To my surprise I found that on fasting days I found it difficult to sleep. After having overcome the insomnia bug I was upset by this. As it was just on the nights where I was fasting going back and redoing my sleep condensing programme was not going to help me, so I spent a few (sleepless) nights trying to work out the best approach forward. I did not want to give up on the fasting as I was interested in seeing if it helped my health but really did need to sleep. Reading some of the posts on the forum and a conversation with a friend who is also fasting, I realised I was not the only person this happened to.
Some of the usual advice for insomnia is not going to help in this situation - drinking cherry juice has been shown to improve sleep, but for a faster drinking fruit juice is a waste of calories and fruit juice can cause big spikes in sugar/insulin levels which just leave you feeling even hungrier a short while afterwards.
So here are my best tips for fasters.
1 Are you warm enough?
Being just slightly too cold can prevent sleep - and it was something that I had noticed on the forums that some people felt cold on fasting days. This was not something that I have noticed so far, as it is still quite hot here in France and it is hard to feel cold when the temperature is in the mid 30's. For me this was the problem at night time and once I had worked out what was going on, I now add a layer on my bedclothes on fasting nights and my sleep has improved!
Try placing a lightweight blanket on top of your duvet, or wearing warmer bedclothes and bedsocks to see if this helps your sleep.
2 When are you eating?
Having a growling stomach is not conducive to sleep. I save up my calories during the day and have an evening meal and a bedtime snack, which really does help.
If you are new to fasting, see if you can reduce the meals you eat to allow for more food in the evening. Fasting is an individual process and if this does not work for you relax and try one of the other approaches. More experienced fasters may find this easier, as many people find that eating earlier in the day makes you feel hungrier throughout the day, but not waking the stomach with food helps keep the hunger pangs at bay.
3 What are you eating?
Although restricted to 500 calories there are some foods that we can eat on a fasting day that will help promote sleep. These include bananas, turkey, dairy products, sweet potatoes, lettuce, oatmeal and almonds.
Turkey is a lean, low calorie meat that can easily be part of your 500 calories, along with a small portion of sweet potatoes. Or maybe a turkey salad?
For a bedtime snack - how about a small bowl of porridge (with low fat milk), a low fat yoghurt, or a small portion of almonds.
My favourite bedtime snack is to blitz a banana with low fat yoghurt (and a splash of water) to make a banana smoothie. If I have enough calories left over then I might add a few berries as well. Depending on exactly the quantities and brands used, this comes in at between 130/150 calories.
4 What are you drinking?
This is a tricky one as the recommendation for fasters is to drink plenty of water, as this helps with weight loss and with stopping hunger pangs. the downside is needing to go to the toilet in the night. Experiment with when to stop drinking water - maybe an hour or so before bed.
Green tea is also recommended for its weight loss benefits but green tea does contain caffeine. Caffeine can stay in your system for several hours and the general advice is to stop consuming caffeine after 2pm to allow you a good night's sleep. Maybe you are not normally sensitive to caffeine but the affect of restricted calories may change this balance in your diet.
Also remember that caffeine is present in coke and some other soft drinks - maybe you are glugging back the diet coke to help curb your hunger? Again try stopping in the early afternoon to help improve your chances of sleep.
Try drinking other herbal teas instead, they provide warmth and comfort and are generally caffeine free. Also chamomile and valerian tea are both known for their sleep inducing properties! Valerian is also available as a supplement.
Diet soft drinks such as lemonade do not contain caffeine, or try flavoured fizzy water to keep hunger at bay.
Some posts on the forum recommend a low fat calorie hot chocolate as a bedtime drink (40 cals) I have been unable to try this out as they are not available here. My only warning would be to avoid this if you find you are more sensitive to caffeine.
For me it was the combination of an extra blanket and a bedtime banana smoothie that helped and now I sleep normally on a fast night.
Please feel free to comment below about any sleep tips you may have to help fasters sleep better!
Sweet dreams!
If you would like more help with achieving overcoming insomnia and other sleep problems then please contact me at charlotte@charlottewelply.com and we can set up a free introductory coaching session.
Disclaimer - please talk to your doctor before undertaking any type of fasting or calorie restricted diet. The intention of this blog post is to give advice around sleep and not whether you should fast or not.
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