Weight and Insomnia

[Oliversmumsarmy]

Before children I didn’t have a problem with my weight.
Both of my pregnancies I managed to put on 6 stone during the course of the pregnancy

With dd1 I lost the lot (bar 7lbs) within a week (I think it was all water weight as for 1 week after I would pee for 5-10 minutes at a time)

Ds2 I didn’t lose a pound and had to really watch what I ate to lose 4 stone (I had put 7 stone on)

The problem was whilst pregnant with Dd I slipped a disc and was in agony. I couldn’t sleep with the pain and this continued for 7 years so exercise was off the menu as I found it really difficult to even walk. (Consultant said I needed a new hip and there was nothing they could do as they wouldn’t give a new hip till I was 60)

Then the menopause set in and whilst I didn’t have any issues with hot flashes I was presented with 2 stone of extra weight and terrible insomnia.

I started by taking Melatonin for the insomnia (5mg per night) which meant I got 3-5 hours sleep.

I don’t think I eat hugely for the weight I am.

Recently though I have upped my Melatonin and every so often I get nearly 7 hours sleep.
And the weight falls off.

Since August 2018 (I have a fit bit) I have had 3 nights where I have slept for 8 hours+

In the morning I have dropped 4lbs in weight from one day to the next.

Recently had just over 7 hours sleep for 2 nights running and managed to lose 6lbs in weight.

This was followed by a few 3 hour sleeps and put it all on

Am I right in thinking a lot of weight problems could be down to insomnia

100 percent agree that sleep is a massive factor. I struggled with non-sleeping kids plus my own insomnia for years and got fatter and fatter despite diet and tonnes of exercise. Kids finally sleep (scared to even type that after 7 years!) and although I still have to manage my own sleep issues - definitely hormonal and stress related - I have lost 3 stone over the past year with relative ease.

ellsbellls

I wish I could sleep 8 hours every night.

I feel I could probably lose 3 stone just by sleeping.

I have upped my Melatonin and have started to get the odd 7 hour sleep (about 2X per week) but it is still mainly 3-4 hours which makes any weight I have lost pile back on.

Where do you get your melatonin?

Dp visits the US with work or if I am about to run out and he hasn’t a trip planned we have to holiday there.

The 2mg slow acting stuff you can get on prescription from your GP doesn’t do a thing for me.

Tried it for a couple of days.

And had the grand total of 1.5 hours sleep. First night I didn’t sleep at all.

Agree about the rubbish melatonin you can get here. Didn't help me at all, and in fact, made things worse.

Don't get me wrong, my sleep is still far from perfect. I will have a couple of nights per month where I won't sleep at all (hormonal), then at least a few nights per week where I am up at 5 or before, but, and I think this is what has made the difference, a few nights per week I am now managing to sleep past 6. This is massive for me although I guess would still be rubbish by lots of people's standards.

I don't think you should be hard on yourself. No one can understand how disabling poor sleep is unless you have experienced it.

FWIW, I eat low carb/keto (not mega strict anymore) and think this has helped with weight and sleep. Also did headspace meditation for a while which also helped but have fallen out of the habit.

I wish I could understand my weight.

Yesterday after relatively good nights sleep I got down to my lightest for a long time.

I ate 2 rounds of toast and a glass of kefir in the morning

Then didn’t eat till the evening when I had some courgetti spaghetti mixed with a tin of ratatouille and another glass of kefir.

This morning I put on 2 lbs and feel quite bloated like yesterday I ate huge amounts and my body hasn’t processed the food.

I am trying out kefir for my gut health but dairy does bring me out in eczema.
Was going to try it for a week to see what happens and up to yesterday was doing quite well.