52 Changes - Week 1 & 2: To sleep, perchance...to dream....

"In restless dreams I walk alone,

down the streets of cobblestone..."

"Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains ...."

SLEEP.

It's been something that has been elusive for me in a solid form for awhile....

But this is changing.

I have embarked on a Journey with a friend. She bought me a book that we could share. And serendipitously, I had already tried to order that self same book at the library, but it was a new release so I was forced to wait. Unbeknownst to her, she read my mind. Either I am good at sending vibes (which I am I have been told) or she can read my mind (which after all these years, is probably also true).

The book is:
"52 Small Changes: One Year to a Happier Healthier You"
by Brett Blumenthall

Now, many of you that follow me here, know that I've been constantly making changes in my life. I am a Gemini and I like novelty and change, for the most part. Change is good, if not a bit hard or scary but it can be a breath of fresh air.

This book takes you, one step at a time, one changed item at a time, one week at a time to better habits.

The first week, last week, we started the book at the beginning with HYDRATING.

Because most of us don't drink enough water. To increase my intake of water, and to flush out toxins, I am managing an intake of 1/2 my weight of water in ounces each day. It was surely interesting that some folks freaked out about it being "dangerous" and "fatal". Come on. While too much water (like a gallon) in a short period of time (an hour) has the capacity to dilute the salt in your body and not give your heart the electric shock reminder to pump and you have a heart attack, is a possibility...

Drinking the correct amount of water spread out over the day is not dangerous, but helpful for you.

I knew a lady once who actually said, "Oh, I NEVER drink water!"
?????
I asked her, "What do you drink then?"
"I only drink soda."

She's 750 pounds now.

Hmmmmmm. Think there's a correlation there?

So, last week went "swimmingly well", if I say so myself. Christ, I had to pee a lot tho. But that's ok. I lost 2 pounds! I'm also keeping to my daily BP readings, and keeping to my personally imposed calorie intake of 1400 cals. Walking Monty Joe Joe is a pleasure. I've also started back to my Yoga schedule of 3x a week. (Although I did it about 5x last week, as my back was bothering me).

I am at the age now, (51) that menopause is an issue. Been reading on the subject, and guess what I found out?

It's not my fault!

(always good to know :)

Weight adds on during this stage...up to 7-10 pounds...

even if you don't change a thing about your diet or exercise!

AND it's harder to get rid of.

No longer can you just drop those 5 pounds like you used to be able to so easily!

And sleep is off and on and off and on....mostly due to hot flashes where I find myself buck ass naked on top of all the covers in the middle of the night, in the middle of winter with the heat turned down.

So, knowing all that, and taking some precautions, I'm feeling better.

This week's "Small Change" is to try to get some better sleep. And it's funny, because after all the water, and the yoga...I AM already sleeping better.

Monty Joe and I are early birds and not the night owl that Harry is....
The doggy and I tend to peter out about 10pm and sometimes Monty goes to bed before I do.
But then again, we are up early and we like the quiet time in the morning.

So, here's to you, and here's to this week's Sleep Exercise plan to get at least 7-8 of hours sleep a night.

My plan, as always, is a HOT bath....and I will add reading a few pages of a book to this mix, in my bed tonight...

I am going to prep this with changing the sheets special and adding darker curtains to our bedroom for snuggles.

YAWN.

Monty likes this idea.

I think it's working already :)