The Joy of a Nap

I am normally a morning person, but without the need to get up to drive Carter to school I end up staying up later and later in the summer.  These last few days of vacation are my waning chance to sleep late, but somehow I keep waking up earlier and earlier.  “Why, why,” I cry to myself as I look at the clock on the DVR.  No matter how hard I try to go back to sleep this past week I have been unable to do so, so I just go ahead and get up.

There is nothing wrong with getting up early and being productive.  It is one reason I like the morning.  Time to do things before the rest of the world feels like they can intrude on your space.  I don’t really like staying up late because that time is wasted on me.  What I need most is sleep.  If I have eight good hours of sleep I am at my best during the waking hours.  If I only get six forget about it.

This past week has been a six-hour night every night.  The two places I notice it affecting me most is my food choices and my short fuse.  If I get the right amount of sleep I have a 90% chance of eating good for me foods in smaller portions.  Every minute under that optimal time increases the likelihood I will have a bite here and a lick there of something diet busting.  It starts with slightly larger portions of my regular food but then with enough sleep deprivation it can escalate into eating a whole blueberry muffin or lasagna for dinner, like last night.

This morning was the same story.  After going to bed at midnight I woke up at six twenty.  I got on the scale to find out the lasagna from last night was still with me. I knew that I needed to get control, which had to start with eating right and getting enough sleep.  The best part about sleep, outside of feeling better when you wake up, is that you can’t eat when you are sleeping.

Since sleeping at night has not been working I took a nap today.  It is the perfect day for a nap, cold and rainy.  Now I have gotten back the hour and a half I should have had last night.  I have planned out my dinner of a small bit of leftover smoked pork chop and lots of broccoli and a peach with some milk for dessert.  I am staying in, away from people who cause my extroverted personality to want to stay up.  I figure I will wake up early tomorrow, which I just can’t help, but at least I am going to do everything possible to get eight hours of sleep and see if it can help me stay on the healthy eating track.  Oh yeah, that should also help my short fuse so that my family will be happier too.