My Tail Was Dragging Today

For some reason I woke up in middle of the night and couldn’t fall back asleep. 

Does that ever happen to you?

It was a very strange experience as usually I sleep like a log for 8 hours straight. 

Having a great bed is very important and while there are several good brands, one in particular stands out, the Tempur-pedic brand.

I absolutely adore the bed and pillows and funny enough years ago I had bought a couple of pillows for a friend as a wedding gift and what happened at the time was if you bought two pillows the store threw in another one for free. 

So having a foundation is crucial. 

Then, I was reading an article about one of the reasons people have to get up in middle of the night to use the bathroom is because they drink too much before bed. 

Well that makes sense. 

The body uses water and other nutrients while you sleep so it is imperative to make sure you hydrate and fuel the body properly throughout. 

As soon as I wake in the morning I like to toss back a couple of glasses of water to jumpstart the body. 

Then, since drinking while eating can disturb the digestion process I like to drink a glass of water before each meal and then a couple of hours before bed I’ll toss in another couple of glasses. 

But I’ll drink more in the morning and taper off towards the evening so I slumber on till dawn. 

These days if you are not drinking at least 30 gallons of water you must be dehydrated right? 

While true, many people don’t drink enough and are chronically dehydrated there is a fine balance since too much of a good thing is not a good thing either. Water is fantastic for you but too much and off to the hospital to get the stomach pumped or worse. 

I happen to love water but some people don’t like the taste.

Imagine that. 

So I primarily drink water but I also try to have a daily glass of tea as well. 

Tea is extremely beneficial and can help in numerous ways. In fact after water, tea is in the number two spot of most consumed drink worldwide. 

if you don’t like the taste of tap water perhaps look into getting a water filter as this can dynamically change the taste. 

There are some differing opinions on which is the best filter. I’ll drink tap water but I have and use a zero filter, some like Brita or reverse osmosis. To me, if you have to add nutrients back into the water something is off. 

Keep in mind the water before arriving in your sink has been filtered and sterilized. The dept of public works actually puts bleach into the water. But it is a very low concentration. Usually the humans who are worried about the filter are getting it due to contaminants like birth control and other medication that might not be filtered out. 

That people need to stay hydrated is a key element to success. Drinking water will also help with performance which is why I thought perhaps I didn’t drink enough which caused my tail to drag. But since I made sure to hit my drinking goal (of water) it must have been the lack of sleep. 

I was on my second set of pull ups and did a few other exercises but once form started to drop, I stopped. Tomorrow is another day. 

I can always go harder tomorrow. 

I usually don;t like to think in that manner but from a injury prevention view, better to stop before something happens. 

Once a person becomes sloppy in their movement they are more prone to injury. 

Something I like to do about 90 minutes before bed is to have a snack so for those on intermittent fasting this might not be for you. 

I like to have some veggies and sunbather or carrots or chips with chummus.

This helps prevent hypoglycemia in the am. The cranky, fatigued feeling is that and more. I have heard different amounts work best like 300 kcal. 

Since I don’t count calories this approach doesn’t work for me and speaking of counting calories. 

This approach certainly works for some people but for me it’s too restricting. If I had to count calories I wouldn’t get anything else done in like. That would be a full-time profession. 

The main aspect for calorie counting, for me anyways is to make people more aware of what they put in their body.

This is also the theory behind the plate method where people would take a picture of the food before eating it. It is simply being aware. 

Now for those of us who are not a body builder or in Cross fit for instance might not need to measure our macro’s and micros. 

Often, people are just trying to be healthy and lead a healthier lifestyle so I like to follow to 80/20 rule where I eat healthy or clean 8 percent of the time and 20 percent not. 

A few guideline that have worked for me. 

One, try to eat complete proteins with every meal. 

Complete proteins are anything with a face, think meat, chicken, fish turkey etc

While if you take beans or lentils and rice and eat together you are getting complete proteins but a non animal source and this will not be the same nutrient breakdown that a animal will have nor will the body be fueled the same way. 

Second, start the plate with veggies. 

The plate should be at least 50 persons filled with veggies. 

I like fresh the best. But you can use frozen or canned vegetables as well for convenience.

I would venture to say that most people do not get enough veggies or nutrients and this may cause many of the nutritional deficiencies a person has in this day and age which is a shame really because living in the states there is no excuse for not eating well. 

3 meals, three snacks. 

A snack might consist of fruit or a handful of nuts like almonds or Brazil nuts. 

I usually don’t eat more than 3-4 Brazil nut a day since it is very high in the mineral selenium. 

There are those who only eat once or twice a day, and if that works for you, awesome!

So here you have it. eating consistently will fuel the body and get results. Then take one day or one meal or one hour and make sure its the same every week and eat the junk food. By planning ahead you can consume your treats while sticking to a schedule. It’s all about having a balance. 

If you only eat sticks and berries all the time you will become miserable. 

Enjoy what life has to offer and remember, fruit is G-d’s candy so partaken the manna. 

benfleischman.com