It's four o'clock in the morning and I can't sleep. The harder I try to fall asleep, the wider awake I get. Obviously Mark has put something in my food again. Not intentionally of course, but I am sure that if he weren't sleeping soundly I could go through the ingredients of last nights supper with him and somewhere I would find the MSG, Monosodium Glutamate. I am extremely sensitive to MSG, it affects me like caffeine affects other people. I can drink Coke Cola, drink regular coffee, even take Excedrin which contains more caffeine than coffee, and sleep like a baby, but if I ingest MSG it wires me up like a crack head.
There is one other thing that affects me as much as Monosodium Glutamate, and that is Cuban coffee. Down here in Florida where all the Cubans have set up Cuba Norte, it is a custom to stop work in the afternoon for a quick coffee break. You will be busy at work and all of a sudden when you look up, there will be somebody with a tray full of tiny, plastic, shot glass sized cups filled with coffee, offering a quick pick me up to one and all. The problem is that it isn't regular coffee. This is high octane, super caffeinated, sugary sweet stuff that tastes great. It gives you a great burst of energy for those last couple of hours of work. Unfortunately, you will still be feeling it twelve hours later as you lay in bed staring at the ceiling and listening to all the little sounds your house makes in the quiet of the night.
So I don't know what Mark put in my food last night. He made chicken and dumplings, and it was delicious. It might have been made even more delicious with the addition of some MSG, but I don't know, because Mark is still sleeping soundly and I can't ask him. Damn him, how dare he sleep while I suffer. I sure hope no one accidentally, loudly, drops something while they make their way through the dark house and wakes him up.
My doctor recently told me not to eat after 5-6 pm, except for maybe some water with lemon, as the digestive system needs time to shut down until the morning. That can take about 4 hours. That is why our morning meal is called "Breakfast." We are "breaking the fast."
ReplyDeleteIn my early years when I had my 29" waist and weighed 130, I use to fast one day a week (except for water, tea, and juices) because I read somewhere that is what the anicient Greeks did to cleanse their bodies of poisons.
Although it has been difficult for me to do. It takes practice, persistance, and determination. I am not all innocent (can you believe that!) But I keep trying.
Last afternoon I actually gorged myself with coconut chocolate chip cookies (as an experiment, mind you)and didn't eat my usual healthy dinner. I woke up at 2 am and could not fall alsleep until 5 am. So my food experiment worked. I had been sleeping like a baby up until then.
So Alan, keep experimenting with eating earlier and not having alcohol at night, (just some water and lemon) after 6 pm and see what happens.
Our bodies are aging and what worked when we were 20, 30, 40, and 50 might not work the same way. Our metabolism slows considerably; thus weight gain. So we need to adapt and listen to our systems.
You might have something on your mind too. Your mind might need more time to process the thoughts that are keeping you awake. If that may be the case, try meditation or have some quiet time to organize your thoughts. Relax your mind with deep breathing excercises. Just a thought.
Good advice Garet. I'll start drinking alcohol in the morning instead of at night.
ReplyDeletelmao Alan ! Dont you dare hahaha :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe it was something in the dumplings? Were they home made?
Upon further investigation today, I found out that the MSG was in the chicken broth that Mark used. I knew I was right.
ReplyDeleteJust part of his plan.
ReplyDeleteSleep... contrary to popular opinion, the older we get it seems the more we need! I used to go to bed at midnight and be able to get up in 6 1/2 hours to got to work. Now I aim to be in bed at 10 pm and sleep very soundly. When my kids were teens, I could hear the phone even tho the ringer is off in my bedroom. I just found out that my ears no longer pay that close atterntion when Laura tried to reach us at 1:30 am. She told me to turn the ringer back on now that her crazy friends no longer call here at all hours! Ricks mom, Pearl, often complains that she wakes up at 2 am and can't get back to sleep...I found out why when she told me she goes to bed at 6 pm!!
ReplyDeleteGee, alcohol in the morning could lead to some amusing blog entries. I'll start too and it should be twice as amusing. Right dennis?
ReplyDeleteGaret, it would be just like the Lathem (?) drug house.
ReplyDeleteNothing like putting vodka in your cheerios.
Is that myth still floating around. Gee whiz!
ReplyDeleteJust another urban legend, like the one where you came out of a sleazy bar's bathroom with underwear on your head?
ReplyDelete