Determined To Succeed

Last night I couldn’t get to sleep.

You know how you get when things weigh on your mind to the point where all that energy is what’s fueling you? Sort of like an old steam-powered train whose engineer is shoveling coals into the fire. Well, that’s what happened to me last night. I had been waiting for a piece of news all day…and waiting…and waiting…and waiting. And finally, when it was apparent it would never come my mind took over, threw more coals on the fire and kept us (my mind and me) up pretty late.

I know this is going to sound bad but much of why I was up had to do with Coke, also. Not to disparage the greatest soft drink (pop) in the whole world but not having it for the past few days – and subsequently having it all out of my system – meant that when I did have it yesterday all that caffeine and sugar got into my system adding more coals to my engine, heating it up and keeping the train moving.

I so wish I could figure out why I am an emotional eater/drinker. And before you start to worry not drinking in terms of booze. Drinking in terms of Coca-Cola. I wish I could figure out what triggers in the minds of big people like me makes food a viable option when it comes to those pesky demons that come for you – especially late, late into the night.

Hurmph.

If I could figure that out I’d be a rich, rich man. I’d also be back at my goal weight and then some by now. I’d not still be fighting the battle of the final ten over a year after my sweet mom died. I’d find it much easier to resist the liquid joy of an ice-cold Coke and not give in to it’s delicious yet empty calories. Oh, and if I could figure that one out I’d also figure out how to extract the unstoppable energy of a child (or find a way to activate that part of an adult brain) so I could add that to the mix. Then I’d be super-duper rich. Like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet rich. No more emotional eating combined with limitless energy? Shit. That would be awesome.

But as my man, Jules, in “Pulp Fiction” says “that shit ain’t the truth,” and there is no such thing as abundant adult energy and there is a such thing as emotional eating. And while I can’t just yet share with you guys the exact reason for this sort of morose weekend blog post please know I take this feeling for what it is – a set of rain clouds that have gathered up in my mind causing it to rain, just like it is today here in southern New Jersey. But like all rain, it will pass and the day will be sunny again (and hopefully not as freaking hot as it has been this past week – when 90 degrees is “cool,” look out).

As for my workout yesterday I did great. I did almost all of what my sensei taught me (although somehow the stretches seem to work better when doing them in class) and I worked up quite a sweat yesterday. And I plan to do the same today in the rescheduled class. Although working out with others is a new aspect of things so I hope I don’t embarrass myself too much in front of others.

Well, that’s all for now. Sorry it couldn’t be a bit more cheery but all will be revealed on Monday. Promise. Until then I will make sure I work out and NOT eat my weight in Chinese food, Milky Way bars and Cokes. After all, the good thing about staying up until all hours of the night thinking about stuff is that all the food places are closed.

See, in every cloud – even rainy ones – there is a silver lining.

I don’t know what it is these days. I just can’t seem to get out of bed. I fully admit there are times my sleep is thrown off because I am stupid (OK, maybe not stupid), like when I fall asleep for a couple of hours in front of the TV after eating. But mostly it’s because bed feels good and warm and I don’t wanna crawl out of it (wow, did that sound whiny or what?!). So, after convincing myself that the cinnamon and brown sugar oatmeal was a great reason to get out of bed, I finally did it and am now planted firmly in front my computer.

Yawn…

I can usually operate on a few hours sleep. Remember me telling you about my year of hell (working three jobs and getting four hours sleep a night for a year)? While those days are long gone I do find that getting good sleep does help. It doesn’t have to be 8-10 hours but it does. The interesting thing is that sleep is also important in losing weight…and lack of it might make you gain weight.

Think about it: If you’re feeling sleepy at work and are running on low energy, you may be tempted to reach for a cup of coffee (or several cups or really big ones like me – extra crunchy with sugar) and a doughnut (mmmmmmm, doughnuts)  for a quick shot of energy. Later you may skip the gym and pick up takeout on your way home because you are too tired and/or have no time to cook. When you finally find yourself back in your bed, you are too wound up to sleep.

What does this all mean? You may be able to fight off sleepiness, particularly at work, however the ultimate result is unwanted pounds from poor food choices coupled with lack of exercise. This sets the stage for obesity and further sleep loss. Think about it more: Sleep debt is like credit card debt. If you keep accumulating credit card debt, you will pay high interest rates or your account will be shut down until you pay it all off. If you accumulate too much sleep debt, your body will crash.

Exactly how lack of sleep affects our ability to lose weight has a lot to do with our nightly hormones.

The two hormones that are key in this process are ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin is the “go” hormone that tells you when to eat. When you are sleep-deprived, you have more ghrelin. Leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating. So when you are sleep deprived, you have less leptin. In other words, more ghrelin plus less leptin equals weight gain. You are eating more, plus your metabolism is slower when you are sleep-deprived.

Yawn…stretch….

So what can you do about sleep deprivation?

For starters, avoid any caffeine in the afternoon because it will keep you in the lighter stages of sleep — which are associated with poor sleep — at night.  Exercise also helps improve sleep quality (which is awesome for me since today is martial arts training – yea!). Watch what you eat before bedtime and don’t eat a big meal too close to bed time. Heavy, rich meals before bed can also increase risk of heartburn (which will certainly keep you up all night – remember the “IN-DE-GESSSSSSSTION commercials).

Ah, now I am awake. I know I’m gonna have more cool stories about today’s martial arts lesson (and the soreness I will surely feel) but it’s all good. I have eaten my oatmeal to jumpstart my metabolism. I will be working out today. It’s a good day, indeed.

Now if only I could do all this waking up and being energized earlier…