Sleep—Diet Makes a Difference

This visitor posed for me:


Isn’t she cute? She’s an adolescent red-tailed hawk.


I think she saying “feed me now!”

Sweetie wants to feed her, too. I think I’ve convinced him not to. I don’t want to start feeding birds of prey. Sweetie sees food as love. Everybody eat, let’s cook together. Not only do I have my own habits to change, but his, also.

I’ve been struggling with insomnia for years. Lately, I been successful in getting 7 to 9 hours a night, without getting up in the middle of the night for an hour or two. The secret, of course, is diet. For me this means:

- Dinner no later than 6:30 at night.
- No eating after dinner
- Avoiding foods that cause IBS symptoms; i.e. spicy foods, corn, eggs, pork, yogurt, soft cheeses, sour cream, chocolate, caffeine
- Keep sugar at a minimum. I limit fruit to one or two a day. Occasionally allow one cup decaf coffee with 1 or 2 teaspoons sugar
- Eat three to five vegetables a day.

I have noticed that on days when I don’t follow my guidelines I don’t sleep well at all. Have I been losing weight? No. I haven’t been gaining, either. I’ve been staying at 220 because I’m eating too much bread and pasta and goodies. That has to stop.

Now that I’ve realized what keeps me awake at night, I can make better choices. Consistency is the key. Now I just have to do it!