Wall

I marvel lately at how little sleep I 'need' - in comparison to my younger years. Lately, I'm aware that I am 'fine' with a fewer number of hours of sleep that in the not too distant past would have thrown me for a loop. I've always been an 8 hour+ person. Going to bed at 9 and getting up at 5 would seem risky to me - and consequently, I would lose sleep fretting about the sleep I wouldn't be getting.

Now, I look at 6 hours as great. 5 is OK and I've even managed on 4 pretty often. Going to bed at 10 or 11 and knowing the alarm is set for 5ish - and I will most likely be awake around 4 and just get up - isn't all that 'rare' for me. The thought of that 'few' hours of sleep no longer causes anxiety - it causes relief. At least I'll get that many hours. It's a total psyche switch that seems to have happened as a result of aging - and acknowledging that not sleeping well is part of life now. So whatever I can get, I'm grateful and have learned to take it and be glad for it instead of freaking out about not having enough.

And all things considered, I feel pretty OK for the most part. But about every 12-15 days I hit a 'wall' and the exhaustion catches up with me. And the past couple nights have been that kind of night. I ask J. the same questions over and over - sometimes within a minute of asking him the first time. My head is just not processing things - and that's the signal that it's time to get some 'extra' sleep. To sleep in weekends as much as I can. Or to head up to bed and be asleep by 8:30. I've hit that wall a couple times this week and am grateful for a 3 day weekend - and for B. helping in the sound booth at church on Sunday at the 11AM service so sleeping in until 8ish is completely fine.

J. and I started Medifast yesterday. So far, so good. Of course, we already 'blew it' this evening with Chinese food for H.'s birthday feast - but we stuck with lots of lean meat and broccoli. Still, I feel stuffed. I wasn't hungry at all during the day - but I did feel the 'urge' to eat. It didn't really seem to be hunger driving that urge - just the 'need' to chew and feel crunch or sweet. So I resisted and made it. The shakes are very filling and the soup I had for lunch was really good. And during my class, I had a caramel chocolate bar that tasted like a Milky Way - it was yummy. And while we 'cheated' at dinner [because dinner is supposed to be lean meat and green veggies and we had a bit of fried rice and some crispy coated prawns and won tons as well], we are still better off for sticking to the Medifast items for two of the 3 meals we ate today. So that's encouraging - not that we intend to cheat daily 'cuz we don't. But it felt good to stick to it as much as we could and then the 'big dinner' didn't seem that bad.

We are going to the Farmer's Market tomorrow. This is the first year the market is on Saturday mornings - it used to be every Wednesday evening and in the days of both of us commuting, we never made it home in time to go. So we will head downtown tomorrow morning and enjoy the market and a cup of coffee outside while B. plays with the jazz group. Stock up on fresh green veggies for salads and to steam. Then home for some 'housework' and yard work. The pool is up to 80 degrees and if it stays warm, we will be swimming this weekend for sure!

Enjoy the 3 day weekend and stay safe, everyone.