I relate to this post a lot. Usually when I’m fasting it’s on day 2 & 3 when I’m not going to sleep until 2am. Two things that worked for me is to either extend your fast to 4-5 days when sleep goes back to normal or to take Melatonin two hours before I go to sleep. Also try not to watch tv or browse reddit. For me, looking at a screen overstimulates my mind and that’s how I end up not sleeping through the night. I really hope you figure your sleep out and congratulations on the 40 lbs
Someone mentioned that magnesium from the epsom salt in the snake juice is good for sleep however I haven’t tried it yet maybe you can and let us know if there is any difference.
I also once read that the sleep problems when fasting is a survival mechanism to “go hunt for food” for back then when we used to hunt still and it’s your brain pumping a bunch of adrenaline and other chemicals to keep you awake. Even if this is normal I don’t know how much sleep deprivation affects you when fasting vs when you’re fed and haven’t found any studies regarding this. But I’d imagine it isn’t good.
Things I would try: magnesium, doing as much as activity possible in the day so you get tired when going to bed, maybe try not to drink the snake juice near at night.
My main concern is if you’re doing nothing all day and sitting down (maybe you have a desk job) and you’re pumping yourself full of snake juice electrolytes, which you don’t need, then obviously that’s going to cause sleep problems.
I take a couple of hits from my D8 vape at night. I sleep from 10-6am rn and feel energized. Read carefully because I am not recommending this, just saying its what I do and it works for me.
Edit: I hit it at about 9-9:30pm and by 10pm Im asleep. Normally I wake up at 5-5:30am, but Ive changed my schedule since I dont have as many appointments rn.
Make a rule for 0 screen time for at least a few hours before bedtime. That includes e-books. There’s no proof reading helps you sleep, quite the contrary. Devote your time before bedtime to be for all the other stuff in your life that doesn’t include a screen.
Also, carbs will kick you into a vicious cycle. If you binge on carbs, prepare to feel hungry like hell before bedtime. The advice to stay away from carbs after 6PM is not only to avoid getting fat, it’s also to avoid cravings when you’re supposed to sleep. Just drop ALL carbs except for stuff like carrots and bell peppers, and eat your meals in the morning. I’ve been doing this for only 3-4 days or so, and I already have 0 cravings for carbs, at all. I just eat a bunch of vegetables in the morning, I follow them up with some kind of fatty meat, and go about my day. This won’t last forever of course, but it’s fantastic for cutting fat.
Cole said keto is not as important as long as your eating portions are small. So maybe eat a small portion of carbs on your refeeds and keep doing your exercise and fasting like you’ve been so far. Good luck!
I have the same issue! Although i tend to just use God’s lettuce when i’m having trouble. Ik you said you don’t use drugs though. Maybe try a CBD sleep pill? I heard for some people that ik who don’t smoke but who don’t reap any benefits from melatonin that it helps. I also peeped that after my first refeed which was very heavy in carbs, I definitely fell asleep a lot easier. Maybe try adding some carbs to your refeeds but staying controlled and consistent with your fasts. It might even be better for you if you’re trying to build muscle now that you’ve lost all that weight. I really wish i could give better advice, especially because i feel you so hard on this. It’s quite honestly one of the worst things about fasting especially because i struggled with insomnia for a really long time and my sleep got better while i was eating like a pig but now that i’m trying to be more consistent, my body and sleep is not having it (unless as mentioned, i smoke). If you find any better solutions, let us know!
To be honest, expect to have a difficult time sleeping if you’re fasted. Your body is being flooded with cortisol trying to keep you awake and alert. I’ve slept for as little as 3 hours some nights before waking up and appearing perfectly refreshed. I spent so much of this extra time walking just for something to do to a point where I got tendinitis in my knees.
Personally I ditched the keto-esque refeeds and just added carbs. Having a week where you refeed for like ~5 days then do a 48 on the weekend is pretty good to do every now and again just for a break. At the end of the day you need a break from all that cortisol otherwise you’re going to get burnt out pretty quick. You can only do so many rolling 72’s staying up all night like an absolute tweaker before you need to give your mind a break more than you do your body.
Try a magnesium pill about 2 hours before bed - I have bad sleeps when fasting too and just tried it on this fast that I’m on now, and I can actually sleep! It seems one magnesium pill gives me about 7 hours of fairly uninterrupted sleep.
Best advice is just switch your diet to high protein, moderate carbs,and low fat. If you track your macros you won’t gain weight and can still get muscular and lean. It takes guts to do the snake diet but even more restraint to balance your diet without constant fasting and keto. If my sleep got that bad that’s what I would do and only do the snake diet in blocks if my weight got back out of control. Don’t adopt the cultist mentality, if there’s one downside to the snake diet it’s that.
In my case, i sleep much better when im fasted because the high insulin makes me get up to pee 3 or 4 times and its impossible to rest that way. When i do extended fast, i sleep like a baby, I do feel colder but that doesnt keep me from sleeping. I do have a very stable sleeping routing. I go to bed always at the same time around 10pm, schedule 8h and 30min in my alarm and get up before my alarm goes off fully rested.