Nemesis, Part 2

For time:

225 pound Deadlift, 21 reps

50 Squats

135 pound Push press, 21 reps

225 pound Deadlift, 15 reps

50 Squats

135 pound Push press, 15 reps

225 pound Deadlift, 9 reps

50 Squats

135 pound Push press, 9 reps

In the previous post I reviewed how stress, and more specifically, lack of sleep, can negatively affect our health and well being.  Coming from a youth full of late nights and too much television, I have struggled to develop any type of quality sleeping habits.  I have always described myself as, When I’m awake I don’t want to go to sleep and when I’m asleep I don’t want to wake up! The description of cortisol levels gave me some insight as to why that may be true, but the hard part is changing the way that I operate on a daily basis.  I am a self described night owl.  I lived and worked for years, staying up all hours of the night, with no regard for a regular schedule.  I believe a proper analogy can be drawn to nutrition here:  many people have never imagined living their lives with restrictions such as “Paleo”, only the desire to live in the moment, no plans and no regrets!  I used to be that person, but now that I have learned the magic of proper nutrition, and the positive affects on all aspects of my life, there is no going back.  I feel the same may be true for developing quality sleep habits.

That being said, part two of this series was meant to address more of the lifestyle issues surrounding sleep.  I understand that I cannot change, nor do I want to change, the fact that people will be going out to the bars, drinking and socializing.  I wanted to share with you a few thoughts on how I plan on changing my habits and how Robb Wolf has addressed these common questions and concerns.

My Plan of Action:

-Martina and I are workaholics (like many of you have admitted as well), and work at home A LOT!  We stay up too late and then sleep in or get up without enough rest.  Our first step is to put our work on a regular schedule to allow our sleep to remain consistent as well.

-The reality of going to sleep and rising with the sun is not realistic at this point.  Our plan is to be in bed by 11pm to midnight and up on our own around 8-9am. I was being serious about the black out curtains on order as well, we don’t want the sun to wake us up or reduce our quality of sleep!

-The good ol’ drinking question.  I have severely cut down on my booze intake over the years, and when I do drink it is always tequila, red wine or cider beer, but mainly tequila:)  I believe the nightlife in LA pales in comparison to the daytime possibilities.  The plan is to keep a similar sleep schedule throughout the weekends in order to wake up early to go play outside (and we’ll be motivating you to do the same)!

  More daytime drinking means better sleep!

More from the Paleo Solution:

…For our clients the lifestyle piece is tougher to nail down than the exercise for sure, and it is even tougher than the food.  People will gladly pay to be beaten senseless in workouts, but they are ready to bolt when we suggest they get a few zzz’s and curtail their boozing for the sake of their health and a better-looking fanny…

…What you need to know is that alcohol does not just blunt growth hormone release, it just turns it off.  This is not good for your health, recovery, or body composition.  Solution?…Drink earlier.  You need to get your booze in as far away from bedtime as you can…

…Much of the problem with drinking is not the booze itself but all the crap, usually sugar, that comes along with it.  Ditch your frou frou drinks with the umbrellas and go for clear liquor.  My favorite is Teguila (gold), prepared with the following ingredients:

Splash of soda water

Drink one or two of these on an empty stomach early in your evening.  Wrap up the night with some protein and fat, and you are set….There is also some chemistry behind the recommendations.  The lime juice blunts insulin release and the carbon dioxide bubbles in the soda water act as what’s called a “nonpolar solvent.”  This actually extracts the alcohol from the drink and delivers it to your system faster…

…Beer is generally loaded with gluten.

If you go for wine, opt for dry varieties, as they have less sugar…

Bloodfart shows what happens when you don’t get enough sleep before doing 100 Overhead Squats!