Hi everyone,
I wanted some advice and/or support on my sleeping habits and patterns..
I usually get to bed at a decent hour and will literally sleep for about two hours and then I wake up and I have trained my internal clock to think it's OK to wake up, and when I do get up I head downstairs and eat..even if it's 12am, 2am, 3am, or 4am..sometimes it takes me to getting down to the kitchen to realize that I am down there..I have made it a habit to get out of bed every 2 or 3 hours every night to eat, I don't know if it's because im not eating the right amount of nutrients throughout my day so my body is craving excess nutrients, or if irregular eating patterns have anything to do with it? I won't always eat in correct combo's at night, and Ill often crave sweets..I am exhibiting during these hours traits of a binge eater in my opinion..AND I HATE IT.I tell myself every night that iam not going to get up if i wake up, but the next thing I know im down in the kitchen. I am generally pretty raw but do eat grilled veggies/whole grains..Also, I wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat..does this have anything to do with my digestive system not getting rest during sleeping hours?...Am I having nightmares?...Any ideas, comments, or support would be so greatly appreciated..Im sick of exhibiting these patterns, and am SO close to putting a pad lock on my bedroom door, and only giving my boyfriend the key before we go to bed..He knows I get up in the middle of the night, but I do not think he knows that I usually do so to eat..I do not do this every single night, I have my weeks where I do sometimes, and then I will not for a while..it seems worse when my diet is more restricted..And i am by no means overweight..im 5''2, and 100 pounds..Someone let me know if you know anything that would be helpful to me! THANKYOU!!!





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/2008 12:41AM by ashleekanaan.

I hear you Ashleekanaan. It sounds very frustrating - and I can only imagine how how feel. And THAT is my major concern. What I mean is: If you are sure that you are getting the correct amount of calories (or more) and that you are getting adequate nutrition (and these things are fairly easy to determine by some simple calculations & food journaling) then any 'cravings' or compulsive eating is some other issue......usually emotional.....and usually some deep-seated need relating to abandonment/abuse issues from one or more parental figures. You can look up nutrient profiles here:

[www.nal.usda.gov]

-I also hear that Fitday is a great site to get this information.

-There is no simple solution, but I would advise FIRST getting to a diet that you are mentally 100% comfortable with....and accept it....and don't worry. Live that life for about 30 days....THEN start making some VERY SMALL plans and changes if you must. If food issues are keeping you up at night - this is not a good thing.......but this is something that can be addressed.

-Never feel bad ABOUT feeling bad. There is no way you SHOULD feel. This is a myth. There is only your good goal-setting....and pursuit of your dreams and passions. If the cost of pursuing my passion was insomnia....then I would accept it....and read more....and move on. Heh...heh.

-Have you ever been deleriously happy?.....doing something you were really into and passionate about? I'll be you didn't even THINK about food. Thus, people often go about resolving food issues in the wrong way (in my opinion).....seeking 'control' over the circumstances and intake......and focusing on problems that arise.....rather than having clear and obtainable goals to pursue. When I hear what a person is DOING....then they are on the right road!

-I'm sure you'll get lots of great tips and support from the wonderful folks on this board.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

ashleekanaan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ..Also, I wake up
> in the middle of the night drenched in sweat..does
> this have anything to do with my digestive system
> not getting rest during sleeping hours?...Am I
> having nightmares?...Any ideas, comments, or
> support would be so greatly appreciated..
Night Sweats are due to too many Calories just
before going to bed. Try not eating after 4pm. You'll wake
up more refreshed too.....WY

Ashlee,

It may that you are currently exerting too much control on your eating. What does your typical daily menu look like, including the nighttime meals? It could also be that you are undereating with your normal meal, and you wake up ravenous. Or it could be emotional.

If you share what your daily menu looks like: the times you eat, and the amounts, so we can get an idea of how many calories you eat - plus the amount of exercise you do each day, we can see if you are under eating.

To get an idea if your eating is emotionally based, keep a food diary. Before each meal, check in with yourself, that is, get quiet and go inside, and write down how and what you are feeling. Then record what you ate, and how you felt after you ate. Do this for a week, and see if you can find any patterns with emotions and eating.

Oh i understand you soooo much!! That happens to me sometimes too, but i have sleeping disorders not realted to food, well i mean i wake up all the time, but not because i'm hundry. Tough it does happen if i did not eat enough in the day, or if i went to sleep with a very empty tummy....

Hi.
Do you have any blood sugar issues at all?
I have had issues with what doctors call type 2 diabetes,and sometimes I wake up and am thirsty and crave sweets and starches around 3am.

Brian

You mentioned you're still eating grains? When I used to eat wheat products (gluten) I experienced constant hunger and unstable sleep patterns. Being high raw has wiped that out for me. I know it was an allergic and/or emotional reaction to gluten toxicity for me. Just something to think about. Also don't beat yourself up and criticize yourself, there is something going on that is healing within you. Embrace it, become aware of it and let it go. If you hate it, the energy will just stick with you and perpetuate the cycle. If you love it and appreciate this experience as a gift, you will transcend it and learn why you created it. And I betcha you will gain greater insight and be able to help others with the same issue. I think what you're experiencing is pretty common actually, but because we tend to isolate ourselves we think we're the only ones. It's not something that people talk about. I think you've already bursted through the energy just writing it down and exploring ways to heal. Try eating only raw foods for 30 days, drink plenty of water to make sure you've got your electrolytes needed for sleep, visualize yourself sleeping through the night and see what happens from there. Visualize yourself well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/06/2008 01:17AM by rawangel.

i used to do that every night! i woke up between 12-2 every night...headed downstairs for a spoonful of peanut butter and went back to bed for the night. this went on for months and then i stopped. not sure why but it wasn`t long after i accidentally grabbed a spoonful of caribbean jerk seasoning for peanut butter!YUCK! not sure what made me stop?
patty

Ashleekanaan,

I have struggled (and I mean STRUGGLED) with the same problem for over 25 years. I too follow a very distinct pattern. For me it is always 45-60 min after I lay down regardless of the time or how fatigued I am. I usually wake up panicky too.

Numerous attempts to identify the 'cause' and work around it have not helped. 20 or so years ago I was put on massive (and I mean massive) doses of tranquilizers from a MD and these would not even keep me asleep.

Earlier this year, I think I actually made it almost a month with rested nights. When I started to eat more fruit again, my patterns fell completely apart and I have not yet been able to get consistent sleep since. I am still not sure as to the true cause and effect relationship between the fruits and my sleep pattern. I do know that eating fruit does cause terrible choking, gagging, coughing spells (asthmatic-type response) when I lay down to sleep. Removing the fruit stopped it.

I started using EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) specifically for this. EFT involves tapping your body at various acupressure points while stating positive affirmations. I learned it a few years ago while trying to get past the emotional after affects of an accident. The technique has proven very effective for people to get past traumatic, anxiety-ridden events and issues.

I appreciate the advice and input of those above. I would do almost anything for a fix as this has caused so much distress in my life. I do believe there is some emotional piece to it as lately (past month maybe) I have been having trouble eating too. It seems as though I can't eat anything without "crapping out" after. I don't just get a little sleepy, my eyelids droop and I can barely stay seated or stand. It is starting to affect my work performance. I have yet to find something I can eat that doesn't cause this. As with most things, the more I am dwelling on this, the worse it is.

Sorry this is long.

I wish I had a fix for you Ashleekanaan but I just want you to know that you are not alone. I hope that someday I can find my fix. 25+ years of this is too much.

Patty

Wow I appreciate all the support from you guys more than I can express. it's more of an emotional thing for me, and I know this and have only lately been able to admit it, or even better write it down. I tend to beat myself up BADLY about my diet, and I have done so for years, I work out daily, and am in great shape but when I attempted to go compltely raw I felt the best I have ever felt in my life and all my cravings stopped..but then I started detoxing..which completely gave me some awful drawbacks internally that I am still suffering from...when my detox started getting worse i would get irritated because I had (and still have) diarreah, i would feel like crap some days, and excellent others and could not stand the roller coaster. This made me irritated that I would almost punish my body and levy off of being mostly raw and eat some cooked foods to slow down the detox process. i didnt research the raw food approach enough before I started it, and I wish I wouldnt have read into it so much..within the first month of raw foods I didnt know about detox, enzymes, and all the bodily chnges that went along with going raw..you know..the whole 'getting worse before you get better' and I felt BETTER when I was raw and didnt know anythign about it, than it seemed that when I started digging in for more info and read others complaints about detoxing and the 'getting worse' I started getting worse symptoms and they never really quit..perhaps this was more mental..i have a very sensitive digestive system (I think) there are always parts of undigestied lettuces, and veggies in my stools, (even though I chew TONS), whenever I eat nuts which is rare because i feel like they sit in my intestines i literally see what looks like chopped nuts in my stool..I dono the raw approach has been up and down for me, and now I started eating some cooked foods again because this made me feel more energetic and slowed the process of detox..i still eat TONS of vegggies+fruit but have tried to forget about 100%raw because I would beat myself up so badly about it, and almost become OBSESSED with it. Generally I have always had issues with food, its kinda like a love hate relationship..I dont know why I have failed to stay 100% raw..even though I know I feel best that way..I also have ever since I was a little kid LOVED SUGAR..I Love it. sweets are definitly my downfall..i think it's because I have an abnormal level of yeast in my system..which could also be the reasoning for me getting up at night to eat. When I get up at night and eat as I have for the last week I usually wont eat the next day until LATE in the afternoon. This week I got up in the middle of the night Monday through Saturday...So Each day this is what my meal plan looked like for this week:
6:30 am wake up
(even if I had just woke up at 5am and ate)
7-4pm nothing but water with cayenne pepper (I was at work, so it made it easy not to think about food)
4:30 pm- veggies an/or large salad OR one day i had goats milk yogurt
7:00pm more veggies or fruit or some dried dates
or avocado..You see I usually will fast the entire morning/afternoon if I have eatin alot during the night hours..is this bad??
I also am starting to kind of have some bad breath..im assuming this is correlated with inpropor digestion because I am eating late, and when i eat late sometimes ill eat fruit with things i shouldnt eat fruit with..which makes the food ferment..all in all I have admitted the issue is bad and is effecting my entire body and sleep patterns, now I just need to find what diet I feel most comfy with and regain my self control.
I am sorry this is so long..but it's RARE that i talk about my feelings and whats on my brain to anyone usually because no one in my family supports me being raw so I never have anyone to relate to..i appreciate you guys more than you know.
Also does anyone have any great ways to get rid of intestinal gas? i feel like I have tried EVERYTHING...Peppermint, cayenne pepper, fermented foods, gas release poses, exercise..nothing seems to help..but the gurgling stomach/gas is much worse when i get up at night to eat and then ill wake up and have a very rumbling tummy and have a coat of white stuff in my mouth (which im assuming is yeast) and then ill feel kinda groggy..Once again, even with knowing this I still continue to exhibit the same behaviors..I need to really start finding balance within my body mind and soul..I know I can do it, I just need some support...thank you all for reading this excessively long post.
peace and love,
ashlee

Ashlee,

It would probably work better for you to eat more during the day, so that in the evening, when you are sleeping, you are not so hungry. Also, it looks like you are undereating during the day. To see if this is the truth or not, put your daily menu into a nutritional calculator like fitday, nutritiondata, nutridiary, or Cron-o-Meter to monitor your caloric intake.

Also learn about food combining to eliminate gas and to have better digestion. The simplest form of food combining is to eat only one kind of food at each meal. So for breakfast you might eat a whole cantaloupe. For lunch you might eat 4 bananas. For an afternoon snack 3 peaches. For dinner, start with 4 bananas. Let that digest for an hour, and then have a salad of 1 head of lettuce, 3 tomatoes, and a large cucumber.

Gas is often caused by sweet foods being eaten shortly after fats had been eaten. Or sometimes, if you eat a lot of fat, even eating sweet foods hours after the fatty meal can result in gas, if the fatty foods are still in the stomach.

As for loving sugar, this is natural. However, you can get your sugars from eating fresh fruit, rather than refined white sugar or candy. You have to eat a lot of sweet fruits to satisfy your caloric requirements.

Also, since you are relatively new to raw, your stomach is pretty small and can't accommodate a lot of raw foods at this point. For myself, I can eat all my nutrients in two meals, ie

2pm: 5-7 pounds of watermelon
7pm: 5 pounds of watermelon, 8 cucumbers, a pint of cherry tomatoes, a half dozen tomatillos.

But for you, your stomach can't stretch like mine (I've been all raw for nearly 7 years). So you might try

6:30am: 3 bananas
10am: 3 bananas
noon: 6 peaches
3pm: 4 nectarines
5pm: 3 bananas
7pm: a head of lettuce, 3 large tomatoes, large cucumber

If this kind of eating is too intense for you, then perhaps add your cooked meal as the last meal of the day, again practicing good food combining principles with your cooked foods also.

my opinion is that you aren`t getting enough cals during the day and your body is waking up to ingest more and part of it is habit.
patty

Ashlee:

Just some thoughts: It is the mind HAVING a problem WITH 'having a problem'........that BECOMES the over-riding problems in people's lives.....because the mind can keep sending out those energy pulses.....LONG after (or before) any actual physical problems are there. It is the thought forms mental stress and story-telling that we identify with....and they take us over....and that we constantly pulse.....even in sleep. So: getting to this higher place will allow the more mechanical problems to have easy solutions. So: #1 - get out of a place of stress by not struggling with physical problems. Accept them fully....without approving or encouraging them....so that they become a total non-issue in your mind....for at least 30 days. Eat in a way that you decide you are 100% comfortable with......so that it becomes a NON-ISSUE. Is it even possible for folks to have NO issues with food? Think about it! LOL. Try practicing THAT for 30 days!

-In any event, start from a place of no stress and no struggle physically, and identifying what one needs emotionally becomes a little easier. Trying to do EVERYTHING at once taxes even the most enlightened octopus.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I used to have mad gas as well. Usually eating 100% raw for me stopped that. This is my 3rd time going 100% raw now and each time gets easier for me. I've noticed that my gas disappears sometimes completely when I go 100% raw. And if the gas is there, it's mostly just air and not as uncomfortable. I suspect it has alot to do with mixing raw and cooked foods since when I'm not 100% raw, I'm at least 50% with green juice and fruits in the morning and MikkyDs in the afternoon.

As for you eating at night and then not eating so much in the day, I think that's just a habit issue, just like a habit of eating cooked foods or smoking or biting nails or whatever. If you can get off that cycle, it should get easier and easier if you stay focused on trying to eat more in the day. Later, it'll feel normal for you to feel awkward in eating at night and natural eating in the day.

The waking up part every couple hours itself might be harder to solve since your body is already used to going to sleep at a certain time and sleeping at a certain time then sleeping again later at a certain time, etc. I too have this problem where I would sleep around 10pm then wake up 2am then do some work from home or watch TV then sleep again at 4am and wake up at 6am then sleep at 7am and wake up at 9 am. Then take naps at 1pm for 30 mins.

I guess this is a habit I formed unintentionally myself, but It's not too bad for me since I can work from home anyways. And this has nothing to do with my diet as this pattern of sleep has been happening for me for a couple years now and I've been off and on raw during this time. It may take you months to correct your sleeping, same way as a person with a 12 hour jet lag would take weeks to correct his sleeping again. That's just based on my experience though.

Ashlee,
All of the advice here is good. I would only add that undigested food in your stool indicates insufficient digestive enzymes and/or yeast overgrowth in the gut. Combining your foods more carefully would help a lot, but I would urge you to also eat things like raw ripe pineapple[for bromelain], papaya[for papain], and raw kimchee or sauerkraut to help your stomach enzymes and intestinal flora to balance out. Good luck.