide awake. Thanks!

Answer

You’ll need to experiment and see what works for your body. We’re all different and don’t respond the same ways

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For me: OMAD is \~4:30-5:00pm. I digest through the evening when nothing is needed from me. Off to bed \~8:30-9:30pm and am fine. If I eat later, digesting keeps me up. If I eat earlier, personal health issues with digestion ruin the rest of my day. You need to play around and see where to place your meal in a way that works best for you

Answer

This is very common. Two things:

Magnesium does wonders here. I take one pill in the morning, one an hour before bed. It has helped me a lot!
I also noticed I’m more sensible to things that would already affect my sleep in normal times. I try not to take caffeine at least 8 hours before bed, cut out blue screens and other stimulants at least one hour before bed. Also, if you can, ear plugs and a sleep mask help a lot.

Answer

There’s usually some sleep disturbance. However magnesium can help, also I’ve found that taking some psyllium husk a little bit before bed makes it easier to sleep. Melatonin can also help, (less can be more here, I’ll often split a 3mg pill in half).