Credit: Ami O'Callaghan
Strong Women
“Could my intermittent fasting habit be to blame for my poor-quality sleep?”
By Lauren Geall
10 months ago
3 min read
In this week’s Sleep Diaries, a 25-year-old campaign producer who struggles with shallow, poor-quality sleep learns about the steps she can take to improve her rest.
Welcome back to Stylist’s Sleep Diaries, where we take a deep dive into one of the most important (and elusive) factors in our day-to-day lives: sleep. To help us understand more about it, we invite women to share their habits with our sleep expert Dr Nerina Ramlakhan for analysis.
About me
Age: 25
Occupation: campaign producer
How much water do you drink on average per day? 5-7 glasses
How much caffeine do you drink on average per day? I usually have one coffee and two cups of tea per day (I have one as part of my wind down routine around 8pm – I’ve done this since I was young and never noticed any effect on my sleep).
What time do you go to bed at night? 9.30pm–10.30pm
What time do you wake up in the morning? 7am
How often do you exercise? I exercise about five times per week. I like running, strength training and pilates.
Do you eat breakfast within 60 minutes of rising? No, I like to intermittent fast so will typically eat between 9.30-11am.
My story
“I’ve always loved sleep, but right now I’m really struggling to get the rest I want. I go to bed between 9.30pm and 10.30pm every night and wake up around 7am, but my energy levels are at about a three out of 10 – nowhere near where I want them to be.
“I’m a pretty active person: I exercise around five times per week, alternating between running, strength training and pilates. My morning routine is important to me, so I rarely lie-in, and when I’m at work I always try to take an active lunch break that involves some movement, whether that’s going for a walk, heading to the shop or cooking.
“My sleep is the main problem here. I struggle with feeling tired but also being unable to fall asleep, and once I do nod off, I tend to experience shallow sleep with lots of dreams peppered throughout. Some of these dreams are disturbing, which means I wake up in the middle of the night and have to start the whole ‘struggling to get to sleep’ process again. This has been going on for the last six or seven years – since I left university.
“I’ve taken some steps to try and improve my sleep – I follow a wind down routine before bed (although I do often end up scrolling for 10 minutes or more) and have given up alcohol this year to see if that helps. I want to get to a point where I don’t overthink my sleep. Can you help me work out what changes I need to make?”
So, what does it all mean? Sleep expert Dr Nerina Ramlakhan shares her thoughts…
Credit: Dr Nerina Ramlakhan
“Your energy levels are pretty low and your sleep is poor,” says sleep expert and physiologist Dr Ramlakhan. “You have the classic ‘tired but wired’ pattern and I can immediately see how I can help.”
“The caffeinated drink before bed is now not working for you. You might have done this when you were younger, but you’re now older, your physiology has changed and you have the additional pressure of working in a challenging role. No matter how much you enjoy it, that’ll be an added demand on your nervous system, so you want to reduce any extra stress such as pre-bed caffeine. Could you swap your tea out for decaf so you can still enjoy the ritual?”
She continues: “I suspect intermittent fasting is also not working for you, particularly given the amount of exercise you are doing. If your sleep was great there would be no problem with the fasting, but given your fatigue and poor-quality rest, I think you need to start having a nutrient-rich breakfast earlier.”
“The scrolling before bedtime is also going to affect your sleep – even if you have blue light filters – and I suspect this is a significant contributory factor to your vivid dreams and fitful sleep.”
“I hope you follow my advice as you have a lot going for you and some great habits in place, and you deserve to be feeling better for all the positive efforts you’re making.”
Images: Ami O’Callaghan; Dr Nerina Ramlakhan
A weekly dose of expert-backed tips on everything from gut health to running, plus receive our 8-week beginner’s guide to strength training.
By signing up you agree to occasionally receive offers and promotions from Stylist. Newsletters may contain online ads and content funded by carefully selected partners. Don’t worry, we’ll never share or sell your data. You can opt-out at any time. For more information read Stylist’s Privacy Policy
Thank you!
You’re now subscribed to all our newsletters. You can manage your subscriptions at any time from an email or from a MyStylist account.