Thursday, December 3, 2015

December 3rd, 2015 Right In Front Of Me

December 3rd, 2015 Right In Front Of Me

I'm determined to get to bed even earlier than I did last night. It's taking some serious effort this evening. I'm a man on a mission. I left the studio, ran into the store for something I forgot yesterday, made it to the gym for a good workout, stopped at different store to grab something else I wanted (sugar free organic tomato basil sauce at Aldi!) and then home to prepare food.

I've combined my dinner with my #lastfoodofday, making dinner the last of my calorie budget. And as some good support friends like to say, "the kitchen is closed." 

Skipping the evening coffee is difficult. I almost ordered a cup at the store. Then I almost brewed some at home while preparing dinner. Almost, but I didn't. Because as much as I would like to say and think it doesn't affect my sleep....uhg....it does. Evening coffee (after 6pm) must be reserved for weekends only.

I've managed my day better. I cut some things short. I'm not declaring anything in regards to fixing my too little sleep issue--I'm simply saying, today--tonight...I'm doing well. And that's what is right in front of me. 

Friday and Saturday night, it's whatever works--I may drink coffee late and stay up to who knows when working on some things. After tonight, my next "better managed day/night" will be Sunday. And that starts on Saturday night. So really, Friday night is my night to howl. Okay...who am I foolin'? I'm not a howler, ever. Well, usually not...I mean, sometimes, maybe. Can we agree on "rarely?" We'll see.

My Tweets Today:




























Thank you for reading and your continued support,
Strength,
Sean
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4 comments:

  1. The SandmanDecember 4, 2015 at 5:07 AM

    I'm going to ask you a question about your decision to allow evening coffee at the weekends: do you think this is going to help you set better sleep habits during the week? Would you have committed to being sugar free or sticking to your calorie goal only from Monday to Friday and allowing yourself to indulge at the weekend?

    The thing about sleep, for me, is that I was never able to fix it until I set a hard bedtime every day of the week and forced myself to get up at the same time every day. If I stayed up late Friday, I slept in late Saturday, and by Sunday I couldn't get to sleep when I needed to ensure I was well-rested Monday morning. Fixing my sleep had to be an every day thing, even if I didn't have commitments in the morning my commitment was to getting up early in order to be able to sleep at night. If I had things to do I wouldn't stay up late working on them, I would get up early and do them in the morning.

    By the way, this is of critical relevance to your health goals. There was a study (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951287/) performed on the effect of sleep on body composition where sedentary people from similar demographics were placed on a weight loss diet and divided into two groups and the researchers controlled their food intake (calorie and macronutrient content) and sleep. Both groups lost the same amount of weight, as expected, but the group which slept more lost far more of that weight as fat. The poorly-rested group lost a pretty horrifying amount of lean mass (only 20% of the weight lost was fat, the 80% was lean mass). While I always knew that poor sleep was associated with obesity and especially central obesity I assumed that as long as I tracked what I was eating, maintained a healthy weight, and avoided junky snacks, this would not apply to me. I now realise that I can't compensate for lack of sleep's effect on my body composition through exercise and nutrition. Even if I control my weight and engage in regular strength training I'm undermining those efforts by doing the one thing which ensures my body can't respond to diet and training in the way I would like (e.g. building muscle, losing fat, generally being hale and hearty) and I'm setting myself up for the very health problems that maintaining a healthy weight and reasonable level of fitness is supposed to help me avoid, e.g. diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver, stroke. That's why sleep is priority number one for me these days, above food and exercise. There's a common saying in fitness circles — "you can't outrun a bad diet", imo you can't outrun or out-eat poor sleep either.

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    Replies
    1. Sean AndersonDecember 5, 2015 at 12:21 AM

      "Would you have committed to being sugar free or sticking to your calorie goal only from Monday to Friday and allowing yourself to indulge at the weekend?" Great question!!
      No, I wouldn't!!
      Sandman, thank you for this perspective. And thank you for taking the time to write and share this information.
      I've applied non negotiable status to my abstinence from refined sugar and the integrity of my budget/food plan...and I haven't given this same importance level to other critical things.
      I'm evolving. I can't argue with anything you've shared here, I agree completely. I will find the groove I need. Thank you.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousDecember 4, 2015 at 5:37 AM

    Sean, you did better than I did last night. Good food for thought from the Sandman above. But we will keep trying, right?

    Dede

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    Replies
    1. Sean AndersonDecember 5, 2015 at 12:24 AM

      Very interesting perspective, right? We all find our groove as long as we keep moving in positive directions. We're doing good things, Dede!

      Delete

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