Sleep

[Guest guest]

I'm pleased to see that the issue of sleep has come up again. In my pursuit of a long, happy life, I try to visualize a tripod of diet, exercise and rest. You have all reminded me once again to divide my attention equally between all three legs of the tripod if I'm to keep my balance.

I took a four-day trip to the opposite coast this weekend which turned into a big "AHA!" moment in my life. I am presently struck by the ill-effects of jet lag on my body, and was truly sleep-deprived all weekend. As is always the case on such trips, I found it difficult to eat properly. Healthy food was available--that wasn't the problem. I can't blame my poor diet during the past four days on availability of CRON-friendly foods. Somehow, whenever I travel across time zones, my body and soul both scream out for junk food. On this trip, the connection between sleep deprivation and the willingness/ability to eat properly was so obvious that I finally began to reframe the connection in other aspects of my life. When I'm tired, I don't eat right. That's no oversimplification. It explains after-dinner feeding frenzies--a huge problem for me and for many people. It explains why so many people have poor appetites in the morning, as do I. This being said, I am going to conduct a one-rat experiment on myself. A late afternoon nap, which I'm able to do with some minor adjustments in my routine, should improve my compliance to my CRON diet in the evening hours. We shall see.

Dement's book on sleep is so important that I gave it to friends and loved-ones for Christmas last year. It will save somebody's life someday, if they read it anyway. Did you know that the heavy-eyed feeling you sometimes get while driving the car is NOT the first stage of sleepiness? Nope. It's the last stage of WAKEFULNESS! Pull over IMMEDIATELY if you feel that way! Dement's book is full of such memorable tidbits. It really changed my valuation of sleep.

Hugs

Suz