The elusive weight loss ingredient...
janet_pratt
Posts: 747 Member
Sleep. Really? All my efforts are in vain because I can't get a decent night's sleep? After losing 100 pounds, I entered the plateau from Hell. I've been stuck for at least 3 years, maybe 5. They all run together. Oh I can gain it easily enough. One bad impulse meal and I'm up 5 pounds. I can usually get those back off, but can't ever go any lower. Eating back my exercise calories was a disaster for me. I had my metabolism checked on Monday so I could decide exactly how many calories I need to eat each day. We discussed my caloric intake, food choices and exercise. All those are fine. Next..sleep...yeah...not so much. And water...ummm.... The girl very firmly told me that I MUST get at least 7 hours sleep and get all my water in. She said it like I was a complete irresponsible idiot, because sleep is basic. She does not understand that sleep is my fondest desire. The elusive, mythical state that I have heard about and long to attain.
Last night was a typical night. I have been going to bed around 9:30 because my husband sets his alarm for 5 so he can get up and go pick up my daughter and take her to work. She doesn't have a car and the bus stop is at a bad part of town and she has to catch it at ten minutes to 4 in the morning to get to work by 6. So till she gets her car fixed, we have a 5 AM wake up. This morning she's off, so we decided to sleep in until 7:30. I went to bed at 10. Nine and a half hours of sleep would be wonderful. I fall asleep immediately.
Within an hour, I am up, ridding myself of some of that water that it is OH SO IMPORTANT that I drink. I go back to bed and go back to sleep. An hour later my husband is up, turning on the bathroom light in our room (couldn't use the hallway bathroom?) and making all sorts of noises in there. This is the third night in a row. Who's daily BM time is midnight? He comes back to bed and it takes me a while to go back to sleep. 1:30...my 4 year old grandson appears at my bedside. I slide over and he crawls in. I usually don't even wake up for this, but...time to get rid of more of the WATER. Another trip to the bathroom. I get back in bed, slide him over to the middle and go back to sleep. 2:40...the idiot who works weird hours is up walking his dog in the school yard across the street. He is whistling for his dog. Both my dogs go nuts..running up and down the hall, barking and panting. It takes several minutes to get them settled. I go back to sleep around 3. 4:00...my just turned 3 year old granddaughter wanders in.."Can I sleep in you bed?" I said, "Get in on PaPa's side." At this point I was sandwiched between my grandson and my dog. No room for the girl. It's a queen size bed. PaPa got out and went and got in the grandson's bed. My granddaughter is sweet as can be but she is a screamer. We are working on that. I put her in time out, won't listen to her until she can speak normally, whatever. But that's in the daytime. I don't wanna play at 4 AM, so its easier to let her in than to send her back to her own bed and have her scream. So I try to go back to sleep. My husband flips and flops in the bed across the hall. After 10 minutes I tell him I will sleep in there. He says he's fine, then proves it by beginning to snore 10 minutes later. I lay there for about 30 minutes considering all forms of suffocating him, then get up and close the door of the room he's in. I lay back down and try for another 10 minutes to sleep. The dog has gotten down and is now under the bed making annoying licky noises. In desperation I get up and rummage through my desk for foam ear plugs. If I use them too often they make my ears itch and ache, but it's been a while, so I stick them in. Blissful quiet. I doze off and the kids who have been still up to this point, begin to tap dance. They kick and twitch every 60 to 90 seconds, shaking the bed. Exhausted and fed up, I hiss....Stop moving or I'm putting you both back in your own bed! It stops briefly and I am able to go back to sleep for about an hour, only to be awakened by Lydia whining that she wants her blankie. Apparently she dropped it when she got in bed. I tell her to go find it and true to form she howls louder. I get up, walk around the bed, pick it up off the floor, throw it on the bed and go back to my side. She can tell I'm not happy, so she cries even louder. My husband comes in to see what's going on. Both kids start saying they want breakfast. It's 6:30. I give up and get up to fix them breakfast.
Yeah, Blondie, I need more sleep. Easy for you to say.
Last night was a typical night. I have been going to bed around 9:30 because my husband sets his alarm for 5 so he can get up and go pick up my daughter and take her to work. She doesn't have a car and the bus stop is at a bad part of town and she has to catch it at ten minutes to 4 in the morning to get to work by 6. So till she gets her car fixed, we have a 5 AM wake up. This morning she's off, so we decided to sleep in until 7:30. I went to bed at 10. Nine and a half hours of sleep would be wonderful. I fall asleep immediately.
Within an hour, I am up, ridding myself of some of that water that it is OH SO IMPORTANT that I drink. I go back to bed and go back to sleep. An hour later my husband is up, turning on the bathroom light in our room (couldn't use the hallway bathroom?) and making all sorts of noises in there. This is the third night in a row. Who's daily BM time is midnight? He comes back to bed and it takes me a while to go back to sleep. 1:30...my 4 year old grandson appears at my bedside. I slide over and he crawls in. I usually don't even wake up for this, but...time to get rid of more of the WATER. Another trip to the bathroom. I get back in bed, slide him over to the middle and go back to sleep. 2:40...the idiot who works weird hours is up walking his dog in the school yard across the street. He is whistling for his dog. Both my dogs go nuts..running up and down the hall, barking and panting. It takes several minutes to get them settled. I go back to sleep around 3. 4:00...my just turned 3 year old granddaughter wanders in.."Can I sleep in you bed?" I said, "Get in on PaPa's side." At this point I was sandwiched between my grandson and my dog. No room for the girl. It's a queen size bed. PaPa got out and went and got in the grandson's bed. My granddaughter is sweet as can be but she is a screamer. We are working on that. I put her in time out, won't listen to her until she can speak normally, whatever. But that's in the daytime. I don't wanna play at 4 AM, so its easier to let her in than to send her back to her own bed and have her scream. So I try to go back to sleep. My husband flips and flops in the bed across the hall. After 10 minutes I tell him I will sleep in there. He says he's fine, then proves it by beginning to snore 10 minutes later. I lay there for about 30 minutes considering all forms of suffocating him, then get up and close the door of the room he's in. I lay back down and try for another 10 minutes to sleep. The dog has gotten down and is now under the bed making annoying licky noises. In desperation I get up and rummage through my desk for foam ear plugs. If I use them too often they make my ears itch and ache, but it's been a while, so I stick them in. Blissful quiet. I doze off and the kids who have been still up to this point, begin to tap dance. They kick and twitch every 60 to 90 seconds, shaking the bed. Exhausted and fed up, I hiss....Stop moving or I'm putting you both back in your own bed! It stops briefly and I am able to go back to sleep for about an hour, only to be awakened by Lydia whining that she wants her blankie. Apparently she dropped it when she got in bed. I tell her to go find it and true to form she howls louder. I get up, walk around the bed, pick it up off the floor, throw it on the bed and go back to my side. She can tell I'm not happy, so she cries even louder. My husband comes in to see what's going on. Both kids start saying they want breakfast. It's 6:30. I give up and get up to fix them breakfast.
Yeah, Blondie, I need more sleep. Easy for you to say.
0
Replies
-
thank you for making me smile. I hear ya. Try to nap today???
0 -
Melatonin with a glass of red wine.0
-
Took the melatonin at 8. Maybe I'll try adding the wine. Or did you mean for the kids?1
-
Get rid of the dogs, husband and grandkids!! SLEEP ACHIEVED! hahaha
But that's not going to happen... so sorry about not getting a good night's sleep. I hate waking up at 3am to go pee. It's really REALLY annoying. And my husband gets up at weird hours to go do his business, but he does one better and turns on the radio, LOUD. =/0 -
And my husband gets up at weird hours to go do his business, but he does one better and turns on the radio, LOUD. =/
I would SO be doing something to that radio! My husband snores horribly. I could hear him through the closed door. I can hear him when I get up, close our bedroom door and go down the hall and sleep on the couch. No one should be able to make that much noise with just their nose! I've considered inserting peanut M&M's into his nostrils on occasion. He doesn't think that's funny.0 -
I have no idea what you do about the kids, but if he hasn't been already, your husband should be checked for sleep apnea. Of course then you get the joy of sleeping in a room with a cpap.0
-
And my husband gets up at weird hours to go do his business, but he does one better and turns on the radio, LOUD. =/
I would SO be doing something to that radio! My husband snores horribly. I could hear him through the closed door. I can hear him when I get up, close our bedroom door and go down the hall and sleep on the couch. No one should be able to make that much noise with just their nose! I've considered inserting peanut M&M's into his nostrils on occasion. He doesn't think that's funny.
As a wife of a snorer...I think the peanut M&M's are VERY funny:laugh:0 -
I hear ya on this. I have trouble sleeping in general. There are days that my weight goes up 5-10 pounds just from not sleeping. And sometimes I cant sleep for a few days, but the moment I sleep, my weight goes down.0
-
so sorry you had a rough nights sleep. I hate nights like that. Hope tonight is better and you wake up 10 lbs thinner 0
-
How about ambien. I take it if I do not fall asleep or I do wake up at 1:00 am and can't get back to sleep. I experimented and have been cutting it down to just a fourth of a tablet. I found it did the same as a full tablet. I keep it at bedside and only use it on an as needed basis.0
-
I hear ya on this. I have trouble sleeping in general. There are days that my weight goes up 5-10 pounds just from not sleeping. And sometimes I cant sleep for a few days, but the moment I sleep, my weight goes down.
The grandkids are going for a weekend with their other grandparents, on thursday I think. If I can get Snoreky The Bear to stifle it, maybe I can get a few good night's sleep and drop 30 pounds!0 -
And my husband gets up at weird hours to go do his business, but he does one better and turns on the radio, LOUD. =/
I would SO be doing something to that radio! My husband snores horribly. I could hear him through the closed door. I can hear him when I get up, close our bedroom door and go down the hall and sleep on the couch. No one should be able to make that much noise with just their nose! I've considered inserting peanut M&M's into his nostrils on occasion. He doesn't think that's funny.
I'd rather hear the radio then any bodily functions at that hour of the night! hahaha0 -
I'm so with you there!!! My daughter, without fail, cries between 10:30 and 11:30. I pray for 10:30 because that's what time I'm going to bed. But then she's sometimes up 2-4 times with little cries...that I hear, even with ear plugs....which I wear nightly!!! And luckily most nights I can sleep through my son coming into bed.....but not last night either!!!
It will get better!!! And try to drink the majority of the water before 5 pm!!! That helps at night!!0 -
Sleep.
you know a website i can order that from?0 -
How about ambien. I take it if I do not fall asleep or I do wake up at 1:00 am and can't get back to sleep. I experimented and have been cutting it down to just a fourth of a tablet. I found it did the same as a full tablet. I keep it at bedside and only use it on an as needed basis.
Is that by prescription? And do you feel groggy in the morning? Maybe a quarter would work and I wouldn't feel fuzzy. Worth looking into.0 -
Melatonin with a glass of red wine.
Hold the wine.
http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/alerts/l/blnaa41.htm
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/news/20110215/alcohol-at-bedtime-may-not-help-your-sleep
ETA: My husband has to take meds to sleep every night. He takes some form of diphenhydramine hcl (usually found in tylenol pm, but can be found without the tylenol part). It always helps him. I've heard chamomile helps, too. Not a fan of tea? You can pop a few Hyland's baby teething tablets. Completely homeopathic and loaded with chamomile.0 -
If you're a weightlifter.. then this is the best stuff to take.
http://www.dymatize.com/products/recovery-amino-acids/56/gaba/
Puts me to sleep almost immediately.0 -
Have you tried honey? It sounds ridiculous but it works. You take a tablespoon of honey before bed and it helps you sleep. It fuels your liver for sleep, and I get the best sleep ever when I take the honey. I take mine right off the spoon which was a bit shocking at first because you'd expect it to be liquidy but it is chewy, lol. Supposedly it helps burn fat while you sleep too but I don't believe that's true ... it helps with sleep for sure though! Worth a try!0
-
As a 28 year old gay male... i can say we have almost nothing in common - but your writing as absolutely unhinged me! Laughing so hard - that my co worker is looking at me like i need to be committed to a padded room.
Boy oh boy... I now know that kids, dogs, and relationships will not work for me! I enjoy my sleep to much! lol.0 -
Trust me on this-- I know where you are:
1. ashwagandha google it. take it. relax and get some awesome sleep.
2. hire an au pair.0 -
he, he... I believe we should all have a nice morphine drip at all times!! But Seriously now, I have a lot of the same issues...lately have been using a little tylenol pm on occasion. Tried the melatonin and it only worked a couple of times. I would talk to your doctor...sleep deprivation is the worst and really wreaks havoc on the body! Good Luck!0
-
sleep in back guest bedroom, put on white noise, and wear ear plugs, hang a "do not disturb" sign on doorknob, and lock the bedroom door?0
-
That was a funny story-but not funny. I sleep alone and have battled insomnia so I understand the desire for a good night's sleep. I'm finally to the point where I get good sleep at night I'd say 90% of the time. Looks like your husband has the solution-go sleep in the other room before he get's in there!! Let the snorer, the kickers and the licker all stay together in that room!!!
Seriously- I hope you get a solution soon because aside from losing weight, you just need sleep to be able to function day-to-day!!!0 -
ACK!!
LOOKING AT my smartphone, I see I performed an internet search about SNORING (as in stopping your husband from doing so) at 1:30, 2, and 3:20 this morning.
Sleep deprivation stinks.0 -
Take advantage of the kids' time at their grandparents', and pop in some earplugs. Lock yourself in the spare room, and ignore everything! You might try a couple of gravol/dramamine. I take them for sleep, and they wear off by morning.
And don't drink too much water before bed!0 -
Oh my! Glad this did not end with you smothering the big guy. Last glass of water no later than 7PM or even 6. Agree that you should be the one to go in the spare room. Or at least take turns with it.0
-
And my husband gets up at weird hours to go do his business, but he does one better and turns on the radio, LOUD. =/
I would SO be doing something to that radio! My husband snores horribly. I could hear him through the closed door. I can hear him when I get up, close our bedroom door and go down the hall and sleep on the couch. No one should be able to make that much noise with just their nose! I've considered inserting peanut M&M's into his nostrils on occasion. He doesn't think that's funny.
As a wife of a snorer...I think the peanut M&M's are VERY funny:laugh:
Ditto!!0 -
Seriously...put the dog in the kennel, take the kids back to their bed (tell them they can have a treat in the morning) and do something about that hubby. Have you gone to a sleep specialist? My daughter used to sleep with me, but I finally kicked her out. If the dog didn't lie completely still I'd kick him too. Fortunately (??) no hubby for me to worry about.0
-
Seriously...put the dog in the kennel, take the kids back to their bed (tell them they can have a treat in the morning) and do something about that hubby. Have you gone to a sleep specialist? My daughter used to sleep with me, but I finally kicked her out. If the dog didn't lie completely still I'd kick him too. Fortunately (??) no hubby for me to worry about.
I agree. Time for some tough love.0 -
You're braver than I am. I would have killed myself or strangled the little rugrats to death by now if it were me. I am thankful every day that I do not have kids or pets! Luckily white noise and earplugs works decently enough against the wife's snoring too.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 394K Introduce Yourself
- 43.9K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 176K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.6K Fitness and Exercise
- 430 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.9K MyFitnessPal Information
- 15 News and Announcements
- 1.2K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.7K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions