Insomnia during prep (on refeed day)

AustrianOakJr · 09-04-2009, 06:34 AM

I've been sleeping well throughout my prep. My carbs have been pretty moderate (150g a day) and I usually have 15-25 of them before bed.....I sleep like a baby. For the last two refeeds though, I have had two real restless nights where I would sleep for a half hour, wake up for a half hour and just toss and turn all night. Luckily, I am a teacher and on summer vacation so I could sleep in a bit longer to make up for the lack of sleep.....today that ends though.

ANyone else have this problem on refeed days? It seems really weird to have it happen when my carbs are through the roof. I have 90g within an hour of going to bed. You would think I would be sleeping fat and happy. Is it that my body isnt used to all the glucose pumping around? Too much energy? Dehydration? ANy ideas or similar experiences?

Cape1 · 09-04-2009, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AustrianOakJr

I've been sleeping well throughout my prep. My carbs have been pretty moderate (150g a day) and I usually have 15-25 of them before bed.....I sleep like a baby. For the last two refeeds though, I have had two real restless nights where I would sleep for a half hour, wake up for a half hour and just toss and turn all night. Luckily, I am a teacher and on summer vacation so I could sleep in a bit longer to make up for the lack of sleep.....today that ends though.

ANyone else have this problem on refeed days? It seems really weird to have it happen when my carbs are through the roof. I have 90g within an hour of going to bed. You would think I would be sleeping fat and happy. Is it that my body isnt used to all the glucose pumping around? Too much energy? Dehydration? ANy ideas or similar experiences?

Oak, Yeah, it's happened to me too. I was doing 3 low days (carbs) and on the third night having a Carb-bomb (200+). Try having the carbs a couple of hours before bed. That seemed to work for me at least. If I ate them immediately before bed, they would knock me out quick but then I would wake up two hours later and be up and down. Melatonin is not a bad supplement to use and it's cheap.

EBA84 · 09-04-2009, 07:33 AM

Interesting. I am the opposite. Refeed days are the one day I could sleep all day and night. All the carbs really make me tired. Try drinking more water on the refeed day.

AustrianOakJr · 09-04-2009, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cape1

Oak, Yeah, it's happened to me too. I was doing 3 low days (carbs) and on the third night having a Carb-bomb (200+). Try having the carbs a couple of hours before bed. That seemed to work for me at least. If I ate them immediately before bed, they would knock me out quick but then I would wake up two hours later and be up and down. Melatonin is not a bad supplement to use and it's cheap.

Yes, I might try eating fewer carbs before bed and see if that has an effect. I just really look forward to sitting down in front of the TV, before bed, with that bowl of frozen yogurt all week. Oh well. Next week we'll try it without. I should probably start sticking to the carbs im gonna use on show day anways......

Quote:

Originally Posted by EBA84

Interesting. I am the opposite. Refeed days are the one day I could sleep all day and night. All the carbs really make me tired. Try drinking more water on the refeed day.

You would think that would be the case. It may be a water thing as well. I havent increased water on refeeds and maybe I should. After 400g of carbs yesterday I only woke up 1/2-1 lb heavier.....seems like it should be more.......maybe thats due to not having enough water?

EBA84 · 09-04-2009, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AustrianOakJr

You would think that would be the case. It may be a water thing as well. I havent increased water on refeeds and maybe I should. After 400g of carbs yesterday I only woke up 1/2-1 lb heavier.....seems like it should be more.......maybe thats due to not having enough water?

Definitely increase your water. I would think you should be up 3 or 4 pounds the next day at 400 grams of carbs on the refeed. It may not solve the problem but it is worth a shot. The other thing you could do is eat all the carbs in the first 5 meals and none before bed since you mentioned you sleep better without the carbs. I think one of these two will fix it. Could be a blood sugar issue with the carbs in the last meal.

AustrianOakJr · 09-04-2009, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EBA84

Definitely increase your water. I would think you should be up 3 or 4 pounds the next day at 400 grams of carbs on the refeed. It may not solve the problem but it is worth a shot. The other thing you could do is eat all the carbs in the first 5 meals and none before bed since you mentioned you sleep better without the carbs. I think one of these two will fix it. Could be a blood sugar issue with the carbs in the last meal.

Thanks for the advice.

EBA84 · 09-04-2009, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AustrianOakJr

Yes, I might try eating fewer carbs before bed and see if that has an effect. I just really look forward to sitting down in front of the TV, before bed, with that bowl of frozen yogurt all week. Oh well. Next week we'll try it without. I should probably start sticking to the carbs im gonna use on show day anways......

You would think that would be the case. It may be a water thing as well. I havent increased water on refeeds and maybe I should. After 400g of carbs yesterday I only woke up 1/2-1 lb heavier.....seems like it should be more.......maybe thats due to not having enough water?

Quote:

Originally Posted by AustrianOakJr

Thanks for the advice.

No problem. Let me know if either works for you.

Cape1 · 09-04-2009, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EBA84

No problem. Let me know if either works for you.

Second the "thanks for the advice". I'm going to try that too this time around.

Sporto1633 · 09-05-2009, 06:22 PM

Hey Sean

The carb issue before bed is completely hit or miss...there might be a correlation between that an insulin sensitivity, but that would only be an educated guess without having any real data to back it up. For me and literally about half the people I work with, the carbs before bed knocks us right out and we sleep like a baby. For the other half, they need to keep carbs away from the last meal or two or they will toss and turn all night. Another issue that plays into this is the amount of carbs. Sometimes the amount isn't big enough to spike (and thus fall) the seratonin. Either way, if you are having problems with the carbs right before bed with sleep, just adjust the meals so that your last one or two are low carbs so that you aren't tossing all night.

Wrt the water issue, for every gram of carb, the body can hold roughly 2.7 oz of water. Now, it's true that I like to keep water intake higher on refeed days, not only for that reason, but the higher intake also helps with the accompanying bloat. I wouldn't rely on drinking more water for the mere sake of weight gain though, that's the wrong line of thinking. You remember how I've talked to you about fluid balance from day to day, right? Smae thing here...you can increase the water a bit, but don't let the focus of it be on the weight gain.

Sporto

AustrianOakJr · 09-05-2009, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sporto1633

Hey Sean

Wrt the water issue, for every gram of carb, the body can hold roughly 2.7 oz of water. Now, it's true that I like to keep water intake higher on refeed days, not only for that reason, but the higher intake also helps with the accompanying bloat. I wouldn't rely on drinking more water for the mere sake of weight gain though, that's the wrong line of thinking. You remember how I've talked to you about fluid balance from day to day, right? Smae thing here...you can increase the water a bit, but don't let the focus of it be on the weight gain.

Sporto

Thanks Tommy. We might have to chat a bit before next thursday as we start to dial in these carb ups. Ill give you a ring or whatever.