Not sleeping well

[orca_chick]

Would a moderator mind looking at my food log and maybe provide some feedback regarding my meal composition, timing, and sleep?  I was initially sleeping fairly well but that the past week or so I've experienced really broken or restless sleep.  I have cut my coffee consumption way down, not even finishing my one cup on most days.  I was drinking 3-4+ most days before starting on the 1st.  Poor sleep is definitely not anything new for me and I've had success with W30 before, but the issue has never really resolved itself.  Any feedback would be appreciated.  :-)

Also, I'm kind of joking but not really, is it possible to over eat vegetables and what might that look like?  This time around, I'm eating massive amounts of veggies (which is saying something since I usually eat 6-9 cups/day while not on a W30) and was just curious if that was possible.  I'm finding that I'm still hungry at meal times (and sometimes before) so I don't actually think I'm overeating, but maybe?

[jmcbn]

I take a look at your food log in an hour so as I'm currently getting ready to go out, but how is your sleep hygiene - ie. do you shut down screens at least an hour before bed? Do you dim the lights in the house to mimic sunset? Is your bedroom cooler than the rest of the house? Is there any blue light or otherwise in your bedroom? Do you spend regular time outdoors - at least 15 mins (more when cloudy) - at the same time every day, preferably in the morning? Do you have a regular bed time & wake up time, even on weekends? Do you take a magnesium supplement, or other...? How many hours sleep are you getting each night? Do you limit consumption of liquids in the 2hrs or so before bed?

[jmcbn]

Ok, I've looked at your log and your meals look pretty good to me, although some sound a little low on fat - an 1/8th of an avocado? Was it HUGE???

Couple of things - your snacking could be knocked on the head by increasing the size of your meals - see previous comment about fat, and maybe add some additional protein as you seem fairly active. I think more food may also help with sleep, but I'd ask you to consider your stress levels due to your type of work (and maybe add in some decompression time - meditation? - at the end of each day), and then look at the sleep hygiene questions I asked above... There are LOTS of things you can do to improve sleep quality...

[orca_chick]

10 hours ago, jmcbn said:

I take a look at your food log in an hour so as I'm currently getting ready to go out, but how is your sleep hygiene - ie. do you shut down screens at least an hour before bed? Do you dim the lights in the house to mimic sunset? Is your bedroom cooler than the rest of the house? Is there any blue light or otherwise in your bedroom? Do you spend regular time outdoors - at least 15 mins (more when cloudy) - at the same time every day, preferably in the morning? Do you have a regular bed time & wake up time, even on weekends? Do you take a magnesium supplement, or other...? How many hours sleep are you getting each night? Do you limit consumption of liquids in the 2hrs or so before bed?

Thanks for all of the suggestions.  I would actually say my sleep hygiene is pretty good since I've struggled with poor sleep for years.  I have blue light apps installed on all of my electronics so my screens change colors as soon as the sun goes down.  I also try to limit my usage of electronics at night, preferably stopping an hour or more prior to bed.  There isn't any other source of blue light in the bedroom and no TV.  My bedroom isn't necessarily cooler than the rest of the house since we don't have AC and I don't leave the window open due to us living next to a major Southern California freeway and our bedroom window being the closest to the noise.  I do use a white noise machine to drown out freeway noise and have tried using a fan (unsuccessfully) in the past in order to keep the room cooler.  I definitely spend regular time outdoors every morning, usually between 6:30 and 7:30 am, while walking my dog.  I also do not wear sunglasses on my first walk of the day in order to help stimulate the release of the proper hormones.  I tend to go to bed between 10 and 11 on most nights, although I did go to bed at 9:30 the other night because I was exhausted and I usually wake up (and get up) between 6 and 7.  I do take a magnesium supplement daily (PurePharma M3) and occasionally will take Natural Calm, but have found that the extra magnesium doesn't tend to make a huge difference in my sleep.  It does help keep me from getting muscle cramps and with my recovery from workouts though.  Even with all this, I'm probably averaging 6 hours of sleep per night, sometimes more, but it doesn't seem like it's good quality, more restless than anything and waking up 2, 3, or 4 times per night.  One thing I can do is try to limit my consumption of liquids more prior to going to bed and see if that helps.  I do find that I frequently wake up thirsty when I do this though and then get out of bed to get water in the middle of the night, lol!  It kind of defeats the purpose but I will give it another go because I need to find something that works.

5 hours ago, jmcbn said:

Ok, I've looked at your log and your meals look pretty good to me, although some sound a little low on fat - an 1/8th of an avocado? Was it HUGE???

Couple of things - your snacking could be knocked on the head by increasing the size of your meals - see previous comment about fat, and maybe add some additional protein as you seem fairly active. I think more food may also help with sleep, but I'd ask you to consider your stress levels due to your type of work (and maybe add in some decompression time - meditation? - at the end of each day), and then look at the sleep hygiene questions I asked above... There are LOTS of things you can do to improve sleep quality...

Haha, I knew the 1/8th of an avocado was going to come back at me.  :-P  Yes, it was a HUGE avocado, probably twice the size of what I would consider to be a normal avocado so it appeared to be the equivalent of what would normally be a 1/4.  I also did add an extra fat source to each meal where I had listed the 1/8th of avocado (ghee or salad dressing).  I will try to up my fat intake to decrease my need for snacking.  I am feeling full at the end of most of my meals though.  I'm definitely using a mini-meal more than in the past due to having longer periods of time where I do not have an opportunity to eat.  I usually have my first meal between 6:30 and 7am (if I'm not working out in the AM), meal 2 between 12-1pm, and my last meal around 7pm.  If I work out in the AM, my meals tend to be shifted by 2 hours or so.  This time around, I've noticed that I'm not necessarily feeling hungry during the periods of time that are longer than 4-5 hours, however I do get a slight headache and a dip in energy which have been signs in the past of me being hungry.  I definitely added more fat to my breakfast this morning so we shall see how it goes (A hash made with 1 bell pepper, 1.5-2 cups roasted Brussels, 1/4 of a large sweet potato, 3 chicken meatballs, lots of ghee, topped with 2 eggs fried in ghee, and 1/2 of a regular sized avocado.  Also coffee with collagen and nutpods.)

I definitely agree that some of my sleep issues are stress related.  This is the first time in many years where I would say that my stress levels aren't off the charts, which is saying something given my profession.  I just started a new job 3 months ago which is much more stable but there is still an inherent amount of stress with a job in the mental health field.  I was previously at a psychiatric hospital for 1.5 years working with acute patients and my work environment was awful.  Prior to that was grad school, a full time job, and a part time internship for a year.  I've also decreased my training recently (I'm really attempting to stick to 5 days per week at the gym, which is difficult since I was way overtraining) so my body may still be adjusting and learning to trust me after I was working out intensely 7-8 times per week.  I'm also coming off of tracking macros, which was horrible for me mentally.  I was going to bed hungry every night and obsessing about my weight and the scale.  Taking those two factors away have been really good for me, however I do find myself still worrying about my weight and getting "fat" since I definitely put on a few pounds as soon as I stopped tracking.  I was also engaging in some really disordered eating behavior for the past 6 months and am currently addressing this with a professional so that I can hopefully prevent a relapse in the future.  Not to mention the tummy tuck I had in November....whoa, that's a ton!  Actually typing all of this out is giving me perspective on exactly how much stress I've been experiencing over the past few years and this is just the surface.  No wonder I'm not sleeping well.  I think maybe just time and an increase in some self-nurturing behaviors might help.