I don't know why I can't wake up in the morning. I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with owning several businesses, have three kids,bad eating habits, working an actual 40 hours a week job....and maybe something medical *shrugs*
Every single morning it take a dozen or so phone calls, numerous text messages and more phone calls to get me out of bed. My day starts with two really great friends that go above and beyond, two sisters, in fact twins, that call me starting at 5am. I am not sure if they coordinated a schedule on their own as far as timing but it never fails that two to five minutes after one calls the other does. This is followed by several text messages and ends with a call from each that engages me in an actual conversation requiring me to think...and respond to the point that I know I can't fall back asleep. I'm pretty sure there is probably an underlying condition other than insomnia and I was right (to some extent).
A could of weeks ago I went to have my annual physical done. I haven;t done that in years because I generally never get sick besides seasonal allergies. Please note that I also never had allergies until I moved South. Well the good new is that I am pretty healthy. I was half expecting to find some other sort of link to my weight gain that would be medical versus 'no chick you're just lazy'. The only concern was my iron levels. When I was pregnant in 2003 my doctor discovered pregnancy related anemia. I was given supplements. After giving birth to an amazing baby boy in March 2004 I was fine. Three months later I was pregnant again, diagnosed once again with pregnancy anemia. I gave birth to a princess in April 2005. From that point on I hadn't bothered to have a physical and I had only related my iron deficiency to being pregnant. Apparently, that was a mistake. I have iron deficiency anemia. This would explain my lack of energy, and shortness of breath. In turn, the two biggest reasons I dislike with a passion the act of running for fitness! I have dreams about being one of those people that run because they are stressed and say "Oh-mi-Goodness, if I don't get my run in today my whole life will be thrown off".... that is totally not me and I somewhat despise people in that category.
Now I will be taking iron pills for months to correct the issue and will be eating more iron-rich foods. If you have even seen me eat you probably already know I am not big on vegetables. I am just now starting to experiment with them in my adult life. ALL veggies taste bitter to me with the exception of carrots, cucumbers, and lettuce. You can imagine how awkward this is when I am at social food gatherings. The latest incident occurred at my soon to be sister-in-laws graduation. We had dinner graduation dinner at a buffet restaurant and I was sooo hungry. I was trying to not pig out and the day was so long that I know everyone felt just and hungry as I did. What I never noticed was that people, future family members, were witnessing my poor eating habits; the lack of veggies on my plate, and the fact that I never finished the food on my plate. If you don't know in most Old School Southern homes you eat what you are given or dish out, you 'clean your plate', and not doing so is not a good thing. When we got back to Atlanta my dear fiance told me someone made a comment to him in about how I didn't eat any vegetables that day. For the record I did have a small salad my first trip but it was only composed of cucumbers, carrots, green peppers, lettuce and Italian dressing. I guess that was nothing in comparison to the cooked veggies on the serving like like collards or sprouts. I've be come a firm believer that if I am going to eat a vegetable I'd rather eat it in raw form. If you cook it and the temperature reaches above a certain level it starts losing the health benefits anyway. I started small and introduced spinach and kale into my diet. I soon became obsessed with raw spinach and kale. I ate it for dinner and lunch for 30 days straight according to my food diary. You would think after that that my iron would be in check hmm.
Well, next now that I started correcting my eating I thought that I should fix the sleeping issue. I come from a work environment where people take 'Go hard or go home" very literally. Despite that fact that I have an issue taking over or under the counter medications because I have firsthand witnessed very close friends suffer from addictions and even death due to drugs and other underlying issues I decided to a low dose doctor prescribed sleep aid. Originally, I thought that it would knock me out so I took the medication and watched television and waited. I ended up not going to bed until my usual time of 2am. When my double trouble wake up calls began; I couldn't even hear my phone ringing at all. I was late, my kids were late and I had a horrible groggy morning. I didn't know I was suppose to take the medication and then actually set myself up for sleep. I also didn't think that such low dose was going to drag in my system like it did. I am utterly fearful of sleep drugs so I have not taken any since. So here is to iron, sleep and constipation!
A could of weeks ago I went to have my annual physical done. I haven;t done that in years because I generally never get sick besides seasonal allergies. Please note that I also never had allergies until I moved South. Well the good new is that I am pretty healthy. I was half expecting to find some other sort of link to my weight gain that would be medical versus 'no chick you're just lazy'. The only concern was my iron levels. When I was pregnant in 2003 my doctor discovered pregnancy related anemia. I was given supplements. After giving birth to an amazing baby boy in March 2004 I was fine. Three months later I was pregnant again, diagnosed once again with pregnancy anemia. I gave birth to a princess in April 2005. From that point on I hadn't bothered to have a physical and I had only related my iron deficiency to being pregnant. Apparently, that was a mistake. I have iron deficiency anemia. This would explain my lack of energy, and shortness of breath. In turn, the two biggest reasons I dislike with a passion the act of running for fitness! I have dreams about being one of those people that run because they are stressed and say "Oh-mi-Goodness, if I don't get my run in today my whole life will be thrown off".... that is totally not me and I somewhat despise people in that category.
Now I will be taking iron pills for months to correct the issue and will be eating more iron-rich foods. If you have even seen me eat you probably already know I am not big on vegetables. I am just now starting to experiment with them in my adult life. ALL veggies taste bitter to me with the exception of carrots, cucumbers, and lettuce. You can imagine how awkward this is when I am at social food gatherings. The latest incident occurred at my soon to be sister-in-laws graduation. We had dinner graduation dinner at a buffet restaurant and I was sooo hungry. I was trying to not pig out and the day was so long that I know everyone felt just and hungry as I did. What I never noticed was that people, future family members, were witnessing my poor eating habits; the lack of veggies on my plate, and the fact that I never finished the food on my plate. If you don't know in most Old School Southern homes you eat what you are given or dish out, you 'clean your plate', and not doing so is not a good thing. When we got back to Atlanta my dear fiance told me someone made a comment to him in about how I didn't eat any vegetables that day. For the record I did have a small salad my first trip but it was only composed of cucumbers, carrots, green peppers, lettuce and Italian dressing. I guess that was nothing in comparison to the cooked veggies on the serving like like collards or sprouts. I've be come a firm believer that if I am going to eat a vegetable I'd rather eat it in raw form. If you cook it and the temperature reaches above a certain level it starts losing the health benefits anyway. I started small and introduced spinach and kale into my diet. I soon became obsessed with raw spinach and kale. I ate it for dinner and lunch for 30 days straight according to my food diary. You would think after that that my iron would be in check hmm.
Well, next now that I started correcting my eating I thought that I should fix the sleeping issue. I come from a work environment where people take 'Go hard or go home" very literally. Despite that fact that I have an issue taking over or under the counter medications because I have firsthand witnessed very close friends suffer from addictions and even death due to drugs and other underlying issues I decided to a low dose doctor prescribed sleep aid. Originally, I thought that it would knock me out so I took the medication and watched television and waited. I ended up not going to bed until my usual time of 2am. When my double trouble wake up calls began; I couldn't even hear my phone ringing at all. I was late, my kids were late and I had a horrible groggy morning. I didn't know I was suppose to take the medication and then actually set myself up for sleep. I also didn't think that such low dose was going to drag in my system like it did. I am utterly fearful of sleep drugs so I have not taken any since. So here is to iron, sleep and constipation!
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