1) Ease up or take diet breaks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
If the things you\u2019re trying to do to lose weight end up disrupting your sleep, the best thing to do is to ease up on them. Try going back to your maintenance calories for a week or two. Perhaps take a week off hard training and focus on gentler exercise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the sleep disruption happens after you start to introduce intermittent fasting, it could mean that intermittent fasting is not for you, at least with your current health status and stress levels. Consider shortening your fasting window or try a gentler approach to achieve your goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
2) Try diet cycling and intentional refeeds<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Those who find the most sustainable and consistent results with IF and calorie reduction typically all have some element of diet cycling and refeeds. Rather than stick with say 1800 calories a day and an 8 hour feeding window, 1-2 times per week they\u2019ll refeed. Meaning, they\u2019ll have something like 2500 calories and eat within 10-12 hours, for example. This regular influx of more calories and a relaxed eating window serves like a pressure release valve. It signals to the body that there is plenty of food energy available and that it\u2019s safe to maintain a higher metabolism. It\u2019s also great mentally to have a couple of days per week to simply enjoy more of your favorite foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3) Don\u2019t work out close to bedtime<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
If you are struggling with sleep, first ensure that you are not training intensely too close to your bedtime. A hard workout is ideally placed in the morning upon waking or 5-6 hours before bedtime. This enables your nervous system to relax leading up to bed rather than be overstimulated and hard to settle at night. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Overtraining can overload your stress response system. You may be able to handle the training without a caloric deficit, but get sleep disruption when you combine both at the same time. This can happen even if you don\u2019t exercise close to your bedtime. So, the key here is to lay off the bootcamp or \u201charder is better\u201d mentality. Also, don\u2019t rely on exercise as a way to burn calories, but rather use it as a stimulus to maintain or build muscles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of lifting as heavy as you can for as many reps as you can, focus on lifting slow and controlled reps, and end each set with a few reps in the tank. Your RPE should be up to 7-8 in shorter workouts (<45 minutes). Such workouts will provide enough signals to your body to build, preserve, and maintain muscle mass without overtraining. As long as you eat adequate protein, your body should burn fat to cover the caloric deficit. <\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\n To maintain health and sleep, you need to \u201cearn\u201d the training by making sure you have enough reserve to handle your training. That means maximizing your recovery to match your training intensity. Consider the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aggressive caloric deficit can disrupt sleep. High cortisol and adrenaline levels can make it hard to calm down and get good sleep. And if your body is in starvation mode during the night, you are likely to wake up early and feel alert\/panicked. This is because your body thinks you\u2019re in danger and is anxious to find calories and feel safe again. Adequate nutrition sends the message that there is plenty of food available for your needs, and this greatly reduces survival stress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A Daily 500-calorie deficit is practical for most and is a great starting point. Then, monitor your sleep and adjust accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carbohydrates help bring tryptophan into your brain to produce serotonin and melatonin. So, low-carb diets can make it harder to sleep. <\/span> High blood sugar can also make you tired and ready for bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are restricting carbs, consider adding an extra 50-75 grams of carbohydrates with dinner. This is a great way to encourage sleepiness, especially if you eat a low-carb or keto diet while exercising. In my experience, strict low-carb diets have never worked long-term for my clients or myself. Let\u2019s be clear that carbs are not \u2018bad\u2019 in fact, they are delicious and very effective at lowering cortisol. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are taking supplements with B vitamins or anything with stimulating properties be sure to take them with breakfast or lunch. Some individuals are very sensitive to these and find them to be highly stimulating, so you should be mindful. Some people can\u2019t even have a piece of chocolate after dinner for the same reason\u2013it keeps them up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider the following supplements:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are fasting, and not exercising intensely or experiencing a high level of stress you may find you need less sleep. Many individuals who experiment with different fasting protocols note that they sometimes find it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. They also note that the sleep they do get seems to be of greater quality so that they don\u2019t feel tired or groggy. This could mean that factors like deep sleep and REM sleep are upregulated while doing some kind of fasting or IF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This may be because your body is using less energy for digestion and so it has more energy for recovery and regeneration. It may be that when you are slowly starving, your brain keeps you alert and awake longer to go find food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Both too low or too high blood sugar can make you tired. This is why you\u2019re often sleepy after high-carb meals. Glucose is an oxidizing sugar, and high glucose suppresses orexin (energizing) neurons in your brain. <\/span> Lower and more steady blood sugar can make you overall more energized and need less sleep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n People who are keto-adapted will need less sleep both from higher orexins and their neurons overall being more energized from ketones. Also mineral losses from being in ketosis<\/a> can interfere with sleep, so you want to make sure to take in electrolytes such as potassium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some people start to get better sleep once they\u2019re keto-adapted. However, if the sleep disruptions persist or they keep you from feeling and performing optimally, especially when you implement all the tips above, it\u2019s time to ease up on the fasting or caloric deficit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your goals with intermittent fasting are to lose weight and enhance cellular cleanup, also known as autophagy, there are additional factors worth considering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Simply adjusting the timing of when you consume different foods can make a big impact on sleep. As mentioned earlier, carbs at night will enhance melatonin production, so rather than carbs with breakfast, try them with dinner. Some folks particularly like a tsp or two of raw honey before bed, so consider that too for an easy experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to enhance autophagy but maintain your weight or simply tone up a bit then you can use proteolytic enzymes to help with that. Simply take 4-6 quality systemic enzymes<\/a> on an empty stomach at least 1 hour before food and let them go to work. The enzymes will get into your circulation and help to break down cellular debris and scarring all without having to restrict calories. You won\u2019t get this benefit if you take them with food so ensure you take it 2 hours away from meals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Exercise potently activates anti-aging pathways, including autophagy. <\/span> If you want to maintain muscle while losing body fat and without doing any fasting, exercise is your best bet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Taking these supplements may prove useful though in many cases we simply don\u2019t have long-term human data to know for sure. Regardless of their CRM properties, many of these natural compounds have additional benefits which are certainly worth exploring for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another avenue for stimulating autophagy comes from consuming what are known as calorie restriction mimetics (CRM). These substances, often naturally sourced, are theorized to enhance cellular autophagy at therapeutic dosages and without reducing calories. The most popular ones are curcumin, resveratrol, EGCG (green tea extract), NAD+ precursors, quercetin, and berberine to name a few. <\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\n4) Ease up on your training and maximize your recovery<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5) Make sure your caloric deficit is not too aggressive<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6) Include carbs with dinner to improve sleep<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
7) Use supplements for a healthy stress response<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Do You Need Less Sleep While Fasting?<\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bioptimizers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/3-1-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nHow to Reap the Benefits of Caloric Restriction and Fasting Without Losing Sleep <\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"Benefits\"](\"https:\/\/bioptimizers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/2-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n1) Time your food, especially carbs, appropriately<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2) Include proteolytic enzymes for systemic support<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Focus on exercise as a way to stimulate anti-aging pathways<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Ways to Stimulate Autophagy with Supplements and Technology<\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"Autophagy\"](\"https:\/\/bioptimizers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/4-1-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n1. Calorie restriction mimetics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Infrared sauna<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Grab](\"https:\/\/bioptimizers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/c2f987c7-839d-40af-b07e-89040571fa8c.png\")
\n<\/picture>\n<\/a>\n