Can you get more sleep?

I see it all over the blogosphere. Peeps complaining about their lack of sleep. I credit Susan with the inspiration for this post as she really got me thinking about this topic. She called a challenge to her readers to try to get more sleep. I gleefully accepted.

Next, I wanted to do a little research to enlighten my readers (and myself) on the dangers of too little (or too much) sleep and find some tips on how to get more sleep. But when the chips were down, this post is really just an excuse to publish random (read: evil) photos of friends and family sleeping. Well, that’s not entirely true…it’s a photo journal of what happens when you are sleep-deprived.

Aside from the obvious need for “Beauty Sleep” and mental focus, why do you want optimal amounts of sleep? Well, one reason has to do with weight gain. In particular, weight gain around the middle: You can call it a spare tire, love handles or a beer gut, but there is research that suggests that either too much (>8 or 9 hours) or too little (<7 hours) sleep can bloat your belly. LiveStrong.org just had a post about weight gain and lack of sleep. A recent article in the journal Sleep also found relationship between sleep extremes in minorities <40 years old and abdominal obesity. The medical research is plentiful Sleep is of utmost importance.

I hail from a confirmed line of quasi-insomniacs. My Mom used to nap in the afternoon only to be awake most of the night. My Dad (Hi Dad!) is a self-professed night-owl. I’m working against my DNA.

In recent months my previously acceptable “Sleep Hygiene” (real term) started to slip and I began going to bed later and later. Sadly, this was mainly due to the electronic wonder that is the internet. Whether it’s email, blogs, blogging, Twitter, Facebook or good old-fashioned internet ‘surfing’, I’m on the laptop until late. Frankly speaking, this needs to change.

I stayed up late night after night researching numerous sleep disorder websites (kidding!) to see what they are saying. Here are some recommendations from WebMD regarding sleep hygiene: with my corresponding comments in italics :

1. Avoid watching TV, eating, and discussing emotional issues in bed. The bed should be used for sleep and sex only. If not, we can associate the bed with other activities and it often becomes difficult to fall asleep.

Other resources say you shouldn’t even read in bed. I find this a bit harsh. When I get in bed with a good trashy In Touch magazine, I’m out by the second page. They forgot to bring this list into the new millennium…how about Electronic stimulation (NO! NOT THAT KIND!)… the internet vortex!

Even Samantha needs to turn off the laptop and get some shut-eye

2. Minimize noise, light, and temperature extremes during sleep with ear plugs, window blinds, or an electric blanket or air conditioner. Even the slightest nighttime noises or luminescent lights can disrupt the quality of your sleep. Try to keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature -- not too hot (above 75 degrees) or too cold (below 54 degrees).

I’m on board: I use eye-shades and ear plugs

Eye masks and Ear plugs- Must-haves for my beauty sleep.

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Question: Why are these “WOMEN’S ear plugs? DOH, of course! They are PINK!

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Sadly, eye-masks don’t come in Kitty-sizes.

3. Try not to drink fluids after 8 p.m. This may reduce awakenings due to urination.

Fail. I’m always up in the night to pee and step in cat barf.

What is that inside my water? Chia seeds. Sometimes I like the ‘chew’. Call me crazy.

4. Avoid naps, but if you do nap, make it no more than about 25 minutes about eight hours after you awake. But if you have problems falling asleep, then no naps for you.

I’m not really much of a napper. Well, perhaps sometimes…

Derek is an expert napper.

He naps long enough for BOTH cats to play “KING OF THE HILL”. (That’s Charlotte, RIP <3)

5. Do not expose your self to bright light if you need to get up at night. Use a small night-light instead.

Check. Derek keeps a closet light on all night long (so Un-Green!) SO THAT SAMANTHA CAN SEE. Hello, she’s a cat. She’s nocturnal. She can see an insect from across the room in pitch black darkness. I will not judge. Yes I will. However, even though Samantha doesn’t need the closet light, it does help me find the bathroom, but not the cat barf on the floor. Sigh.

6. Nicotine is a stimulant and should be avoided particularly near bedtime and upon night awakenings. Having a smoke before bed, although it may feel relaxing, is actually putting a stimulant into your bloodstream.

Not a problem. I have enough vices. Thankfully, smoking is not one of them. For one of my vices, see number 7.

7. Caffeine is also a stimulant and is present in coffee (100-200 mg), soda (50-75 mg), tea (50-75 mg), and various over-the-counter medications. Caffeine should be discontinued at least four to six hours before bedtime. If you consume large amounts of caffeine and you cut your self off too quickly, beware; you may get headaches that could keep you awake.

I’ve been told that any coffee consumed after noon can keep you awake. I said NOON! Other resources say 3pm. Regardless, it’s not a great idea to have that triple espresso after dinner. Having said that, my hubby can take the last sip of his espresso as he is actively falling asleep. Then again, he’s practically narco, remember?

8. Although alcohol is a depressant and may help you fall asleep, the subsequent metabolism that clears it from your body when you are sleeping causes a withdrawal syndrome. This withdrawal causes awakenings and is often associated with nightmares and sweats.

This is very true. If I’ve had a couple of drinks, I can wake up in the night and stay awake for some time.

Cheers! Well, best not to get too cheery before bedtime.

9. A light snack may be sleep-inducing, but a heavy meal too close to bedtime interferes with sleep. Stay away from protein and stick to carbohydrates or dairy products. Milk contains the amino acid L-tryptophan, which has been shown in research to help people go to sleep. So milk and cookies or crackers (without chocolate) may be useful and taste good as well.

Anyone’s Mom used to give them warm milk when they had trouble sleeping as a kid? If you haven’t tried it recently, it’s worth revisiting. Personally, I don’t agree with the “stay away from protein” mumbo jumbo. Sometimes I have a microwave protein cake before bed and had no problemo. Like this one:

Nommy Protein cake…recipe in another post.

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Some protein-spiked carby goodness: Pimped Protein Oats.

10. Do not exercise vigorously just before bed, if you are the type of person who is aroused by exercise. If this is the case, it may be best to exercise in the morning or afternoon (preferably an aerobic workout, like running or walking).

Not a problem. It would take a saber tooth tiger chasing me or a really great Body Combat class to get me out of the house in the evening to exercise. My energy plummets with every moment past noon. I need to strike while the iron’s hot: usually by 10am.

If possible, avoid places like this in the later hours.

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Love me some jiggly action, but best to avoid it at night if possible.

11. Does your pet sleep with you? This, too, may cause arousals from either allergies or their movements in the bed. Thus, Fido and Kitty may be better off on the floor than on your sheets.

Sam is my spooning partner. She’s 15 years old and we’ve had her since she was a kitten. If she’s not purring, I can hear her heartbeat reverberating through the pillow. This is a sound I want to hear forever. Therefore, the kitty stays. Even if my beauty sleep suffers.

Sleeps with animals? Guilty as charged

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Guess I’m not the only one…

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But sometimes the sleeping craziness is just too fabulous…

More information can be obtained from the National Sleep Foundation and from the University of Maryland Medical center, among many other resources.

So what am I going to do? To start off, I’m going to start Powering Down by 9pm. I’m really, truly going to give it my best shot.

Q:How is your sleep hygiene? Do you sleep enough- 7-8 hours? Have you found anything that helps you sleep? Do you feel that you can ‘catch up’ on lost sleep (experts say no, but I say ‘yes’).

Kettlebell swings: The video

Consider this a part II to the Introduction to Kettlebells post from last time we gathered for fun and games. To view this video, lay on your right side and press play.

Forgive me, my smartarse comment at the end of the video where I translated the name “Kettlebell Swing” into DebSpeak. The Kettlebell Swing actually falls under one of those exercises that you are just a little bit embarrassed to do in public for reasons that you will soon discover. Charlotte at The Great Fitness Experiment and Allie at Pimp My Protein Shake both had guffaw-inducing posts on exercises that make you hope that the guy working out next to you is not a pervy, icky douchebag, but rather a fellow exercise enthusiast who won’t judge or drool.

You’ll notice that Jenn from Girl Heroes has terrific form the whole way through the short exercise (and is using a heavier Kettlebell than me!). I’ll admit that it was my first real full-body Kettlebell workout and it was at the end of a two hour workout/gabfast and I was TIRED! Excuses, excuses!!

On the topic of Jenn, remember that she’s having her first ever giveaway for some very cool training equipment from OxygenFit. Go check it out.

And here’s the little video…

Q: Are you even more afraid of Kettlebells now? Do you have funny names for exercises? Did you giggle just a little at this exercise? Did you notice I outlined the video in pink to match Jenn’s outfit?

Have a wonderful weekend, peeps!

Introduction to Kettlebells

A recent article in the journal for the American Counsil on Exercise (ACE) claimed that Kettlebells burn 1200 calories in an hour. True? Sort of. If someone performed continuous snatches for an entire hour they could burn 1200 calories. This would be about as much fun as gauging your eyes out with dull No. 2 pencils, but I digress. It is nearly impossible for a mere mortal to accomplish this feat. Having said that, Kettlebells STILL burn a lot of calories.

A few months back I spotted Kettlebells in the gym and decided to give them a try. Fair enough, but apparently I was lucky that I did not injure myself as my form was hideously wrong. How do I know this? My new bloggie friend/workout buddy, Jenn from Girl Heroes taught me the correct way to use Kettlebells.

This is Jenn doing “Jazz Hand” pose. Despite appearances, she doesn’t always wear head-to-toe pink.

First of all, some of you may be wondering, “what the heck are Kettlebells?”. They look like small bowling balls with large handles and come in all sorts of sizes/weights. Turns out they’ve been around for several hundred years. Used by Russian strong men, military and prisoners (honest!), KBs were one of the original heavy-duty weight-lifting tools. They incorporate cardio and strength training all in one fell-swoop. They are gaining popularity, so expect to see more of them in clubs and parks in the form of Kettlebell classes and Kettlebell Bootcamps.

Here is a whole family of Kettlebells: aren’t they cute?

Just like the stickers you used to see on the back of station wagons and SUVs everywhere

The Kettlebell community is quite a tight one. Just as Cross-Fit has devout followers, so do Kettlebells. The terminology is pretty entertaining. A person who practices Kettlebell exercises is called a Girevik. Your fellow Kettlebell enthusiasts are called Comrades and if you are training someone, that person is a Victim (I’m not making this up).

You need to use correct form with Kettlebells or you risk injury. Even high-standing members of the fitness community are confused. Specifically, Jillian Michaels butchered the proper Kettlebell form and the whole Kettlbell community is up in arms (doh!) about it. Even the respected ACE’s pamphlet demonstrates the Kettlebell swing incorrectly. (The model is descending into a squat before swinging the bell, just like Jillian- this is a mistake. Instead, he should stick his butt out as if to fart on a little brother, with a slight bend in the knees, but NOT descend into a squat.). A good site to find an instructor near you is at DragonDoor.com.

Here was the workout that Jenn devised for us and her recap of our fun day. It was my first ‘real’ supervised KB workout and I loved it:

Apparently this routine, performed 3X should have taken us 20 minutes. This is a huge boon for busy moms like Jenn- a total body workout in 20 minutes? Yes, please. Well, 2 hours later we finished our awesome workout/gab-fest and 800 calories were burned nonetheless- WOOT!

Yesterday, I used the Kettlebells at the gym between sets of Power Plate lunges and squats as a cardio-interval tool. I watched my heart-rate soar up into the 160s during swings. That’s high for me. It was fun to mix it up. Also it was great to have a cardiovascular workout without any high impact jolting whatsoever. In fact, the real true gireviks do not even wear shoes while doing KBs! Eek, my plantar fasciitis might not go for those shenanigans.

Our reward for all that effort? Burning more calories on the way back to the car, of course! 63 calories if you must know.

Honestly, I didn’t notice that this was a “hill” until we were walking back after the workout.

Finally we made it back and had our reward:

I believe that we were suckin down some sweet PB&J Smoothies.

By the way, thanks to Janetha Bean for inadvertently introducing us! If she and her Mom hadn’t been interviewed for Girl Heroes, I might not have found Jenn when I did!

I definitely see more Kettlebell lovin’ in my future. How about you?

Q: Have you tried Kettlebells? Is it something that sounds like fun? Or torture?

A Tu Salud! Viva Mexico! Healthy Choices in Mexico.

This is the FINAL installment of posts covering our brief trip to Mexico. Considering the fact that that the US State Department just released a travel advisory for Mexico, I suppose we were lucky to make it back safely. Even though parts of Guadalajara were dustier and more rustic than I remembered it from 14 years ago, I felt 100% safe the entire time. This time, we never made it out to the swankier neighborhoods except to see the Coldplay concert our last night. This suited us fine as we like to get down & dirty with local culture anyway.

I must admit that I noticed different aspects of the city now that I’m living healthier than I was in 1997. It is a city that is conducive to healthy living, with a little bit of care.

1. Walk it off

People tend to walk a lot and take public transportation. This is true in almost every country except North America. I believe that this makes a big difference in general health.

As an aside: we had a fun experience on the very crowded, bumpy bus-ride out to the concert. As people would get on through the rear entrance, they would then pass up their fare to the bus driver via 20 other passengers or more. THEN, if change was needed, those same people passed the change back. So classic. We tried to get some photos, but these folks are quick:

Honesty IS the best policy: When Derek was given these coins, he thought “Why thank you very much”, as he started to pocket the loot, but the nice man informed him to pass it along, por favor.

More classic bus scenes:

I have this effect on men. The bags under my eyes tell me that I should join this muchacho in a much-needed siesta.

2. Grab & Go Healthy eats

Not everyone is on-board the street-food train that we are. Some are wary of germs and probably with good reason. Having said that, we have eaten street food for decades and have never once been burned (she says fiercely beating on a piece of wood)

Taking our chances? Perhaps. Sooooo worth it.

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These were very lean pork sandwiches with a sauce that had not one iota of grease. That makes me happppppy!

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Notice the baggie hanging to the lady’s right?

BREAD BUTTS!!! My favorite part of the bread: the ends. They cut them off (as if they are somehow unlovable) so we asked if we could have some to soak up the yummy sauce. SURE! NO PROBLEMO!

Here in Mexico (and in parts of California) you can buy delicious and fresh fruit or veggies from refrigerated street carts. I spotted numerous fruit stands where everything is cut and ready to hand to you in a plastic tub or baggie- fork included. We’re talking HUGE containers of mangoes, strawberries, melon and pineapples as well as cucumbers, jicima and more. Depending on what’s on offer, you can get hot sauce or powder, lime and salt as well.

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On the upper left: Strawberries. Upper right: cut-up wieners (what else?) and below: I haven’t a clue: I failed to grill appropriately.

I bought a very unconventional ‘dinner’ to bring into the Coldplay concert: a huge charred corn-on-the-cob from a street-vendor, I loved the fact that he dawned a plastic bag as a makeshift ‘glove’ in order to handle the money, and removed it while handling the food. '¡Olé!' for hygienic practices!

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Nom, what else goes perfectly with Corn-On-The-Cobb? Justin’s Almond Butter, of course!

3. Move it or Lose it

There is definitely a concerted effort on the part of the local health department to actively promote healthier living. For example, every Sunday, miles upon miles of very busy public roads are closed to automobile traffic between 8am and 2pm in order to encourage people to bike, skate or walk for exercise and transportation.

This is the street near our hotel on any given day. It’s crazy-busy yet you can’t hear the road noise from the hotel at all. How does that happen? Were we in a vortex?

This is the same street on Sundays. The road is closed to traffic and people really do take advantage of it.

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We noted dozens of wardens helping to streamline the process. I am not sure if they were volunteers or paid staff, but it was an impressive show of fitness force.

Team Tlaquepaque!

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As luck may (or may not) have it, you might encounter a shop or two like this along your walk or bike ride, so enter at own risk:

Cupcakes are so 2009…this whole store sells COOKIES only.

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This was a random bakery that called our names from the street:

Caution must be exercised as well as your legs.

Top left: If I recall, it was made with tequila & looked amazing, but tasted ‘meh’. Upper right: meringue (‘twas tasty);Below: a savory turnover with cheese and mushrooms. Similar to a modified Cornish Pasty. Some of you might know a little bit about those.

5. Go Green (and red and orange and yellow)

I guess we aren’t the only country that is collectively lacking in our fruit and veggie consumption. These posters were ALL over the city:

Not only does it promote ‘eating’ green, but it promotes ‘being’ green by buying Mexican produce.

6. Services Rendered

There seemed to be no shortage of wellness services being offered. I spotted General Practitioners as well at nutritionists and even an unphotographed day spa.

I must admit I was a bit surprised to see “Anorexia y Bulimia” on the list of maladies treated by this practitioner. But if there is a need, I’m glad that it is being addressed.

Another local nutritionist's office

7, Pump it

Finally, there were a fair few gyms to be found around the area including a Gold’s that would have been free, except for the two busses and 40 minute commute. Lucky for me, there was an appropriately-named “American’s Gym” that happened to be 1/2 block away from our B&B. The girl at the hotel proclaimed it to be “not very nice”, but I took my chances. I’m the queen of “not very nice!”

Yes, we Americans all look like these two.

This gym was by no means swanky, but it was perfectly functional. Well, until it wasn’t functional as pictured here:

Oops- best not to yank this chain!

I was impressed with their emphasis on hygiene: Behold this huge jug of sanitizing gel:

The bottle is almost as big as this muchaco’s pecs.

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If my Spanish serves me well, you can take this Kickboxing class and leave with minimal lesions and maximal adrenaline. I prefer no lesions, personally.

Finally some random photos:

Wheelchair Accessibility? Um, yes and no… Yes on one side and No on the other. City planners had too much tequila? Just guessing.

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Food Porn. Some huge slab of meat and veggies (Derek’s dish)

Chicken Mole! Remember my Holy Mole shake? This is the dish of inspiration. (Note: I did ask for the sauce on the side, but I was NOT about to send it back or even mention it! Yay me!)

OK somehow I missed the fact that this is a TORTILLERIA!!! I made a bee-line for the veggies (3 guavas were procured). If I knew they had the hand-made (“hecha a mano”) tortilla stash back there I would have been all over it, especially the “tortilla de nopal” = Cactus tortilla!

THE END OF THIS SERIES ON MEXICO!!

Q: Do you live in a city that encourages a healthy life-style? Do you have access to trails or sidewalks or bike paths?