Hi all! I have fasted on and off for awhile and had one really good year of success and would like to get back to that. I frequently have sleep issues when I do so and was curious if anyone has any additional tips other than what I have read online? I am aware your adrenaline and cortisol spike and this is generally what I believe is my problem. My plan is to restart today, keep up my water and electrolytes appropriately, ordered melatonin and will take ZMAs (zinc and mag supp) to try as well. Any additional tips welcome! Ideally would like to fast until Thursday (not uncommon for me), but it’s difficult due to sleep sometimes. *i checked the wiki and didn’t see anything related to the insomnia that comes with fasting
Honestly, I just find a book that I have to read for a certification or something. Most of the time I am asleep in 5 minutes. Now staying asleep is another issue. I can also use my tablet at lowest brightness and blue blocker and have that work as well.
ASMR or things like the sleep meditation mentioned before can help a lot, or just white noise. I also found heating pads or blankets can help, same with a weighted blanket.
Anything you can do to signal to your body that it’s time for sleep.
Try not to and set goals for getting things done. If you’re anything like me you’ll get tired right before that and sleep through all that extra time you planned for. Worst that can happen is you get a bunch of shit done.
I tried a CBD+epsom salt bath, some sleepy time tea, and a Headspace meditation the other night and slept SO WELL. Not something I can do every night, but I’ll probably try once a week.
I also try to finish drinking any fluids at least an hour before bed so I’m not waking to pee.
Box breathing while trying to sleep. 4 second inhale, 4 second hold, 4 second exhale, 4 second hole.
I do pretty slow seconds.
Also I just don’t need as much sleep while fasting. Like 5 hours. And that’s including working 12h days.
I try not to force my sleeping
I believe when you fast, since your body doesn’t need to digest, it focuses all its energy on healing/repairing during sleep, causing us to need less sleep than normal. I would stay away from melatonin as it is not good for us to take. There really isn’t a way around this but my advice would be to physically tire yourself out (within your limits). Whether that’s a long walk, lifting (if early in ur fast), or whatever
Real talk if you can’t sleep then you need some help. My suggestion is if you find a single serving of chicken bouillon and make a tall 20 oz glass of hot broth with about 100 calories of butter with a heavy pinch of salt.
Yes it will break the fast but it is such a small amount of calories and it will leave you incredibly satisfied. Over time you will grow your ability to resist and get to sleep. Cultivate the mindset through positive adaptations and progressing towards intended goals. You got this killer.
I find it easy to go to sleep if I feel tired. If I push through the tiredness, then I have a hard time sleeping. So my advise is sleep when you feel like it. If it’s a bit early, just sleep anyway.