Remember when I said I made it through the last 3 months pretty much without cravings? Felt like I could continue like this forvever if I had to? HA!
This last week has really been a challenge! I have wanted to eat ALL DAY!!! Fortunately, the routines I put in place kept me on track, but man - I had to talk myself down :)
I did some soul searching and read back through my journal to see if I could pinpoint the problem. I wasn't eating refined foods or anything that would cause insulin swings and resulting cravings. Same foods, same water intake, still working out smart. I think I hit on the major culprit, LACK OF SLEEP. Don't know if the increase in my thyroid meds caused it or not, but this past week reminded me of these last few menopause years - when sleep evaded me until the wee hours, no matter how tired I was. (By the way, some of you prayed for me when we started this journey and I started sleeping at night again!)
In my laymans terms, when you don't get enough quality sleep your body produces more ghrelin - the hormone that tells you you're hungry - even if you just ate 30 minutes ago...a lot. BAD hormone! (I'm sure it has some good use.)
Lesson learned. Time is precious and some of you Gurlz have seriously crazy schedules...school, work, family, etc. And I know you might not think of sleep = smokin' hot :) Just want to encourage you, sleep is a KEY factor in our goal for fit & healthy...right up there with all the exercise & great nutrition.
This sounds funny to say, but Jenny, I am so proud of you. On my list of people that I admire, you are at the top. A whole lot of inspiration in a tiny (and still shrinking) package. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the rest of us!
ReplyDeleteGood tips, Pretty Lady. I especially like the part with "grehlin" and "layman's terms" in the same sentence!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, there is a girl at work that wants to pick your brain over lunch sometime. She used to ask me questions, then you beat me and I'm old news!! Maybe we can get something set up for a Friday sometime.