Category Archives: sleep

Operation Sleep Update

Today was a gorgeous day!  I decided to go for a short 6.5 mile ride before breakfast this morning.  I don’t fuel up prior to a ride this short (30 minutes) and find no difference whether I do or not.

I had a good night’s sleep last night.  Most long-time readers know that I have sleep issues.    I suffer from night sweats, easy waking, and sometimes restless legs.

There are a few things that I *know* disrupt my sleep.  One is what I eat.  If I eat a lot of indulgent foods, I sleep poorly because I always  get hot and sweaty on those nights.  I don’t know if it is my body working overtime on that food or what, but that can sometimes keep me from overdoing it.  That was a weird realization.

Stress also keeps me up, which I am sure a lot of people can relate to.  It can be good or bad stress.

Here are some things I have tried and how they have worked.

Tylenol PM – Yep, this works.  However, it makes me uber groggy in the morning and for a good portion of the early part of the day.  And that is at half a dose!  For some reason, I am very afraid to take a full dose (like I will sleep forever), which then makes the medicine not work because it gives me anxiety.  What a mess that is!  I really don’t like to take a sleep aid like this, but I will if I have aches and pains when going to bed.

5HTP – This is an amino acid that is a natural precursor to tryptophan (the turkey sedative 😀  ).  It is also supposed to help with restless legs.  Now, I don’t always get RLS.  I can go a month without it happening, but then it will happen for a few days in a row.  I honestly did not find much benefit with 5HTP for either insomnia or RLS.

Sleep mask:  This one I am still waffling on.  It does block most of the light, which actually is very helpful. However, it does not block all of the light, which filters in underneath my eyes around my nose.  I also have some problems with it staying on all night.  There have been occasions where I wake up and it is around my neck.  I doubt my thyroid really needs the darkening effect of the mask…  I tried adjusting the strap tighter, but then it smooshes my eyes, which is not comfortable.  I will keep with this for a while, though, because I am seeing some benefit.

Magnesium:

In doing a lot of reading, I came across information that magnesium can help with both RLS and insomnia.  And that most Americans do not get enough magnesium on a daily basis. I finally got around to ordering that by the end of June.  I also made sure to get magnesium citrate, which is a more easily assimilated form of magnesium.  I started taking 200 mg at bedtime.  Interestingly enough, this seems to really help me sleep well!  I was very surprised.  I took it for 3 days and slept well.  I forgot it the other night and woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep.  Took the next night and slept all the way through.  I am giving this an initial – yes!  I obviously need a longer period of time to rule out coincidence, but I think between the sleep mask and the magnesium I am doing much better.  I get my magnesium (and most of my supplements) from Puritan’s Pride.  Lots of good specials there, and you all know I love a bargain!

So, there is an update on Operation Sleep!  I seem to do best at 7 hours a night, and that is my goal.  I want 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Question:  How well do you sleep?

Can I rest now, please?

I am so tired! I decided last night to let myself take a day off from exercise today and sleep in a little, which was kind of nice 😀

I was out late last night doing dog training and then shopping for that last minute outfit.  FYI – we don’t own a dog, just this goober:

I am helping my sister do obedience with one of her Clumber Spaniels.  I somehow volunteered myself for this…. It’s every Wednesday night.  My parents are also there with their new lab Lizzie.

I made up pumpkin custard oats for breakfast today.  I will do a step-by-step post for this on Friday.

Yum!  Worked in the morning until it was time to meet the photographer.  I have decided not to post actual photos of the shoot itself, as I don’t want the publisher to get upset.  They did not tell me not to post anything, but probably prudent not to.  Here are just a few of getting ready:

Colleen met me there to take pictures for me!  Yay!  John came as well.  2 ladies in their early 40s, can’t you tell?

The photographer, whose name is Sara, brought along a makeup artist 😯  Wasn’t expecting that.  I was freaking out that it was too much makeup:

Eeek!  I’m all worried here.

I put my foot down on the lipstick, though.  Who wears lipstick to the gym?

I had a very good time – it was fun when we got started.  Once the issue comes out, I’ll share pictures of the goings on.  Sorry!  Here I am chatting with Sara:

I’m talking to her about taking pictures.  I was drooling over her camera! Sara does a lot fitness editorials, although much swankier than my gym based on her website!  She was fun to work with and very nice.  I think she is someone I would like to hang out with if she didn’t live in NYC!

Then it was back to work.  Although I never look like this going to work:

Could I make my eyes any bigger? :mrgreen:  John was saying how strange it looked to see me so made up.  I am an au naturale girl, for the most part.

Sigh…..  Hopefully things will calm down a bit now.  Life has been topsy-turvy since the end of January! Trying to work full time on top of all this has been really hard.  I am going to have to work on Friday, which means another short weekend for me.

John was given the message to take me out to dinner because I was all tarted made up.  So we went out for a super expensive cheap pizza joint dinner:

Broccoli and cheese wheat pizza wrap.  Yay!  I got in my broccoli 😀

FYI – The 100 tips from 100 losers are up on the Dr. Oz website.  Follow these tips, people.  Advice given from those who walk the talk!  Tip #2 – gotta love it!

Routines are good and it is going to feel really good to get back into my normal.  My life has been so incredibly full lately.  I am really looking forward to just going out for some coffee with John, sitting quietly and talking this weekend.

Need to work for a while tonight, then it will be electric blanket, flannel jammies, and the olympics!  How’s that for relaxation?

Question:  How do you relax?

5HTP and sleep!

Another good night of sleep.  Maybe there is something to the 5HTP stuff, but more on that later….  At the gym a little early and had a great work out.  After a warm up, I hit the weights:

  • Chin ups:  2 sets of 3, 1 set of 2.
  • Barbell deadlift/row combo:  3 sets of 10 at 55 pounds
  • Incline dumbbell bench press:  3 sets of 8 with 25# DBs
  • Reverse lunge with dumbbell on shoulder:  3 sets of 10 with 20# DB
  • Bent over cable row:  3 sets of 15 at 50#
  • Reverse crunches:  3 sets of 15

Ah yes, chin ups much better doing first!  While I am really slow at increasing the number, I have realized that I am actually performing them easier.  My body swings much less, which means I am using more strength rather than momentum to hoist myself up.  That’s a good thing!

Hopped on the treadmill and did a walk/run combo with 2 miles of running.  Felt pretty good!  I stayed on the treadmill for  a little longer before heading out to bagels.  With John sitting on the jury, he wasn’t able to join me, but my folks did!  Yay for family time :mrgreen:

Do you ever have those times where you just feel overwhelmed with life stuff?  Not all bad stuff, but just overwhelmed?  I am having that right now.  Seems like there is some intersecting of a lot of things all at once and I feel like I am juggling 20 balls in the air.  Again, most of it is good, but it’s still stressful.

Lunch break was some pseudo-overnight oats.  After I got back from the gym, I mixed some multigrain hot cereal with vanilla greek yogurt and let that sit in the fridge.  Mixed in some pumpkin, cinnamon, and flax seed:

Pretty good.  Very thick and chewy!  This will be made in the summer, I think.

Anyway, regarding 5-HTP, here is a little more about it. 5-HTP is short for 5-hydroxy-tryptophan.  Tryptophan is that amino acid that is supposed to help you release serotonin and get sleepy (turkey dinner, anyone??).  5-HTP is actually a precursor to serotonin and reportedly helps your body make more of it, which can allow for easier sleep.  It is supposedly plant derived, but I can’t seem to find out exactly what without having to weed through a lot of the sales pitches on websites for this stuff.  There is a lot of drivel out there (like with any supplement).  Some clinical trials have shown benefit to 5-HTP, although not as much as some websites would have you believe.  I have been taking this for the past several days (bought from Puritan’s Pride) 100 mg about 20-30 minutes before bedtime.  I have found that I have slept through the night, or if I did wake up, I fell right back asleep (from what I remember anyway).  I don’t know how much of this is due to the placebo effect or if it actually is doing something.

The added benefit to getting a good night’s sleep?  Less snacky during the daytime!  🙂  Some people report side effects of nervousness or headaches with 5HTP – so please don’t take anything I say as medical advice!

Speaking of snack…. I had a raspberry Attune bar today with my latte.

Jeez I really like these.  Good thing they are a little on the pricey side or I would eat a lot more of them.  Wonder if I could get them to sponsor me?  🙂

We bought some frozen salmon filets that have a southwestern coating on them to try for dinner.  I was pretty skeptical because most fish tastes… well, fishy to me.  I know that sounds funny, but it’s true!   Tuna tastes the most fishy, but I expect that from tuna.

I actually think I liked this!  It didn’t taste fishy at all to me.  This little filet is packed with 25 grams of protein, too.  Woo Hoo!  Roasted brussels and a pear to compliment.  Had a lot of those superfoods today.

I actually have to do more work tonight.  Vacation can’t come soon enough!

Question:  What is your favorite fish?

Sitting on my hands

 

I did not get enough sleep last night, so I am now sitting on my hands to keep from munching.  I ate really well yesterday, so that was a big victory, and I have done fine so far today, but those night time – I’m really tired – give me a snack feelings are here today.  Not giving in, though.

Still managed a good workout at the Y this morning, although I think I am still a bit tired from Saturday’s 40 mile bike ride.  I decided against running today and opted for more biking! LOL

So, 1/2 hour warm up walk, then my lifting workout:

Barbell deadlifts:

10 x 45 pounds

10 x 75 pounds

10 x 80 pounds

10 x 80 pounds

 

Dumbbell shoulder press:

3 x 10  @ 20 pounds.  I tried the 25# dumbbells on the last set, and couldn’t quite get them going.

Wide grip lat pulldown

1 x 10  50 pounds

1 x 10  55 pounds

1 x 10  60 pounds

Dumbbell lunges

3 x 10  25 pound dumbbells

Stability ball crunches

3 x 15

 

FYI – this routine takes me about 25 minutes ish, with a couple warmup sets without weights.

Next workout starts the lower reps and moving the weights up again.  I will be glad to change things up in a couple weeks with the next section of NROLW.

Then I did 60 minutes on the bike.  I was quite sweaty when all was said and done.

It’s really hard not to justify eating a lot more when I exercise hard.  While I do eat more on lifting days, it is not carte blanche for endless snacking.