My mom is awesome. She has been really supportive in my quest to get healthier. We've been talking for some time about encouraging each other to be more active by making it into a mini competition of sorts. I got to talk to her briefly while I was on my way to work today & she told me that she had just ordered us both this gadget called FitBit (www.fitbit.com). At first I thought it sounded like a fancy pedometer, but the more she explained it to me and the more I read about it online, the more excited I am getting for it to arrive. It is partly a pedometer, which will definitely encourage me to move more since that number is going to be staring me in the face all day, but it also tracks your sleep patterns. It can tell you how long it took you to fall asleep and how many times you woke up throughout the night, exactly how many hours and minutes of actual sleep you got, etc.
I've had sleeping issues for the past few years, so I'm really curious to see just how much sleep I am getting now, and then start figuring out what helps me get a better night's rest. I went to a doctor who told me that she thinks my sleep issues are related to the cysts I have on my ovaries and the small tumor (benign! don't worry) I have in my uterus, which mess with some of my hormone levels and cause me to be hypoglycemic, which causes disrupted sleep patterns. She explained that the sensation of my blood sugar dropping is enough to wake me up, but not enough for me to register why I am waking up, so I just keep trying to fall back asleep. We're working on a solution for getting rid of the cysts, but in the meantime there are things I can do to help keep my blood sugar up at night....like eat a cracker with peanut butter on it or something else with protein before going to bed.
For a while I was also taking this natural amino acid called 5HTP to help me sleep. It helped a LOT and I told people all the time that it had changed my life. I really need to go get some more. I don't know why I stopped taking it other than I just ran out and probably convinced myself that I didn't have enough money to go buy more. Isn't that awful? Why on earth would I stop doing something that was drastically improving my well being? I'm not okay with that. (Shaking a disapproving finger at myself.)
Anyhow, it will be interesting to see what I learn from the sleep tracking part of the device. They also have a great website where you can log in and track trends in your diet. It will tell you if you're eating too much of one thing (protein/fats/carbs/etc) or need a higher percentage of something else in your daily diet. I know sometimes I get too busy to think about what I already ate, what I'm eating and what I'm going to eat later. Looking forward to this little gadget doing that thinking for me & helping me find the right balance. I'll keep you updated on what I'm learning once it gets here. Thanks again, Mom!
