I typically ate from 7:30 am till around 9 pm (dinner between 5-7 and snacked till 9). This week i’ve closed my eating window from 8am till 6pm during the week and am waking up between 12am and 1:30 am with a lot of alertness and an inability to fall back asleep leading to lethargy and resentment of doing this.
I am considering the following and would like advice:
*open the eating window until 8pm for a few days then drop to 7:30pm and then to 7pm and keep it there for a few weeks if I can stay asleep (my goal is to sleep from 9/10pm till 5am)
include lots of fats (poly/mono) and protein in my last meal include fiber (vegetables) in my last meal
Are there any other supplements/suggestions?
Thanks!
Two things you may want to try is limiting your exposure to bright and especially blue light in the evenings. The free program F.LUX will let you turn the blue light coming from your computer screen down or if you have Windows 10 it has a built in application ( night light ) to do this. And you may want to try taking a SMALL dose of melatonin right before bed. Notice I said small dose as most experts recommend something in the 1mg or less range as being better than larger doses.
Benefits of IF/TRE aside, there is some evidence that sleep quality is improved by consuming a small amount of complex carbohydrates near bedtime. But, honestly, the evidence is all over the place. I’m sure genetics plays a large role in this. Given the time of year, have you considered a SAD light? I use one every morning during the work week. There’s a pretty decent evidence base that it improves both seasonal depression scores, as well as sleep quality. Worth a shot.