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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!

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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:

  1. Magnesium does wonders here. I take one pill in the morning, one an hour before bed. It has helped me a lot!

  2. 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).

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