Sleep

It's an often overlooked activity in life. I know people who "live" off 4 hours of sleep a night. I also know people who struggle every night to get to sleep and finally I know people who struggle to wake up. I don't know many people who say they sleep well.

Why is sleeping like a baby just for babies? Why can't we just go back to sleeping well?

Last night I got 10 hours of uninterrupted deep sleep. I had it coming for sure. Last week in Germany I would sleep 10 or 11pm to 1 am. Then 3 am to 5 am. That's not good sleep. My mentality when I travel like that is to appreciate what I get and roll with it. But it comes back to "get" me at home. So last night was the night. 10 hours of down time. The great thing is this morning I feel better than I've felt in two weeks. So to me that mean's I'm back to normal.

I'm no sleep expert but I read often about it and I actively pursue it daily so I feel expert enough to write about it. First I must say I come from a family that can sleep. When I was 16 my father took me to a Cheap Trick concert. While I rocked out he slept. How can anyone sleep in something that loud? Anyway once asleep I'm out, but often times I struggle to get to sleep and if it's not enough sleep I struggle to wake up. So what causes this:

Food - The more I learn about what's good for my body the more I'm convinced that food is the biggest culprit. I don't expect everyone to follow my Primal methods of eating but I would give this advice. No Sugar after 6pm. If you are a late eater like we are (8pm is not rare for dinner at our house) then stick with that. But on those occasions where we eat earlier I always have a high quality snack (Nuts and berries) one hour before bed.

Screens - Computer, TV, video games - We purposely don't have a tv in our bedroom. The idea is to stay away from a screen roughly one hour before bed time. That mean's we pick up a book or a magazine or my gosh have a conversation. We certainly are not perfect at this but it's a good goal to shoot for.

Pain - Pain is the worst when you are trying to sleep. Pain in the back is probably the biggest pain we suffer. I think the key to this is find out what's wrong and find some good stretches that can subdue the pain. I've learned that stretching at night is the best for me. This helps to relax my muscles and I wake up ready to go.

Work/Family - Troubles or challenges here probably cost a huge amount of sleep. They sure have in my life. For work I make it a point to stop any work at 7 pm. That's hard when a great deal of my work is in China but as long as I'm consistent, they know what to expect from me. As for Family, work on that all day and going to sleep is much easier.

So these are the things I work on for Sleep. My goal is 7-8 hours. I hope if you are struggling with sleep these tips can help you too.

It's a good life...

Dave

Gone Primal

Recently if you've been reading I went Gluten Free about 2 months ago. The initial results were pleasing with a 5 lb drop in static weight. Yep, just by cutting wheat out of my diet. As of this week I've gone Primal. I've known Mark Sisson for who knows how many years. I've followed his website for probably as long as it has been up. I decided if I was going Gluten free I might as well go all the way and go Primal. For the most part outside of food I am primal. My coach Gordo, gives me a relatively primal system to follow. I get lots of sleep and I love to play. So the biggest change for me is food. First let me list out what I won't eat:

- Grains - Of any kind - Wheat, corn, oats, etc.

- Big Starchy things like potatoes.

- Legumes - I know, no more refried beans but that's ok.

- Coke - Oh my gosh!

What I will eat

-Eggs

- Meat - All Kinds

- Fruit

- Veggies - The golden rule - If you can eat them raw as well as cooked, eat them.

In reality, I feel better when I eat this way. It's not the first time I've done this it's simply something I feel I need to do to live. I plan to live a strong healthy life for a long time. Family history is against me. My father suffered a heart attack at 55 and my mother has Alzeimer's. So I have to do things fairly drastic to avoid both. That and I have been in an energy rut for too long. So getting serious about what goes into my body seems right.

If you look at the list of things I can eat it's tasty. Fruit is good right! Meat done right melts in your mouth. Eggs are perfect food and can be dressed up like this morning: 3 Eggs scrambled, Left over Tri Tip and a hint of cheddar cheese. Outstanding!

Now those of you who remember and tried the Adkins diet there is a major difference. That diet fully limited your carbs. In the Primal world Carbs are the basis of your diet just the naturally occurring good ones. Fruit and veggies are all carbs. If you eat them, the right one's they are good for you. So those athletes that worry I'm eating too much fat and not enough carbs, wait and see. So far it's really good. No issues with energy in fact my energy is strong.

It's a good life...

Dave

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I like you better

as Dave - So my wife of 17 years tells me. I guess I can except that my first name is my best name and any nickname current or future is just that a nickname. It's not who I am.

It's a good life....

Dave