Diet and cant sleep

[lander2312]

OK so the wife is cutting and on a a slight diet while still moderately training. Problem is she cant sleep through the night. The hunger isnt the issue but she cant go back to sleep and lack of sleep is an issue. She doesnt want to take pills so no suggestions of Ambien or the Need2sleep. Anyone else have issues like this?? and if so how did you combat and/or fix them?

 

[RADAR]

I usually have a protein Drink before bed time, If this doesn't work then i'll read until i get sleepy.

 

[caligirl85]

Did the sleep issues coincide with the dieting?

How low did she drop the carbs??

 

[CML0915]

Many people suffer from sleep issues while cutting.
I know you said no pills but that may be the only thing that will help her.
Unisom is great, make sure it's the one that has Doxylamine Succinate. I also take Melatonin, 5mg's on occasion. Don't take them both together though.
Also electronics can cause people to have a hard time sleeping. Is she on her phone at all 1-2 hours before bed?

 

[lander2312]

Sorry for the delay in getting back with you guys. She has tried protein powders and it didn't work...she would wake up at 2am then we mixed the protein power with Greek yougurt hoping it would stuck lo her no dice. She has a script for ambient but she felt like a dependency issue might arise this why no pills. Right now trying 4oz of meat....chicken/ lean red meat and it seems to be the best due to assimilation. But the calories at bedtime we are afraid will hamper results

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using EliteFitness.com - Anabolic Steroids, Bodybuilding mobile app

 

[CML0915]

What about a glass of milk before bed? 10 minutes of yoga/meditating? I wouldn't jump right to the Ambien if you decide to try a pill.

 

[precious2014]

I usually drink hot milk before bed.

 

[kennyy]

I usually have a protein Drink before bed time, If this doesn't work then i'll read until i get sleepy.

me too

 

[eatcrazemove]

First make sure you are covering all of the basics that involve sleep:

-no coffee/tea/apples/other foods/drinks that keep you awake anytime past afternoon
-make sure temperature of bedroom is conducive to sleep - sometimes making room a little cooler so that blanket is needed is better for sleep
-make sure room is as dark as possible
-dim the lights about 30 minutes before bedtime (bright lights right before bed does not help with going to sleep)
-exercise helps you go to sleep and get a better night sleep
-make sure bedroom is a place of relaxation (should just be used for sleeping, not working, not working out - only associated as a place of relaxation)
-make sure bed/mattress isn't interfering with sleep
-try to find out cause of bad sleep/staying awake (could be other things are on your wife's mind?)

If all of the bases above are covered, you can still try a few other things:

-relaxation techniques that help with going to sleep - relaxing one muscle/part of body at a time
-eye techniques - exercise your eyes by looking up, down, left/right. This is extremely effective if you try to look in the extreme peripheries of your eyesight and try to concentrate on an object for 30 seconds (your eyes will tire very quickly). Try this looking up left for 30 seconds, then up right for 30 seconds, and keep repeating until you don't have to look away.
-mind exhaustion exercises - find a way to exhaust the mind such as mental math (2x2 = 4, 4x2 = 8, 8x2 = 16, 16x2 = 32, 32x2 = 64....) See how high you can go and don't give up. Or try to recall the names of all 50 US states.
-change diet - if your wife is eating too many fruits, then this may be an issue. Fruits are great, but contain a lot of natural sugar. Try to eat foods with as little sugar content as possible - maybe try to just eat chicken, fish, and veggies for a day and see if this helps with sleep. Trust me, very difficult to gain any weight by eating just meat and veggies.