The FastDay Forum

I'm wondering if people who have had sleep problems from 5.2 are getting better sleep using 16.8?
I'm pretty shot for sleep on fast night AND the following night. Strange.
I think exercise might help pull cortisol levels down which i will try do every day.
But i need to get better sleep.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Cheers
Jo

Hi,

Not sure if 16:8 is better but I have found that over time 5:2 has made my sleep better. Took a while though. I also have to deal with OH sleeps 7PM to 3AM. I don't want to do that so we share a room but have different schedules.

I pretty much get 7 hrs of sleep but sometimes it is broken by OH needing to go to work. But before retiring from my high stress job I would get about 4 to 5 hours of fractured sleep.

The longer I am on 5:2 the better my sleep seems to be but I am also loving being retired so I can't separate them. I can suggest to try to eliminate stress for better sleeping.

[Tracieknits]

I can't go to sleep hungry, which I think is why I had trouble sleeping at first on 5:2

After I changed my eating pattern to eating all of my calories at night, sleep got better

I'm a total insomniac normally anyway. The least little thing will mess up my sleep, sadly.

Hi:

16:8 is not a diet. It has nothing to do with weight loss or weight maintenance. It is simply when you choose to eat each day. With 16:8 you can choose to eat breakfast through mid-afternoon, lunch through 8 pm, or late afternoon through midnight, or any other 8 hour period you might like to choose.

During those times, under 16:8 you can eat as much of anything you want. You can have a diet day using 16:8, a non-diet day, or a day when you eat twice your TDEE - it makes no difference from a 16:8 point of view. It is simply what you choose to eat that day.

So, from a 16:8 point of view, it is just when you choose to eat.

Now if the question is whether eating only 500 calories during a day (at any time) causes you sleeplessness, then that is a totally different question that has nothing to do with 16:8. That has to do with how much you eat, of what.

Good Luck!

JM53 you're right about stress, it is rising but the fasts are making it a bit worse.
I'm pleased to hear the sleep has improved on 5.2.
Yes thanks for the reminder Tracieknits to have most cals at night. I have been doing this except for one egg in the morning, but tomorrow I will try going all day until 7.30pm.
Thanks simcoeluv for clarifying 16.8.
I've decided to fast just once this coming week to monitor the sleep issue with fasting. I'm nervous to change it when it's working so well, however I'm confident I will be ok. I'm going to keep closely connected to the forum though.
Thanks sooo much
Jo

[carorees]

Hi @Jo05

Poor sleep was one reason I changed to 16:8 back in July 2013 after 8 months of 5:2. I lost 25kg on 5:2 and a further 10 and a bit doing 16:8 so I have to disagree with simon that you can't lose weight doing 16:8. However, you do have to treat the 8 hour eating window as part of a normal day so you have a light lunch and a normal dinner and perhaps one treat. Of course if you eat excessively during the 8 hours you can go over your TDEE. I try to mix things up and have at least one or two days a week with a lowish carb intake which seems to work out at around 900cals on those days. The other days generally range from 1200 to 1600 cals. I weigh daily and if I think I need to boost things I shorten the eating window. This tends to reduce my appetite and lowers the calorie intake.

I have noticed that when I have higher calories I sleep better and it is worse on the 900cal days, but never as bad as with 5:2 when I had to take some amitriptyline on fast days or I wouldn't sleep at all. I don't take any tablets now.

Whether 16:8 is enough to bring health benefits I don't know, but there are studies that suggest it will. As far as weight loss is concerned, I'd say start with 16:8 and if you don't lose weight, lengthen the fasting time on at least some days. Plus mix things up so the feast/famine principle is not completely forgotten!

Good luck with whatever you decide.

I've never tried 16:8, but I've definitely observed that my sleep is better on ADF than 5:2.

Hi @Jo05

" This tends to reduce my appetite and lowers the calorie intake."

Great advice thanks @carorees.

I like the idea of it lowering my cal intake, as I notice I'm constantly reaching the calorie limit, or almost going over.

I never knew how many calories were in macadamia (10 make 200 calories) or inch square of blue vein cheese is around 200 too I think.

Does 16.8 help regulate appetite, or do you need to close the window for that to happen?

"Whether 16:8 is enough to bring health benefits I don't know, but there are studies that suggest it will."

I so hope to get the health benefits. I'm going to try 6.1 and throw in a couple 16.8 to see if they work. Giving up my breakfast might be hard though.



thanks so much. @carorees Great that you have started a 16.8 tent, I will stroll over there now.

That's interesting Winsome, I will keep AFD in mind too, I'm very surprised more fasting helps sleep.
Cheers

[carorees]

Does 16.8 help regulate appetite, or do you need to close the window for that to happen?

Yes, closing the window is very important! Eating late at night interferes with the production of the satiety hormone, leptin, which naturally rises at night (odd I know). I think our bodies need to keep to the ancient pattern of being active in daylight hours (including eating) and resting and repairing at night.

Does 16.8 help regulate appetite, or do you need to close the window for that to happen?

Yes, closing the window is very important! Eating late at night interferes with the production of the satiety hormone, leptin, which naturally rises at night (odd I know). I think our bodies need to keep to the ancient pattern of being active in daylight hours (including eating) and resting and repairing at night.

Oh wow Im so grateful for your knowledge. I have eaten at night too much over the years. Ive been mucking things up all over the place,

I will try and do the 16.8 soon, it's looks really promising.
many thanks again
Jo

Just to add my three'apence as a newbie!

My first 500 calorie day was on Monday, I had a small lunch, a decent tea but went to bed hungry. I woke up 4 or 5 times in the night hungry, woke up grumpy, and didn't feel better until I'd had lunch on Tuesday.

I tried again yesterday, had nothing but a coffee and water all day, a nice tea and still had 100 calories left. So I had one slice of toast with a scrape of butter about 3 hours before bed. I slept like a log.

And I weighed myself today, which I wasn't going to do until Monday, and I'm down 7lbs! I know a lot of that will be water, but I also swam and walked like a demon yesterday so I hope I've done myself lots of good too

I have yet to work out the magic formula for getting a good nights sleep, it just seems such a lottery, another one I never win! hey ho!

Ballerina x