Sleeplessness

This topic contains 9 replies, has 8 voices, and was last updated by sophiaalice 6 years, 8 months ago.

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)

Roundgirl

5:20 pm
3 Jul 17
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Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone can help? I have been doing the 5:2 for three weeks and am having consistent trouble with sleeplessness on fasting days. I just can’t sleep i’m so hungry and have tried drinking lots of water but my tummy carries on grumbling and growling and keeping me awake. The next day I feel totally exhausted and low energy and eat too many carbs and too much food overall to try and get some energy and this is undermining my efforts, has anyone got any suggestions? I am eating a small brunch at 10-11am and a main meal around 6-6.30pm when I cant wait any longer!

CalifDreamer

6:07 am
4 Jul 17
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Roundgirl, I often find it difficult to fall asleep on FD too. But it isn’t usually because I feel hungry, it’s because I simply feel more wide awake when not eating much. I try to eat something filling, like soup with a couple hundred calories in it as my last meal of the day. I also found that it helps if I eat a little later or go to bed closer to the last meal. But I still have problems sometimes. I’m finding that it gets a little easier as time goes on. I’ve been at this for almost 8 weeks now. Maybe the body adjusts to some extent.

ducks_d

6:48 am
4 Jul 17
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Hi there Roundgirl, I often found it difficult to get to sleep in the first weeks maybe even months of doing this 5:2 and waking up early starving but now I barely notice the difference, I can even wait till 9am to eat breakfast the next day. I’ve been at it since Jan this year and it really does get easier. It’s been a slow journey for me I’ve only lost about about 5kg but feels like a lot. If you read some of the other forums here sleeplessness a really common problem that from what I gather passes for most people and those that continue to have problem have some tips that may help – magnesium spray on your feet??? My advice for what it’s worth is don’t worry too much about how much you eat the next day, be kind to yourself, have a plan about what to eat the next day as well. It takes time for your body to adjust and it will. Hang in there.

ducks_d

6:56 am
4 Jul 17
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Or maybe increase your calories to 800 for a while until you get used to it. Some people find that a lot more doable to start.

CalifDreamer

3:57 pm
4 Jul 17
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Ducks_d, I agree about the waking up starving in the beginning. I had that too. Now it’s sometimes almost noon after a FD before I feel really hungry. I used to wake up looking for food! I’m glad you can confirm that it gets easier over time. 5 kg is a good amount of weight! You probably feel a whole lot better. Slow is okay. You stuck with it for 6 months so chances are you’ll be able to continue long term. And that’s the important part. Anyone can lose a couple kg by counting calories daily and restricting them. But how many people stick with that for very long? The 5:2 is probably a plan you can live with since you’ve already lived it for 6 months.

Roundgirl

11:05 am
10 Jul 17
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Thanks so much for your replies! Just had another sleepless night last night after a FD arggh!! Interesting that people say they just feel more awake, I think I do too…mentally and physically wriggly! I feel hungry but also really alert all night! What’s going on in the body on fast days to make this happen? I would have thought you would have less alertness and energy after a day with few cals?

LJoyce

12:14 pm
10 Jul 17
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Hi RoundGirl, I try to keep enough calories for a mug of almond milk (about 50 calories for my preferred brand). If I need it, I’ll heat this up in the evening and add either vanilla paste or cocoa and have this hot milk drink before bed. I don’t feel like it every FD but I definitely don’t go to bed feeling hungry on the days when I do have the hot milk drink.
I make a very limited range of FD meals (dinner only for me, no brunch) and they all allow me to save enough calories for cows milk in my cups of tea and the hot almond milk.

symba7

6:26 pm
29 Jul 17
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Have a magnesium tablet 375 mg…buy on line from Boots sometimes on offer. We take one about 8 pm they help a lot….takes about two weeks as they get in your system….on our thread most of us take one or two…we find one tablet enough…( not with milk)

A lot of people are missing this supplement ..

X

HappyNow

10:23 pm
29 Jul 17
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I started 5:2 in Jan 14, and have been maintaining a 30lb loss for over three years now. I’ve also experienced that sleep loss, not due to hunger, but hyper-alertness. It does get easier over time. However, I have recently discovered that, at least for me, eating less on a fast day leads to a better night’s sleep. I tried Michael Mosley’s increased fast day allowance (800 calories), but it didn’t help with sleep and it left me ravenous and never satiated the next day. But consuming fewer calories (maybe 100 calls – milk in a morning cuppa and a bit of kefir) results in better sleep and less hunger. So don’t automatically think eating more, or eating closer to bedtime, is the answer!

dykask

4:16 am
31 Jul 17
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I wasn’t able to sleep well on fasting days for months. Sometimes I would wake up hungry but mostly I was just wakeful. At some point it switched and now I typically don’t have issues sleeping and almost never any hunger when I wake up. I think it just took my body some time to get used to the fasting.

sophiaalice

12:00 pm
29 Aug 17
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Hey Roundgirl,

I faced the same problem but now I am very happy with fasting last year one of my friend from Pakistan yes FB friend gave me some instructions to avoid and to follow so I followed and avoid according to him and results was awesome so I want to share it with you all.

He said that these years fasting in Pakistan is very difficult due to hot & dry summer season and they some simple steps for fasting which are mentioned below:

1) They have some bread (1 or 2 as per capacity) and some organic energy drinks such as milk shakes or Lassi (Punjabi Drink made with Milk and Yogurt) min 500ml and 3 Dates min.

2) When the time comes for opening he said they avoid fried things and eat some fruit salad, yogurt salad, milk or any sweet drink min 500ml. After having these they avoid eating anything for at-least 2 hours and after that if they have mood to eat something they eat otherwise wait to have Sehri time.

So I follow his instructions and now I enjoy fasting because I remain energetic.

Regards,

Sophia Alice