5 healthy habits that can be damaging

These are very interesting to me as i have always heard "Eat a good breakfast" and because i work night-shift, my mother always says "that i am not getting enough sleep" that i should sleep in during the weekend. Well, this article tells different about several of thses old standards.

Work, worrying and waah-ing babies may not be to blame…

You try and get eight hours sleep, eat breakfast and exercise regularly. So why are you so tired? New research has found that it’s not just crying babies or long work hours that rob us of energy - healthy habits can be just as damaging. You hear about the benefits of a new diet or exercise and can take it to extremes.

Here’s how to stay fit but have more bounce.

Catching up on ZZZs
When there’s nothing to drag you out of bed on the weekend, it’s tempting to keep snoozing - but this can leave you groggy. ‘Sleeping more over the weekend won’t make up for lost slumber during the week,’ says Kathleen McGrath, an insomniac expert.

‘It’ll just interfere with your pineal gland’s ability to produce the sleep hormone melatonin - which is why you’ll spend Sunday night counting sheep.’Fight the fatigue: Stick to eight hours shut eye, even on the weekend. Still tired? Have a30-minute nap in the afternoon. It’ll help you produce more melatonin for a better night’s rest.

Your morning shower
There’s nothing like a steaming shower to make you feel refreshed first thing. So why is it that somewhere between towelling off and getting dressed you’re ready to crawl back under the doona? ‘A hot shower raises your body’s temperature,’ explains Kathleen.
‘When it drops back to hormal, the brain produces melatonin and tells your body it’s time to sleep.’
Fight the fatigue: Work the effect a hot soak has on your body by having your scrub two hours before bedtime. That way, you’ll be out like a light as soon as your head hits the pillow. If you can’t live without your morning rinse, hit the cold tap in the shower for just a few seconds before you jump out as this kick-starts your nervous system and makes you feel full of zing.

A hearty breakfast
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. But if it’s too big, you may feel sapped of energy before lunchtime. A large meal loaded with sugar and refined carbs like white bread and sugary cereals drives blood sugar levels up but then you get an energy dip a few hours after eating.Fight the fatigue: The trick here is to go for more protein at breakfast. It stabilises your blood sugar, which determines how peckish and energetic you feel. Have a slice of wholegrain toast with eggs or peanut butter. The proteins will give you 75% more energy.

Being a diet saint
While munching all day is not a good idea, not eating anything between meals isn’t either. Go for more than four hours without food and your blood sugar may drop and you’ll feel zonked. This can leave you cranky, lazy in the afternoon and ravenous by the time you get home.Fight the fatigue. Eat five small meals to keep your energy levels on an even keel. Good choices include a handful of almonds or Ryvita with hummus.

Your gym membership
Exercising intensively daily can cause your body’s glutamine - the most abundant amino acid in out bodies - to crash, which can weaken your immune system. You’ll just feel wiped out.

Fight the fatigue: Listen to your body. If it says ‘ouch’, slow down. Have a few sessions doing something gentle, like swimming. This gives our muscles time to rest and recover from the physical strain you’ve put them through and keeps exercise fun.

I hope this helps

Live life to its fullest,
Rowell Bulan M.D.Your Guide To HomeHealth Care


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Sleeping time...

Over the past few years i have had trouble getting to sleep and then staying a sleep. When i would try to go to sleep, my mind would start to race and i might be physically tired, but my mind would be wide awake. I do not know the reasons for this, perhaps it is from when i used to abuse drugs as i required little or no sleep. I might have dammaged my sleep cycle from those activities. I have always been a lite sleeper and if i were to get woken up, it would take me hours to get back to sleep. I also have to have some noise in the room like a fan or music. When i lived in Texas, i had music playing all night and i slept better.

While i lived in Massachusetts, i tried Ambien, but i did not like it so i switched to Lunesta. I stayed with it till i got to Richmond and then i had to up the dose to a 3mg pill. i have been on it for about 2 years and it stopped working on my. It would not keep me sleeping all night like it is supposed to do, so i decided to switch to 12.5mg AmbienCR. So far, i have been on it for a week and it is great. it puts me to sleep and keeps me a sleep like it is supposed to.

When i am able to switch to a normal work shift like a day shift, i will get off of the sleep aids. At this time, they are needed so i can sleep during the day as it is hard. Or at least, i would like to get off of them, but if i need them to sleep, then i will continue to take them. We all have to sleep somehow.



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What is going on?

It has been a crazy few days and i am very tired. I wanted to get up at 12.30pm today but i just could not. Tomorrow i am taking my daughter and her friend back to Busch Gardens for a marathon roller coaster ridding cession!! IT should be fun!


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Today and Tonight.

Well, I am on my 3rd day of work. I got the call on Thursday morning that I had to go back to night Shift. I was like "ok" like I really had a choice. So I worked on Friday Day Shift but had to leave early to take care of my Wife after a little day surgery. I guess that I went to sleep around 11pm and got up around 8am on Saturday morning. I tried to go back to sleep around 9.30am and then got up at 3pm to get ready for night shift.

Last night went ok at work, and I went home at the normal time. I ate breakfast and got into bed around 9am. I was woken up around 9.30 by a phone call and then I got up around 1.20pm for a few minutes. I tried to go and lay back down to sleep for a bit. I think that I slept for about another hour or so. Ay the present time, I am really tired and I am dragging around the Fab.

I can’t wait until tomorrow morning where I can get some uninterrupted sleep! It reminds me of the song by the Art Of Noise called “Paranomia” with Max Headroom. Remember that video? “How Can I Get Some Sleep?”

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Sleep during the day...

Well, folks, I am once again on the old night shift! I have heard that when you sleep during the day, like taking a nap, it is like getting more sleep than if you slept during the night. For every 15 minuets of sleep during the day, it equals 1 hour of sleep at night.

Since I am on nights again. I try to go to sleep around 9.30am and get up around 3.45-4.00pm. SO on average with the few phone calls during the day, I usually get about 6.5 hours of sleep.

I have noticed that during the day, I dream a tremendous amount more than I do at night. I can remember my dreams and I am also aware that I am dreaming more times than not. That is called Lucid Dreaming.

I will be doing a series of BLOG entries about this as I find more information about it.
Here is some information, it is not what I am truly looking for, but it is a start!


Sleep
Shift workers, on average, get less sleep during the week (6 hours and 30 minutes) compared to regular day workers (6 hours and 54 minutes). (National Sleep Foundation 2000 Sleep in America Poll)

68% of shift workers report sleep problems, compared to 56% of regular day shift workers. (National Sleep Foundation 2000 Sleep in America Poll)

53% of shift workers do not keep a regular sleep schedule, compared to 26% of those who work regular day hours. (National Sleep Foundation 1999 Sleep in America Poll)

Societal pressures to work more and at odd hours-evenings, weekends, the night shift, round-the-clock-have reduced Americans sleep time over the past century by about 20%. ("The Promise of Sleep" by William Dement and Christopher Vaughan, 1999)

45% of adults agree that they will sleep less in order to accomplish more. Shift workers (56%) are more likely to agree they will sleep less in order to get more work done compared to regular day workers (44%). (National Sleep Foundation 2000 Sleep in America Poll)

One-half of the American work force (51%) reports that sleepiness on- the-job interferes with the amount of work they get done. (National Sleep Foundation 2000 Sleep in America Poll)

Television and the Internet are prime contributors to Americans not getting enough sleep, causing 43% of adults to stay up later than they should. (National Sleep Foundation 2000 Sleep in America Poll)

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