Determined To Succeed

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…

Whenever I feel rundown, tired, overly anxious, nervous, distressed, worried or upset I know it’s time for me to just stop and go to sleep. That’s when I can end my day, no matter what’s going on, put my head down and recharge my batteries at least enough to tackle whatever situation comes up in life. Yes, sleep is a beautiful thing and yesterday, particularly in the afternoon, was no exception.

On Thursday, as I was driving my Honda Pilot back to southern New Jersey from New York (and that stupid, stupid $115 parking ticket) when the “maintenance required” light came on in my car. Nervous, I immediately called Honda and asked if the light came on in response to me reaching 105,000 miles. The guy on the phone said “yes, probably,” at which point I asked how much a service would be. He quoted me a price of about $250 and I went ahead and scheduled the service for Friday (yesterday). Only when I get to the service bay I find out that it’s not going to be $250, but more like $1,500 as the 105,000 mile service is the most comprehensive. Talk about bait-and-switch “shock.” And the “awe” part comes in when (and I knew this was coming) they told be I was told I had to replace my brakes, both front and rear, too, to the tune of another $500. Yep, a $2,000 trip to the car doctor added onto the $115 ticket I received and I felt miserable, rundown, overly anxious, distressed, worried and upset.

My first reaction was anger. “Why the f$#k would a person on the phone quote me such a low amount if they all supposedly knew there are “different levels” of the most comprehensive (read expensive) service they can do?” My second reaction was depression. “I can’t really afford this right now. But I need my car to be dependable,” and they totally have you over a barrel because you’re afraid if you don’t get it done your car will all but fall apart on you and you won’t be safe.

My third and final reaction? “Where’s the junk food?”

Yes, I am an emotional eater and always have been. Yesterday knocked me for a loop, came out of left field and whatever other cliché you want to use for I had the wind taken out of my sales with such a hefty price tag. All that made me want to do is drown my sorrows – and being a food-a-holic that’s exactly what I did. Earlier in the day I succumbed to the temptation and had two doughnuts, but it was all downhill from there. In the afternoon I had a pint of strawberry ice-cream. Yes, a whole pint. And for dinner I had loaded potato salad, a couple of kielbasa and, yes, a tall, delicious ice-cold Coca-Cola.

Damn. I wish I hadn’t done all that. I knew it was bad but I soooooo needed comfort food. I am human after all and yesterday sucked. Not as bad as a fraction of what’s going on in the world but it sucked in my world. After I’d eaten I knew it was time for sleep, when the mind, body and spirit just start shutting down as if light switches are one-by-one turned off in an office building or arena. I needed sleep. I couldn’t fight anymore. I was done.

But today is a new day and I have gotten my sleep. Sleep enough to let Honda know how displeased I am with the punch in the gut I got over the price. Sleep enough to get my ass to the gym to work off the silly, stupid and indulgent food binge I went on yesterday (yes, I gained back a pound and two ounces). Most of all, I got sleep enough to know it will all be OK, and that I will not let a kick in the chins derail my weight loss goal or my eating habits over the weekend (which, by the way, I’m not nervous about this weekend). I know I have to watch what I eat this weekend. I know I have to exercise. I was doing well and I will keep doing well especially being this/close to the “battle of the final ten.”

That is what sleep does, after all. It gives us energy to start a new day with the glass half-full instead of half-empty. Sleep is, indeed, a beautiful thing.

Is it wrong of me to want to crawl back into bed?

Don’t you wish sometimes you could do just that? Crawl back into bed under the nice warm covers and sleep. Oh man, does that sound nice. Not even fight the sleep that’s still in my eyes and go straight back to dreamland.

I wish I could do that.

But today I have to get up. Thanks to being a bit laid up this weekend with some back pain (which thankfully is now completely gone) I gained back a pound-and-a-half. I wasn’t able to work out as I usually do and was a slug on my couch with a heating pad on his back.

Don’t get me wrong. This was the correct thing to do. It just meant I wasn’t able to have the physical activity of exercise to off-set and burn off the food and drink I had. So I start this Monday back at 235. Grrrrr. So I  am sitting up, eyes half open, yawning and (sleepily) ready to start a brand new week. I know I have to get to the gym and work out to work this off.

And it’s not that I won’t work it off. I know I will. I just hate starting the week on an upward trend. Oh well. As they say “them’s the breaks, kid.” I am human and it happens.

I especially have to get up because tomorrow is the airing of my episode of “The Dr. Oz Show.” And what better motivator than that to get my ass out of bed to start working out. Again I have to say it was invigorating to meet so many people traveling the road to weight loss and maintenance and hear their stories. Some of them even became personal trainers, bless their hearts. That’s awesome.

See, that’ s better. That’s how I have to think on this sleepy Monday morning. I have to think in the forward. I have to think in the positive. I have to think about the beautiful royal and azure blues now filling the sky as my alarm clock telling me to “rise and shine, go work out and seize the day.” I have to say “OK. By Friday I want to drop a pound or two” and make that happen. Setting those goals helps, and it helps me stay awake and not lay back down and go back to…sleeeeee…zzzzzzzzz…

…Damn, that alarm clock is loud in the morning

OK. I’m up. Now’s where’s my coffee? A new day of adventures awaits…