How well do you sleep?

In my introduction blog I talked a little bit about my Fitbit, and how it counts my steps and can track my calories in vs out. Another function I like is the sleep tracker. Because it senses motion, it can tell me how well I’ve slept. Usually when I wake up I know if I slept solid or was restless, and it’s fun to look at the graph to confirm what I thought.

 This was not a good night's sleep - tossing & turning all night long.
 

This was a perfect night's sleep.

(Even on perfect nights, I have to get up to pee once.)

Occasionally though, think I slept well but look and see that I was rolling around a lot, or I think I didn’t sleep well but look and see that I didn’t move all night long. I’m trying to pay attention to whether exercise, food, stress, and other factors affect how well I sleep. I’ve noticed that if I have a large, late dinner, I don’t sleep as well. And of course, caffeine keeps me awake! Even if I have it in the morning, it can still affect me that night. So I haven’t had any coffee or black tea in about a week and a half, yay me.

This weekend was pretty good as far as getting some exercise and avoiding possible problem causing foods goes, but not so good as far as not eating too much goes. When I have free time at home, I snack! Especially if I have a busy morning and am really hungry by lunch time; I end up snacking all afternoon.

On Saturday evening I went to a friend’s wedding party (Congratulations, Mayuka!) and really enjoyed seeing a bunch of friends I used to teach at AEON. It was at an Italian restaurant, so over half of the food was off limits for me. 

First course - no bread & cheese or quiche for me,

but I thought the meat & lettuce were safe...

I did well, except a couple times when I realized too late that there was Parmesan cheese in the dish. It was hard to pass up the cake for dessert! Instead, I treated myself to a glass of sangria.

 Gave my cake to a friend...

...and ordered sangria!

As we were leaving, every guest was given a small box of cookies, so I took them home thinking maybe I could give them to someone else later. They lasted a whole 24 hours, taunting me, until I finally gave in and ate them. Oops, that was gluten, dairy, and eggs! So, back to square one, and with an upset tummy.

Good news, though - I learn from my mistakes! Or, at least try to. So today when I was given omiyage (a souvenir) at the office, I graciously accepted it, took it home, and threw it out!

Hello, darling!

Goodbye, darling!

It was hard. And sad. This particular one is quite popular, and I've been pleasantly surprised to find it on my desk many times over the years. I have been known to describe it as "creamy, buttery delicousness." But, like so many other tempting treats, it contains everything I'm trying not to eat. So like the shumai before, it's bye bye, trash time.