Quick results from sleep study...

Ok - so my blood work came back yesterday and the doc said everything looks GREAT and there's NO anemia! That's GOOD news...but of course now I'm wondering then "what the hellll is wrong with my feet"? still no answer...

BUT - I got a phone call today from the hospital to set up a follow up appointment with the sleep specialist on January 4th! which I'm excited about but it sucks that that's 6 weeks away! ugh! so another month of bad sleep...

Then a little while after the call i got another email from my doctor saying that the specialist would be getting ahold of me. (duh! lol) - and the email said, "you move 6 times / hour" which to me basically says I move every 10 minutes - which SUCKS but isn't shocking. She also said that whatever treatment/medication the sleep center gives me for the RLS / PLMD (periodic limb movement disorder) will hopefully help the foot pain too.

course, I should also be getting the full results from the study in the mail within the next few weeks - i can't wait to see those!

So now it's just a wait and see!

My sleep study part deux...

Ok - so last night I went to my sleep study. It was pretty much how I imagined it would be. I got there around 8:30 and the receptionist (of course) had NO information on me...but considering that it was only JUST set up yesterday, it's no surprise - but it was fine - they registered me and showed me to my room.

The nurse was super nice and listened to me babble on while I watched "Say Yes to the Dress" on TLC and she got me all set up with my millions of wires. I basically had two wires attached to each leg, two to each arm and a million on my head (yup in my hair) and down to my chest. There was also something put on my nose to monitor my breathing as MOST sleep studies deal with sleep apnea. I am 100% positive that's not a problem for me whatsoever as I do not snore nor do I talk in my sleep. My problem IS the RLS...

So around 11 we shut off the lights and I was woken up at 5:45. She asked me how long I think it took me to fall asleep and honestly I'd say maybe about 30 minutes or so. The problem isn't FALLING asleep - it's STAYING asleep...but I also told her that I woke up at LEAST 4 times during the night (which is the issue at hand) with all the tossing and turning I did. She also asked if it was better, worse or the same quality of sleep than I get at home - and honestly it was about the same.

So I'm really hoping that last night's sleep was my "normal" which I think it was - but obviously when you've got 20 million wires on you and you're trying to BE conscious OF your sleep - it's not exactly the same as being at home on a normal every day night. lol.

I'm very excited though to find out the results (obviously) and I should also have all my blood work back here shortly from my doc concerning the possible anemia.

I know it may sound like I'm HAPPY to find out that I'm anemic or that I have restless leg...believe me - it's not like that at all - it's more the fact that something has been wrong with me for SO long and I've FINALLY made the decision to have these things looked at instead of just "dealing" with them and thinking it's completely normal to have these issues...I think, too, a lot of why I never looked into these issues before is that I've never really thought that I HAD anything wrong with me. Only hypochondriacs have their issues looked at - but not me - "eh whatever" sort of attitude...but it's seriously just gotten to the point where I can NOT sleep.

Again - I've tried valerian root, melatonin, drinking wine before bed, OTC sleep aids...NOTHING helps. :(
All I am asking for is a full nights rest withOUT pulling all the covers off me and my fiance or kicking my cat or dog out of the bed - or punching and kicking and doing a tumbling act while I'm asleep. I want a full nights rest without CONSTANTLY waking up every hour on the hour. :(

So yeah! we shall see!

SLEEP STUDY!!!!

Ok, so it is 7:45 p.m. Friday night...I will be leaving in 15 minutes to go to my sleep study!!! I finally got ahold of my doc today and they said they misplaced my paperwork and filed it away with my file. :( booo. so they immediately called and were able to get me in tonight! so I'm very excited!!!! I will FINALLY be able to "fix" whatever the hell is wrong with me. So I will (obviously) post about how it went tomorrow!

a'right all - I'm off!

Doctor's Appointment...and turkey day at work!

So yesterday morning I went to my doc's appointment. I talked to her about doing a sleep study as well as what was going on with my feet / RLS, etc...

The nurse practitioner is the one I spoke to and she totally agreed that she thinks it's RLS (restless leg syndrome) as well. When I started telling her about my sensitive feet, however, she actually told me she thinks I may be iron deficiant or anemic. I had never thought about THAT before - but once I started doing a bit of research, it makes a LOT of sense! They took three vials of blood and she is doing a lot of tests on them to find out A. my CBC (complete blood count) to see if I truly am anemic (which she really thinks I am) as well as my Lipid panel (cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL, etc...), she's checking my Vitamin D levels and my thyroid as well. I am excited to get all the information back as I'd like to know what all these levels are! (yeah, I'm a nerd like that - lol) course, it's funny because my job entails dealing with all of this stuff so to have them ordered ON me and finally learn what they are - I think it's cool.

So. She also totally agreed that a sleep study would be a great thing to do and they were SUPPOSED to call me back yesterday and tell me when they had scheduled it - as it's SUPPOSED to be scheduled for either tomorrow night or saturday night...and it's driving me nuts right now because it's 3:30 Thursday and they STILL haven't called! I called and left a message - so I REALLY hope they call me back tonight. I just want to do this sleep study SO bad now and hope they can give me SOMETHING to aleviate this damned RLS at night! The last few nights I haven't used ANYTHING to try and sleep and I can't tell you how AWFUL the sleep has been. :(

I literally toss and turn so much it's like when you see a cartoon fish out of it's water bowl - flipping / flopping back and forth on the table...yeah - that's me only it's every single night while I'm in bed! YOU try sleeping like that! :(

There are meds out there that are supposed to really help with this and some people SWEAR by them. I just want to sleep, damnit!

So yeah. anyways. I'm just getting antsy right now. The office IS open til 7 p.m. tonight so they still have a while to call today - but if I don't hear, I'll try again in the morning as I REALLY want to get this rolling and do this this weekend!

Now - as far as the test results - I know those can take a few days. HOPEFULLY I get them tomorrow sometime - but I know it could be Monday or Tuesday before I receive them. I don't WANT to be anemic, by any means - but if I am it will totally explain a LOT.

For example - my feet. My feet are SO incredibly sensitive that I absolutely REFUSE to let anyone touch them. Just the THOUGHT of someone touching them makes my skin crawl. My fiance is always WANTING to give me a foot rub as he LOVES having his own rubbed - but I always tell him - he goes near my feet and I will kick him. They fall asleep on a daily basis (usually when I'm driving)...and that is also a sign of anemia. One thing I really need to start watching is crossing my legs. It's not a good thing to do anyways - and with my issues, it makes them worse. But I could cross (and uncross just to cross the other side...) all day! It'll be a very hard habit to break. So yeah. We shall see!

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TURKEY DAY AT WORK...

So small blurb - but today we had a pitch in at work for Turkey Day next week. And I must say I did FABULOUS!!! I stuck to the meat - turkey & ham - and had a few deviled eggs, some raw vegees, some cheese ball, green beans - and while there was a huge table of desserts - I brought in my own Low-Carb, Sugar-Free Pumpkin Spice Cake bites (made them in a muffin pan) and oooooh was it yummy!

So yeah! I just wanted to share that Turkey Day CAN be done low-carb!

Course, the REAL challenge will be the REAL turkey day at his family's next week... :)

Why I choose Low-Carb living over low-fat living...

Ok - so I've decided to post about why I choose to live a low-carb way of eating over low-fat. I have done both. As my very first post here from last year explains: My story - I did the "low-fat" thing for literally 13 years of my life (off and on)....

I DID lose 60 pounds on weight watchers (total over a few years) - and yes, I will be the first to say that it DOES work. However - when it came to MAINTENANCE it just did NOT work. Plus - in my own experience, weight watchers (and believe me guys, I had been to SO many different meetings and "leaders" that this is the same for all, in my own experience) - but weight watchers NEVER taught me how "bad" sugar is for the body. Instead it was taught to fear FAT and that SUGAR had little to NO impact on weight loss. :(

Of course, now that I know the TRUTH it almost pisses me off that I believed that for so long. Now - granted, again I DID lose 60 pounds (total after even roller-coastering ON weight watchers...) however once I was AT my goal weight - I could NOT keep it OFF. Maintenance was close to impossible. So after a while - no matter HOW many points I counted and how many fat grams I stayed away from - I ended up gaining back 40 of my lost 60 pounds. As that story I posted also states - in 2007, no matter HOW hard I tried - working out 4 - 5 times a week and counting my fat/fiber/calories...I couldn't lose ANYTHING - and no one believed me that I WAS trying.

But that's when I went to a new doctor and she diagnosed me with Insulin Resistance. Basically I learned that my body just does NOT deal with carbs and sugar the way a "normal" body does. THIS is why I couldn't lose weight - because I was eating the WRONG foods. Even though I thought I was eating "healthy" I really wasn't.
100 calorie snack packs - anything with high fructose corn syrup (POISON!!!!) and especially diet pop.

What I didn't know was that the SUGAR and JUNK I was putting into my body (even "low calorie" as it was) was just incredibly DAMAGING and that it was KEEPING ME FAT!

My doctor - when she told me I was Insulin Resistant - told me to "cut the carbs" and do atkins. I thought she was insane and didn't listen to her for a year - even after EVERY appointment during that year she kept telling me, "cut the carbs, cut the carbs"...I just wouldn't listen.

But then I did listen and I haven't looked back since! what's so freakin' AWESOME is the fact that - while I haven't actually hit my goal of 160 yet - I've MAINTAINED 166 (give or take a pound or two) for four months!!! all because I cut out grains and starchy vegetables!!!

And - what else I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE about atkins? It's SO versatile and SO many fabulous foods you can eat! It's NOT just "Meats, Eggs & Cheese" like everyone thinks. In fact I've NEVER eaten as many vegetables and fruits than I have on ATKINS!!!!!!

Just a quick rundown for those who don't know - Atkins is done in phases:
Induction Phase - 2 weeks - only the FIRST TWO WEEKS of changing your life do you eat like this. It's hard - but SO worth it and it's ONLY TWO WEEKS!

Induction Phase - eat up to 20 grams of carbs off of a specific list of foods out of the book - mainly all vegetables.

Phase 2 - OWL - Ongoing Weight Loss - You move up the "rungs" of the carbohydrate ladder adding in a few carbs here and there. (add 5 carbs per rung)
Rung 1 - Add in more vegees
Rung 2 - Dairy (no milk, as this is a whole other story - I am trying to get RAW milk)
Rung 3 - Nuts & Seeds
Rung 4 - Berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries)
Rung 5 - Low Carb Alcohol
Rung 6 - Beans & Legumes
Rung 7 - Higher fructose fruits - apples, kiwis, pears, peaches
Rung 8 - Starchy vegees - potatoes (yup potatoes!!!) and carrots
Rung 9 - Grains - Rice, Oatmeal, Quinoa

Phase 3 - Pre-Maintenance (where I am now)

and

Phase 4 - Maintenance

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this way of eating! I've learned to eat all NON-PROCESSED WHOLE FOODS that actually come from the EARTH and not from a box. I try to eat foods that do NOT have ingredients I can't pronounce. I try not to eat any foods that were chemically created in a lab somewhere.

Seriously - this is the absolute EASIEST and BEST way of eating. Also - one thing I haven't mentioned yet is the fact that I am eating REAL fat again!!! EVEN yup - i'm going to say it...SATURATED FAT!!!!! and my cholesterol levels have gone down - my triglycerides have leveled out and I'm HEALTHIER than ever! well as far as my diet is concerned...obviously, from my latest posts, I DO need to have my sleep issues looked at. :)

But seriously - if you come across this post and are considering a new diet plan - do NOT eat low-fat junk. GO LOW CARB! and learn how to eat a healthy unprocessed whole foods diet - you WON'T REGRET IT! :)

another post as a comment - lol - sleeping...

So yeah - I'm at work - still can't comment back - so here's another post:

Yes - I absolutely agree as far as the wine goes. This is totally one road I do NOT want to go down. I like wine. I like beer. I like hard liquor. But only ONCE IN A WHILE and def. NOT an every day thing. Believe me - I KNOW that depending on wine to sleep every night would be an AWEFUL thing to become dependent on. I do NOT want to rely on it...it does help but again - it's exactly like relying on a sleeping pill.

So we shall see what my doc says. She might put me on ambien or something - but of course who knows til I see her. Again - that's something I'm not fond of the idea of doing - but we'll see. More than anything I am getting excited about doing a sleep study. Last night - for example - I napped a little on the couch before going to bed. Actually went into the bedroom around 9 - lay there all night and MAYBE got a total of about 3 hours of sleep?!!! I remember dreaming some - but seriously felt awake all night long. :(

Anymore it's actually making me irritable more at the FACT that I am not getting any sleep more than the "not getting sleep" itself. So yeah. allright - I really need to get back to work! :)

sleep study part deux...

so yeah - i'm commenting to my last commenter as a post because - for some reason I can't reply to my comments here at work!

anywhooooo - yeah - the more and more that I think about it, I'm excited and hope my doctor is all for it (i'm sure she will be)...my sleep - well I also think a lot of it is "RLS" or restless leg syndrome. I've been doing a bit of research on it and I truly think THIS could be one of the reasons I'm up at night. I toss and turn allllll night long like crazy and literally am fearful that I'm going to punch my fiance in the head in the middle of the night for how much I toss and turn!

I also have child-hood fears that I still haven't gotten over (yes, i'm talking boogyman fears)...as a child, I was terrified of scary movies - and as an adult I still am - it's not as bad as it was when I was a kid, but yup - I'm still afraid of the dark. So put that together with the physical aspect of RLS and not sleeping and yeah - i'm petty much screwed at night! :(

there are some nights when I get SOME sleep - but honestly, for the most part - even on nights when I take valerian or melatonin or a OTC sleep aid, I still do NOT sleep!

Two nights ago I finally decided to try drinking a glass of red wine before bed...it helped the first night...I wouldn't say "worked" as in it wasn't a full night of unbroken sleep - but it was a much better sleep than "normal"...

However, last night I tried it again - and yeah - sleep sucked!

But - of course, too - obviously I do NOT want to have to use WINE to get to sleep at night!

My doc appointment isn't actually until December 9th but I'm going to call and see if I can get in earlier and also ask them specifically (while on the phone) about the sleep study/issues....

so we shall see! :)

Sleep Study...

Ok - so I was talking with a friend here at work who just completed a sleep study. My fiance has told me before he thinks I should do one - and now, after talking with this friend and hearing about her experience with it - I am definitely going to talk to my doc next month about doing one.

My insomnia is just getting worse and worse. I've tried melatonin (only works sometimes) - I've tried valerian (again, only works sometimes) - of course I've tried over the counter sleep aids...I even tried last night to have a glass of wine before bed - which yes, it worked a little - but I do NOT want to get into the habit of having to have a glass of alcohol every night just to sleep!

Plus - this has been going on for just too damn long. YEARS if not decades! Something else she mentioned was "restless leg syndrome" which I have honestly thought about being a possibility before. I toss and turn SO much in the middle of the night I've drop-kicked my cat and dog off the bed without realizing it and I'm afraid of punching my fiance in the head in the middle of the night!!

So yeah - I've GOT to do something about this because A. I know that not sleeping can affect weight loss, B. I know that my not sleeping affects my mood at work and how I treat others... and C. damnit - I just want some sleep!!!!!!

so yeah. well that's all for now!

NO sleep and green smoothies...

ok - so yeah - my sleep still sucks. After one week (not including the weekend...) of journaling my sleep:
Monday night / Tuesday Morning (Tuesday Nov 3) - not bad - had taken 6 mg Melatonin the night before, fell asleep on the couch around 10 - slept from about 11 p - 5 a - not too much tossing/turning - it was pretty good, actually! about an 8/10!

Tuesday night / Wednesday Morning (Wednesday Nov 4) - Night before sleep sucked - about a 4/10. woke up at 2, 4:30, 6:30 - tossed/turned all night. 6 mg Melatonin night before.

Wednesday night / Thursday Morning (Thursday Nov 5) - Night before sleep again, about 4/10 - woke up at 2, 3:30, 4:30 - tossed/turned all night. had extratime sleepy tea + valerian root (1000 mg)

Thursday night / Friday Morning (Friday nov 6) - Night before not too bad about a 6/10 - woke up once to use bathroom again around 6:30.

weekend, didn't journal.

Sunday night / Monday Morning (Monday Nov 9) - Night before SUCKED! didn't go to sleep til 1 a.m. - tossed/turned all night barely slept - about 2/10.

so yeah - that's normally how I sleep! it looks like the Melatonin worked last Monday night, but I did take it again Tuesday night and slept horribly. ugh.

I will figure something out.

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GREEN SMOOTHIES

Ok - so I've decided I want to try and get more vegees in my diet - especially the leafy green kind. Now I love vegees - I just feel like I don't get enough in my diet.

So I bought some organic baby spinach and some kale yesterday.
Today I made this:

2 small leaves of organic Kale
about 6 small leaves of organic baby Spinach
about 1/4 cup organic frozen blueberries
1 scoop greens/whey vanilla protein powder
1 cup so delicious coconut milk beverage (unsweetened)
1 packet truvia

It wasn't bad! It wasn't as sweet as I'd like, but I will be tweaking it. Maybe more fruit? Need those anti-oxidants anyways...so yeah - we shall see! :D

SUGAR ADDICTION...and sleep

Ok, so I truly 100% believe that SUGAR is an addictive substance. It's a powdery white substance that goes into your body and once it is in your bloodstream, you just crave MORE AND MORE AND MORE. It's a vicious cycle - and what is so aweful is that - unlike illegal drugs, sugar is SO widely accepted - and not only "accepted" but even FORCED upon us sometimes WITHOUT our knowledge!!

Now - since changing my lifestyle and becoming low-carb, this year - I have to say there've been many times when I've been "strong" and said NO to sugar...
Valentine's day, for example - my fiance and I went out with his family to Bucca Di Beppo (yes, that was hard enough, being an italian/pasta place!) - and EVERYONE ordered the Red Velvet Cake at the end of the meal. I didn't touch it at all - even with everyone saying "oh, c'mon - just one bite!" nope - didn't do it!

Then there was the time when - at work - I was working on an incredibly difficult project and the project manager came to me with a "peace offering" due to how difficult the project was and so brought me cookies from the cafeteria...I thanked her and once she left, I gave them to my co-workers! :D

Now - admittedly - on the day of my 30th birthday party, I DID "endulge" (ok, yeah, I binged) on red velvet cake (did I mention this is my favorite? lol) and brownies and cookies, etc. etc.

After the party, though, I got RIGHT back on track and lost the weight I'd gained during that binge.

Thing is, though, what truly really SUCKS is that no matter HOW much you say NO and how hard you try - the ADDICTION will ALWAYS be there! Again, I've been SO good - but I'll admit one of my BIGGEST issues is that I like sandwiches. They're simple - fast and easy. So last week I had real bread probably at least once a day for about 4-5 days straight last week. Granted, it was only ONE TIME per day (not for all three meals, but only ONE) - however the problem is the carbs IN that bread just seemed to keep sparking something...

And everyone knows that halloween was this past weekend. I bought candy I thought I wouldn't mow down on...wellllll - yeah. We had some left over and so in the past few days I've had at least ten mini snickers bars! ACK!

I'm not perfect and I know that - but it pisses me off that it's SO incredibly easy to just fall back into the habit like that!

Today - I actually decided to REALLY start journaling. I'm not doing it on here and probably won't share - but I'm keeping an actual JOURNAL that will also keep track of how I sleep at night (this is the main reason) as lately I've really been trying to figure out how to get my insomnia under control.

Some nights I sleep GREAT while other nights are aweful.

Last night, for example - I took two 3mg pills of melatonin and I actually think I slept pretty well. I fell asleep around 11 last night and don't remember waking up til around 5! that's HUGE for me. but the funny thing is - I ate three snickers last night alone!

So I'm just really curious to really document and figure out my sleep patterns - what I ate the day before - as well as my mood patterns...another thing is while I have horrible sleep at night - there are some days when, while driving home from work - I SERIOUSLY feel like falling asleep at the wheel!

That has been going on for at LEAST 10 years!

I'm still trying to figure out if maybe I'm deficiant in an amino acid or not.

So we shall see.

I'm sure I'll blog about some of my findings. Later!

quick 5-HTP update...

ok - just wanted to post this real quick...so I've been taking the 5-HTP now for a week in hopes it will help my insomnia.

I think I am stopping it though...twice now, in the past week, I have had little anxiety attacks. Last night it was really bad...I was just sitting there watching TV with my fiance and all of a sudden it hit and I started having these horribly uncomfortable, unsettling and aweful thoughts racing through my head. I almost started shaking and just felt totally off.

so I googled 5-HTP side effects and came across some sites where people had this same issue. I really HATED the thoughts that were racing in my mind and hated the way I felt...it's not worth it just to try and get a full night's rest when I can use valerian root.

From everywhere I've read - this stuff really works for a LOT of people - and more power to them - but as far as me and MY experiment goes...yeah. Stopping the 5-HTP.