I’ve been fortunate to be sleeping well over the last few nights.  I don’t find it an easy thing to have a good sleep – and think that it has only been once in the last year that I slept through a whole night without waking.  Yes, it is usual for to wake up 2 to 3 times during the night.

The most common reason is due to an ache or pain in either my back or ribs, so I have to adjust my position.  If I change position and can’t get back to sleep in 15 minutes or so then I’ll look at taking some medication.  I then have the dilemma of what to take.  Tramadol works well, but the problem is I find it takes about an hour to kick in, and since I don’t want to lie around for an hour I usually give that a miss.  So then I’m down to something that will work faster – and typically I choose either paracetamol or paracetamol + codeine.  The pain level will dictate which one I go with.

I can get through the night without having to go to the toilet, however I find that once I’ve woken up due to having to change position, then I may as well drain the bladder while I’m at it.

The next most common reason why I wake up?  Actually I’m not sure.  However I know that if I fall asleep before 10pm then there is a great chance that I will wake up at midnight (or approximately 2 hours after I have gone to sleep), wide awake and raring to go.  At times like that it is very difficult for me to get back to sleep, i.e. I usually won’t get back to sleep for another 2 hours or so.  So if I wake up “wide awake” in that situation I usually read a book or something, as I know I won’t be sleeping anytime soon.  If I know that I really need the sleep then I will pop a diazempam (or melatonin if it is before midnight) to try and speed up falling back to sleep.  There is no guarantee with diazempam though – half the time I will sleep and the other half just sort of be “happily drowsy” half-way to sleeping.

Why am I focusing so much on sleep?  I guess it is because after hitting 40 I have really seen the effect that good and bad sleep has on my body.  If I have had a good sleep then it really makes a difference to my day.  A lot more energy, I don’t binge eat as much, and I have energy to go to the gym at the end of the day.  If I haven’t slept well then I struggle to not take a nap at work, I can’t concentrate as well (which affects my work volume), I give in to junk food cravings, and just can’t be bothered going to the gym after work.  As I mentioned yesterday too, I am noticing an improvement in my scalp psoriasis after a few days of good sleep.

Science has pointed out that the facts show that good sleep aids weight loss, and I can believe it.  So I focus much more now on trying to stay in a routine.  I will lie down to sleep at 10.45pm – no matter how I feel – even though invariably I don’t feel sleepy at all.  Surprisingly I’m often asleep within 15 minutes even though I don’t feel sleepy.

I’m on a goal to see my abs, so weight loss (fat loss to be specific) is important to me, and since good sleep really affects that, I am pretty focused on it.

So another fairly good sleep last night.  Work is a bit quiet this week – and Friday is a public holiday here so I’m looking forward to a long weekend.