Having trouble staying asleep while on a strict protein shake diet.

[GearSolidMetal]

This is kinda weird, because I've never had trouble sleeping before.

*34 years old.
*Maximum weight I've been was 245 pounds.
*Mostly 220-230 pounds for the last 4-5 years.
*Since November of 2017, achieved massive weight loss results by kicking my sugar, caffeine, & soda addiction and drinking protein shakes & meat.
*Currently 186 pounds, with a goal be around 170 by the end of the year.

But, over the last few days, I've gone to bed tired, and woken up within two or three hours. I feel fully rested, although I know I'm not.

Looking for suggestions that won't interfere with my weightloss goal, and I prefer to avoid medications/pills.

Any ideas, Sherbros?

 

[William Huggins]

This is kinda weird, because I've never had trouble sleeping before.

*34 years old.
*Maximum weight I've been was 245 pounds.
*Mostly 220-230 pounds for the last 4-5 years.
*Since November of 2017, achieved massive weight loss results by kicking my sugar, caffeine, & soda addiction and drinking protein shakes & meat.
*Currently 186 pounds, with a goal be around 170 by the end of the year.

But, over the last few days, I've gone to bed tired, and woken up within two or three hours. I feel fully rested, although I know I'm not.

Looking for suggestions that won't interfere with my weightloss goal, and I prefer to avoid medications/pills.

Any ideas, Sherbros?

This protein shake diet, does it contain any carbohydrates?

Very low carb diets can sometimes cause insomnia........maybe substute some protein for carbs in your last shake before bed, some carbs before bed always makes me have a good sleep.

 

[j123]

What else are you eating?
Protein in general is a shitty energy source, carbs is the primary one, followed by fat.

Weight loss is done by eating below your maintenance, obviously you should partition your macro-nutrients decently so you can get the best out of it. At the very least if you don't want to take in carbs, it should be a form of ketogenic diet where fats are the energy source.

170 should be fine on paper, thats about 8-16 weeks, most likely 16.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

This protein shake diet, does it contain any carbohydrates?

Very low carb diets can sometimes cause insomnia........maybe substute some protein for carbs in your last shake before bed, some carbs before bed always makes me have a good sleep.

carbs is the primary one

What are some good carb sources that won't harm weight loss?

 

[j123]

What are some good carb sources that won't harm weight loss?

Any really, just fall within your limits. Fruits and veggies are good because they're "clean", they won't contain fat, which is the most dense macro and takes the most calories.

 

[William Huggins]

If you want something to put in the blender with the protein powder, berries and oats......

 

[spiderguardman]

Add some healthy fats like mct, olive oil and butter.
A diet of just whey protein sounds really stupid.

I know dan john has made some recomendations for the velocity diet for rapid weight loss.
But even that has some added peanut butter to the shakes at least once per day.

Eating just protein will mess you upp very fast.

 

[Estemachine]

What kind of protein is it?

 

[7even]

What are some good carb sources that won't harm weight loss?

You can try fasting for 16+ hours. I had a major dependency on sleeping pills. Fasting cured it.

 

[7even]

A pure protein diet will kick you off of keto.
You need fats with your protein if you’re staying away from carbs.

 

[Renard]

Maybe you have some kind of micro-nutrient deficiency because your diet isn't diverse. A lot of the amino acids who are precursors to neurotransmitters, who in turn regulate sleep, are non-essential amino acids and they aren't among the most commonly found ones. Even if your protein powder is full spectrum, it's not really full spectrum in practise. You also didn't mention vegetables, are they in the shakes? You need to be a lot more careful to include a lot of vegetables on low carb comparatively to diets with carbs because you lose all your electrolytes, all you're getting is from your daily food. It could also be something like zinc or magnesium deficiency. You can also have trouble sleeping if your calorie intake is too low.

You could buy some melatonin or ashwagandha to tide you over until you figure out what's causing it.

 

[TheLastEmperorReurns]

This protein shake diet, does it contain any carbohydrates?

Very low carb diets can sometimes cause insomnia........maybe substute some protein for carbs in your last shake before bed, some carbs before bed always makes me have a good sleep.

Yesterday I had a pepper+onion+mushroom omelet breakfast. Sous egg white bites and a banana for lunch, and a chia fruit/vegetable smoothie for dinner and had trouble falling asleep as well.

I think carbs in dinner help fall asleep and I didn't get a good amount of that.

 

[FinalConflict2005]

First and foremost congrats on all the weight loss and giving up soda. If your short sleep nights continue see a doctor.

All the best

 

[Kframe]

This is kinda weird, because I've never had trouble sleeping before.

*34 years old.
*Maximum weight I've been was 245 pounds.
*Mostly 220-230 pounds for the last 4-5 years.
*Since November of 2017, achieved massive weight loss results by kicking my sugar, caffeine, & soda addiction and drinking protein shakes & meat.
*Currently 186 pounds, with a goal be around 170 by the end of the year.

But, over the last few days, I've gone to bed tired, and woken up within two or three hours. I feel fully rested, although I know I'm not.

Looking for suggestions that won't interfere with my weightloss goal, and I prefer to avoid medications/pills.

Any ideas, Sherbros?

Can you give us more details on the diet? It looks like it was ONLY meat and protein shakes, which means you are low on other important things. How are you getting vitamins and minerals and such?

 

[JinKazama]

maybe time for some melatonin or ZMA for sleep

 

[Saint Of The K]

Huh... unless I'm mistaken, has TS said he was ONLY eating meat and drinking shakes? I don't think so.

So assuming I got it right, your insomnia is most likely due a combination of (over) training and not enough calories. Look at total calories and try to shift your balance towards diner, especially for carbs.
That usually solves the issue for me. GL

 

[shunyata]

You're hypoglycemic dude. Which is pretty predictable for someone who's starving.

I'd bet your waking up hungry but ignoring the hunger.

Instead of going zero carb, have some fibrous starches at dinner (lentils, beans, etc).

 

[shunyata]

This protein shake diet, does it contain any carbohydrates?

Very low carb diets can sometimes cause insomnia........maybe substute some protein for carbs in your last shake before bed, some carbs before bed always makes me have a good sleep.

Severe hypoglycemia will wake you up at night because your body doesn't want you to die.

 

[William Huggins]

Severe hypoglycemia will wake you up at night because your body doesn't want you to die.

I wouldn't go that far......<Lmaoo>

 

[shunyata]

I wouldn't go that far......<Lmaoo>

Physiology does though.

Severe acute hypoglycemia can lead to diabetic coma and death.

It's normal that the body will wake up the brain from sleep if something is really off, like hypoglycemia so you can eat something or hypoxia from sleep apnea so you can get some full conscious breaths.