I have been feeling icky and lethargic for weeks, and finally realized it might be based on my eating habits. Here's what I've been doing to test whether this is true.
Bad Eating leads to Bad Everything
I've been really paying attention to how much stomach reacts to certain foods. I've known for a long time that yummy carbohydrates gave me acid stomach, but I didn't realize how long it lasted. It turns out that it takes 8 hours for it to go away, which meant that eating ANY breads or starches locked me into a long period of mild discomfort. Another factor was the amount of food I was eating; it turns out that I really only need to eat half a cup of food if I want to stay alert. More than that, I get sleepy.
The big insight was that gastric discomfort was ruining my sleep. My stomach has never been very good in the digestion department, so I never made the connection.
NEW HABIT INSIGHTS
The rule of thumb is to avoid acid-producing foods and eat very small portions. In the morning it's a lot easier to eat for "energy" because my mind is clear. Later in the day, though, my mind is craving novelty and has lost willpower so that's when I'm most likely to eat something exciting but bad for my stomach. Since this is going to happen more times than not, if I can just eat before 3PM that gives my stomach enough time to deal with slow acidic digestion. By the same measure, I also have to plan my deep work to end before that time.
Before I go to sleep, I usually have to eat a little something because hunger keeps me awake also. A salad with vinagrette, apple slices, or a tiny amount of brown rice seem to work.
The Results?
It seems to be working? The hardest part is to control late evening cravings when my willpower at its lowest. I keep sneaking things that have processed carbs in them too, so I have had to resort to not buying them. Even a couple of crackers or potato chips will unlease the acid wave!
Despite that, I've had a couple of acid-free nights in a row and it feels that this DOES help stabilize my energy cycle. Very promising.