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Posts Tagged insomnia

Trouble Sleeping? Try This

Jun 28

Posted by Shari B. in FitFeature, Keeping Fit | 5 Comments

Hi friends!

Do you happen to have an overactive mind that you have trouble turning off when it comes time to sleep?   Or do you get to sleep just fine but then wake up in the middle of the night and then your mind kicks in?

I used to suffer from some pretty chronic insomnia a few years back that went on for 2 years.  And apparently I was in good company – I’ve spoken with a lot of people who struggle to get a good night of sleep as well, especially the ladies!  So much seems to factor into it:  hormones/adrenals, nutrition, stimulant consumption, stress… the list goes on.

Fortunately after some acupuncture treatments and changes to my nutrition back in 2009, I only have a sleepless night every once in a while now.

More often than not these days if I do have trouble sleeping, it is usually because I can’t turn off my brain.  It’s like the minute my head hits the pillow, someone flips the switch and my brain goes into overdrive when it should be winding down.

A few months ago I came across something that has been a lifesaver in fixing this – naturally.  Without any sleeping pills, valerian root tea or other tricks.

Enter Yoga Nidra – Rotation of Consciousness

I stumbled upon it when I was looking on iTunes for a guided mediation.  The one I use is free in the “iTunes U” store.  It is a relaxing voice that has you direct your attention from one body part to another in a fairly quick succession:  right thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, pinkie, palm of the hand, back of the hand, wrist and so forth.

Interestingly, it’s actually not meant to be for sleep per se – it’s meant to be for meditation to bring you between a state of wake and sleep.  In fact, when I listened to it once during the daytime there was a part toward the end of the recording that said “no sleeping” — but I never make it that far when I listen to it at bedtime!  When I listen to the recording and visualize each part of the body, it quiets all the other “noise” that goes on in my mind and allows me to drift off. 

There’s a lot more to yoga nidra so I certainly don’t want to diminish it as an entire practice – the rotation of consciousness is just a part of it.  Here are a few articles that describe it more in depth if you are curious.

What Is Yoga Nidra?

Yoga Nidra and Cancer (Courtesy: Dr. Rita Khanna’s Yogashaastra Studio)

If you try it out, let me know how it works for you! Happy sleeping!

– Shari B. =)

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Link to the version I use at bedtime:  http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/deep-relaxation-guided-meditation/id434139276 and download Yoga Nidra o1.

 

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The Early Bird Is Up WAY Before the Worm

Sep 18

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking | 5 Comments

Oh my goodness it’s early.  As I start composing this blog post it’s before 3:30 AM.  You know those nights when you have to set the morning alarm extra early and then you wake up every hour because you think you are going to oversleep?  I’m having that night!  I purposely went to bed around 8:15 so that I could get a good solid 8 hours of sleep, but then I was up at 10:24, 11:16, 1:32 and 2:33.  If my eyes pop open after 2:00 AM, it’s all over.  I’m up…

I have an early flight this morning that apparently I must have been dreaming I would miss!  Seriously, Frontier is going to charge me bag fees for the ones you see under my eyes right now.

All I can say is TGFLUEC: Thank Goodness for Lorac UnderEye Concealer!  ;)   I’ll be using a bucket or two of it today!

But before I go I had to share a few foodie photos with you:

First, that leftover Asian Slaw got mixed into a salad yesterday, with some spinach, HB egg, Annie’s Gingerly Vinaigrette, pepitas and a few cashews.  It was so filling, tasty and colorful!

Next, remember the Black Bean Brownie recipe I used from NMA?  I wanted to update you that I’ve been able to lower the sugar a few times on that recipe successfully.  The original recipe calls for 2-1/4 cups of raw sugar, which I first made with 2 cups and MSP thought they were sweet.  I’ve made a few batches and have been able to drop that down to just a smidge over 1-1/2 cups and they still turn out great.  So if you are watching your calories and/or sugar intake I wanted to share that info with you.

I made a batch yesterday to take to a friend and this time I put them into my muffin stoneware.  They turned out so pretty!

I love it when things turn out pretty (especially when giving them as a little token of thanks!)

Speaking of thanks, a big shout out to Allison from One Day at a Time for this awesome tweet that totally made my day when I saw it:

That totally put a smile on my face!  Thank you Allison!  (you have to check out her blog and take a peek at the amazing Red Velvet Pops she made the other day – they look DEE-LISH!)

You should also pop over to Cindy’s blog and enter to win a beautiful scarf that she will KNIT for you!  They rock, trust me!  I am a lucky owner of one!  Her post is even set up as a rhyme for the giveaway – this woman oozes creativity out of her pores, I swear!

OK friends, I better go get some cucumber slices on my eyes, and then hit the road!  I’ll be back after the weekend with pictures from this mini-trip!  Have a great weekend!

– Shari B. =)

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One for the Ladies…

Apr 8

Posted by Shari B. in FitFeature | 7 Comments

Good morning FitFeat friends!  Happy Friday-Eve!

Has anyone else had a weird week this week?  Mine has been just been “off”.   Is there a full moon or something?

I got some feedback that some of you ladies wanted me to proceed with a “You Know You’re PMS-ing When…” post.  Fellas out there, hope you don’t mind. Maybe this will shed some light on the female(s) in your life.  But if you men want to sign off now for this one, I don’t blame you!  ;)

I’ll tell ya right now, this post falls under the “TMI” category, but I think it will be helpful to create a discussion where we can all feel comfortable sharing our experiences and symptoms.

We all know the standard symptoms like the emotional rollercoaster and chocolate cravings.   But I get some other weird ones in addition.  Here is the list of the “other” PMS symptoms I’ve kept track of and now know to expect.

1.) Digestion and elimination: these slow way down for almost a full week leading up to the first day of my cycle.  The two days before we are talking serious traffic jam.  Almost ZERO movement. Then on the first day of my period, exact opposite.  We’re talking Audobon now in lieu of traffic jam.  Bizarre.  I know now to expect it and that’s a part of why in the Spring Slimdown I haven’t been bothered this past week by the lack of ‘weight loss’ because I knew what the ‘hold-up’ was.

2.) Sleep: usually one or two nights during my PMS I either have trouble falling asleep or trouble staying asleep.

3.) Creativity:I tend to have two or three days prior to my cycle where my mind is just GOING.  Tons of ideas running through my head, many of which seem to come to my during that night that I can’t get to sleep!

4.) Motivation swings: along with the creative juices, I get a HUGE motivation boost where I want to ACT on all those great ideas and I feel like I am superwoman and can conquer the world.  (Hmm, did I agree to marathon training during a PMS phase?)  Unfortunately this boost is followed by a dip where I feel like getting out of bed is just tough, let alone tackling things like exercise, cooking or implementing great ideas.  This usually is a day or two, and doesn’t necessarily always coincide with the night or two of poor sleep.  But I have to be really careful about making decisions during this ‘cycle’.  I think I’ve quit a few jobs during this ‘timeframe’ in the past, not to mention taken on new crazy projects.

5.) Body temperature swings: normally I run really cold anyway but I’m especially cold the day before and 2-3 days into my cycle.  During PMS time though, I experience a few moments where I’m actually WARM (and this month even had a few nights where I woke up REALLY hot and sweaty… which got me wondering if I’m headed toward hot flashes soon.)  I rather like the WARMTH after being so cold all the time.

6.) Hollow-leg syndrome: this is less about cravings and more about just being plain ol’ HUNGRY!  Sometimes during PMS it’s like my ‘full-switch’ is broken.  I can eat a bunch and still not feel hungry.  Hopefully what I’ve heard about the body burning around 100 more calories a day during our periods is true, because I could use the help burning off all the excess calories I must be consuming!

How about you?  I’d love to know if others have some of the same (or different) issues I run into.  If you don’t feel comfortable posting directly to the comments section about this topic, feel free to email me and I’ll put out an “anonymous” post for you. I think we can all benefit from sharing our experiences.

Also how long does your PMS last?  Mine is a whopping 9 days like clockwork!  Luckily my actual cycle is MUCH shorter – usually only 3-4 days.

Thanks for giving me the green light to run this post!  I really appreciate the input I receive from you all!

Let the conversation begin!

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Spring Slimdown is updated with Day 16 and Day 17.  Check out the yummy vegan burrito MSP brought home for me last night!  And the weight is finally past the 2 lb loss mark!  YAY!

Have a TERRIFIC Thursday!  See you next time!

– Shari B.  =)

PS:  Have you watched FOOD REVOLUTION yet?  Signed Jamie’s petition for better school lunches?



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Getting my feet wet (or should I say my "feat" wet?)

Aug 27

Posted by in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Hey there Fit Friends! 

As I compose my first ‘full’ post for my new blog (woot woot, so excited!), I am finding it surprising that I feel as energetic as I do tonight seeing how I have been up since 2:09 AM!  I woke up with my mind clicking away at high speed about the blog, so I went ahead and got up and continued working on the theme, widgets, etc.   I have been sleeping like a baby the last 4 months after a l-o-n-g bout with insomnia, so this was highly unusual and I’m crossing my fingers that I sleep well tonight. 

A blurb about the blog: I’ll be chronicling my food intake and exercise habits as a way to look back over time to see how I may have changed my approach, not to mention hopefully provide some insight and inspiration to readers (please see the “Disclaimer” tab).  My food philosophy has done a complete 180 over the years (see the “About” tab).  Makes me wonder if I’ll end up coming full circle over time or stay where I’m at.  I think it will be fun to come back to these early posts next year and compare.  I feel SO good right now with the way I’ve been eating.  In future posts, I’ll discuss further some of the food changes I made for health reasons and the results I’ve had.  As a personal trainer, clients have always been interested in what I eat and how I train.  I like to think I do a pretty good job at practicing what I preach teach (truly I don’t want to be ‘preachy’).  One thing to note for those of you following along:  I am currently eating at a maintenance level, which means I am not aiming to lose weight.  Should I decide that I need to lose any further bodyfat, you’ll see some changes to the daily ‘eats’ and an increase in training intensity.

Ironically today was a planned rest day from training, so not much to report on that front.  Tomorrow is legs and shoulders.  But plenty of eats to share!  Due to the lack of sleep it was a bit of a carb party today!

I at least waited till 5:00 AM to make my cup of coffee (the Diva mug baby!):

DSCN1412

 About an hour later I was hungry for my breakfast so I had a cup of Kashi GoLean with some unsweetened Almond Milk for breakfast:

DSCN1415

 

Mid-morning snack (not pictured) was 2 pieces of Ezekial 4:9 sprouted grain toast with raw almond butter and a drizzle of raw honey…. sweet carby goodness! 

Lunch was a dee-lish salad with leftover salmon from my trip to Tokyo Joe’s plus a hard-boiled egg, lots of spinach & romaine, a sprinkle of baked dulse, nutritional yeast, sundried tomatoes, raw pumpkin seeds, topped off with some macadamia nut oil and balsamic vinegar.  It was super filling!  And for dessert — a square of extra dark chocolate of course!Picture 014

 The little beggars dogs were waiting for something to drop, as usual.  Rascal (the MinPin) has become especially fond of green veggies these days, just like his mommy!  He loves cucumber, spines of romaine, zuchinni, you name it.  Although I’m pretty sure I could drop a styrofoam packing peanut and he’d snap it up like it’s the best thing he’s ever tasted.Picture 018

 I had two separate afternoon snacks today since I was extra hungry.  The first was a scoop each of Amazing Meal and rice protein.  Later I was still feeling hungry so I had a Wasa cracker with some raw goat cheddar.  Nothing exciting enough for a pic!I had a lazy girl dinner tonight since MSP (My Sweetie Pie) was at softball.  A can of Healthy Choice Country Veggie soup with an Ezekial ‘dipper’ on the side, topped with sprinkles of baked dulse and parmesan:Picture 024

 I think that covers day one!   Have a GREAT Friday tomorrow!

– Shari B.  =)

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