I got into IF last september when I was having a gut issue and couldn’t eat much. I lost 30 pounds in 2 months doing 14:10 or 16:8 most days. I had a pretty good groove but then my life got chaotic and I was thrown off for a while. Thankfully rebound gain has been minimal (only a few pounds) but getting back in the groove to lose more is hard, mainly because I struggle with anxiety and insomnia at night and the blood sugar drop tends to trigger it worse, so I’ll lay awake hungry and anxious until I break down and eat some of the time. I take Berberine to balance blood sugar but doesn’t seem to be enough. Anyone else deal w this or have any hacks? I may need to really cut back on carbs until my body reacclimates again.
I’ve been dealing insomnia all my life and there are some tips I can give you
Eating and sleeping are linked heavily, doing 1 poorly can mess up the other one. So in this case you want to make sure your eating healthy to help your insomnia.
Exercise is also extremely important. Do high intensity work outs as much as you can. Not only for your health but also to expend energy and make u tired at the end of the day.
Another thing: put ur PHONE / TV / COMPUTER away or OFF 1 hour to 2 hours before bed.
Make it as dark and as quiet as humanly possible
a few other things have also helped me drastically :
Eating protein earlier in the day helps me stay full and satisfied for large portions of the day. This helps me avoid eating late at night because there is less hunger. Not eatin at night should be helpful for insomnia
Cutting out artificial / processed / simple sugars from your diet completely. Anyone who has eating problems or sleeping problems should just completely eliminate simple sugars no matter how hard it is because it has too much of a negative impact on things like : food cravings, your overall health, your mood, and even sleepiness.
For example, if someone drinks a Coca Cola or goes to Dunkin and buys a sweet coffee or donuts at night time.. that combo of sugar and eating late will most likely keep you up… not to mention it’s also just absolutely horrible for your body
The third and one of the most effective things that have helped me sleep is CBD and THC
cbd is non psycho active and you don’t need to smoke it, you can eat it or put oil under your tounge. My insomnia is serious but cbd really helps me sleep. Don’t use it TOO TOO close to bed time , try todo it like 1-2 hours before bed.
Thc has the same effects. Do NOT use it right before bed. You want to use it like 1-2 hours before.
With melatonin, personally I don’t like it because sometimes it makes my body exhausted but not my mind, with cbd and thc you won’t have that issue.
For cbd I recommend “just cbd” brand the gummies, or canna river oil.
For thc, jus make sure it’s high grade and not some low quality.
another HUGE THING!!
HOT TUBS!! Or HOT BATHS.. use these for 20-30 mins.. sit in a body of HOTTTT water .. and you will get very sleepy ! You’d be surprised how heavy your eyes get and how badly you want to sleep after soaking in a hot tub for half an hour. It’s amazing. So many health benefits and all u can think of after is hitting the bed. I am personally addicted to it and have to do it 3-4 times week minimum. Extremely helpful!
It also has a lot of benefits , and it improves your mood by ALOTTT so you feel happier and sharper all the time.
These are just my personal over all tips. Of course everybody is different and u may not wanna use those. Just my advice from things that have helped my baddd insomnia.
I take 5-HTP (amino acid precursor for serotonin and melatonin) every morning to help balance me out since I don’t make my own and I have adhd. It helps w/way better than trying take melatonin directly.