We need to talk about vegan sleeping habbits. When I am at home, coffee is never an option, but at work - either coffee or green tea are the survival norm. I just don't have a solution for it.
Also, one needs to be organized and always have some fruit, nuts etc. at work. Not an easy task either.

Long time ago I stopped smoking but I consider myself to always be a former addict. Things are absolutely the same with food. Now three years a vegan (at times 100%, mostly about 80-90%), I thought I could never go back to old ways but we are so fragile, that is always a possibility.

Just put enough stress factors together and we can completely reverse our diet.

I have no doubt whatsoever that processed food is equal to drugs, it is addictive and dangerous. Thankfully, natural food also is addictive and the natural food 'high' is unforgetable.

rab Wrote:
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When I am at home, coffee is never an option, but at
> work - either coffee or green tea are the survival
> norm. I just don't have a solution for it.

You need to then ask yourself why your using coffee at work Rab, is it to increase energy to get through the day, give a temporary boost to your adrenal glands so you can cope with the stress of work, is it to boost dopamine so you can interact with others more easily etc.

The most common reason people use caffeine is to increase energy, but this is only temporary and comes at the cost of depleting the adrenal glands further. As with all CNS stimulants what goes up, must come down and before you know it you are topping up with another cup to get you going again.

Working whilst adrenal fatigued is one of the hardest things, because naturally your body is wanting to rest. I find adaptogen herbs such as ginseng, schizandra, cordyceps etc to be very helpful in this case, they will naturally mildly increase energy whilst supporting the adrenal glands and keeping the HPA-axis balanced in response to stress.

[www.natuhealth.co.uk]



Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2013 12:07PM by powerlifer.

Depending on the country, coffee has a different meaning. In England and the US, coffee Is a drug. In other countries, it is not. If used at work, it is most likely a drug. green tea is considered high in oxalates (knee problems, kidneys stones, etc)

i got one of these that i pack from house to car and car to work [www.sears.com]

it can stay in the car if i want to keep it cool but it holds alot . i keep my whole fruits and salads in there

i also keep containers of nuts and seeds at my desk and my homemade versions of trail mixes etc.

there is no kitchen here just a mini bar fridge that my boss keeps stock full of soda pop but i manage to jockey a spot in there if i need one.

I also have a magic bullet at work but lack of kitchen or lunchroom it makes it difficult to use i might just take it back to my car and use it out there with the power adaptor

when i was getting off my coffee tea kick i started making my own miso using the paste or packages instead for a hot drink ..

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Hey Panchito, what about Earl Grey Tea?

I must have had ten cups of green tea today. I had some work to do and I just can't do it if I am not focused. I understand how higher level management can get hooked up to cocain to continue the drive...thankfully, I am not higher management

So, Earl Grey is better? I bet that the one in the tea bags is very bad for humans, just like almost everything in any package...

Yes, I will have to get organized. I have moved to San Diego area, I am new here and don't even have a permanent home (looking for an apartment). I just have to be more firm on my solutions, no processed food is good, nothing. It just isn't.

Colleague at work said that the way to get up early is to not have the shades on the windows and let the natural light wake you up every morning. I am notoriously bad with sleeping habbits, never have two days in a row going to bed at the same (or even similar) time. Often I don't sleep enough. Very, very bad sleeping habits, for which I pay at work. If it werent for the light diet I am on, I would probably feel much worse.

So, how do vegans sleep? How much?

Never tried Earl Grey tea. May pick it up to give it a try. Do a Google (or in Amazon) search on White tea (organic from Yunnan, China). It is supposed to be the most potent rejuvenating "drink" of all.

Above all, find something that you like that enhances the quality of your life and makes you a little happy without hurting you.

For sleep, I myself don't have trouble but I think I found something that helps. I do take a supplement of four drops of 2% Lugol solution twice a week. Iodine helps and it is an esential nutrient. Somehow it is involve in sleep. We have a gland dedicated to Iodine, the thyroid gland.

rab, its not another stimulant you need. If you are lacking in focus, it because at some level you are exhausted or you are doing something you really don't want to do. I would get clarity which one of these two it is, as they have different ways to deal with them. If you are exhausted, take some time off to rest, and see what it is in your life that is exhausting you, and change something. If you don't want to do what you are doing, find something else to do.

The Earl Grey tea was just a joke. When I was eating SAD, and I watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Picard inspired me to drink Earl Grey tea, which I used to load with sugar and milk. But for me, coffee was the drug of choice.

Prana, my job is fine. It is my sleeping schedule that kills me. When I sleep good, I enjoy working, but I rarely have my day organized well, so that I have enough sleep. Also, somehow, the frustration of the office itself makes humans go to the 'fountain of happines' - coffee machine.

So, when I don't sleep, I need seven cups of green tea to do my job. Or more. I get hiper, just like people on cocain, I imagine (never tried that nor ever will). I also have soups from the cafeteria when I get bored with salads even though they are not bad. And no, nothing is organic that I eat at the moment, but I still eat mostly fruit. Addicted to dates, grapes as usual.

I need a vegan sleeping clinic. A guru to make me sleep. I need to borrow strong will from somewhere to be able to respect the rythm of nature. I want to - I love mornings but I don't know how to turn the light off at 10 pm. It is not happening for me. So, I need coffein to be able to function. I hate that but that is how I live at the moment.

When I was drinking coffee, I had a hard time sleeping soundly. It was always a light sleep.

You say that your "job is fine" but you also mention "the frustration of the office" and using caffeine for "survival." I see a lot of unmanagable stress at your work-place. Maybe it's not what you do but instead where you do it that's causing the problem.

rab Wrote:
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> Prana, my job is fine. It is my sleeping schedule
> that kills me. When I sleep good, I enjoy working,
> but I rarely have my day organized well, so that I
> have enough sleep. Also, somehow, the frustration
> of the office itself makes humans go to the
> 'fountain of happines' - coffee machine.
>
> So, when I don't sleep, I need seven cups of green
> tea to do my job. Or more. I get hiper, just like
> people on cocain, I imagine (never tried that nor
> ever will). I also have soups from the cafeteria
> when I get bored with salads even though they are
> not bad. And no, nothing is organic that I eat at
> the moment, but I still eat mostly fruit. Addicted
> to dates, grapes as usual.
>
> I need a vegan sleeping clinic. A guru to make me
> sleep. I need to borrow strong will from somewhere
> to be able to respect the rythm of nature. I want
> to - I love mornings but I don't know how to turn
> the light off at 10 pm. It is not happening for
> me. So, I need coffein to be able to function. I
> hate that but that is how I live at the moment.

Prana,

LOL about Captain Picard! And taking a page out of his book:

rab, you wish to go to bed at 10 p.m. to be better rested? Make it so.