Yesterday I had my chiropractic appointment and my massage therapy appointment back-to-back. I don’t normally schedule them on the same day. Just one of them gives me plenty of discomfort and sleep interruptus. But, I didn’t want to postpone my chiro appointment until next week and have a migraine slip in. The result? I was awake until at least 2 am.
I don’t know how it is for you, but pain keeps me awake. Luckily, it doesn’t keep me awake forever because eventually my body can’t help but pass out. I passed the time on the couch catching up on The Bletchley Circle, Orphan Black, Elementary, Revenge, Star-Crossed, and The Tomorrow People and eating way too much food to compensate for the pain. I crawled into bed around 12am and watched a couple episodes of SeaQuest DSV (and ate some more food) until I finally fell asleep.
Yesterday wasn’t the best day to start tracking calories. When I’m in pain I constantly crave food and it’s super hard to ignore. I think with already being uncomfortable from pain I just can’t tolerate being uncomfortable from resisting a food craving. This makes it really hard to stay within a caloric limit. It also makes it really hard to make any headway on weight loss.
I have been steadily gaining weight the last couple years with all the diet changes that have been going on. I also recognize I have been self-medicating with food more since my health issues worsened a few years ago. Now I am just 3 pounds away from my heaviest weight, which I vowed never to be again. I’m not nearly as unhappy with my appearance as I was the first time around, so it’s not a major motivating factor this time. Instead, I know that this extra weight is having a negative impact on my overall health, is increasing my risk for the diabetes and heart disease that runs in my family, and is affecting my energy levels.
My plan is to be more active when I can, such as walking on the treadmill, and reduce my caloric intake when I can. If I have a day like yesterday, I’m going to try my best to let the guilt go and remind myself that overall I’m doing better. My hope is by improving activity and food whenever possible that I will start losing weight (or at least stop gaining). It may be slow going, but it’ll be better than nothing.
–Amy 🙂
Does pain interrupt your ability to sleep? Does your body crave food to compensate for the pain like mine? Share in the comments or send me an email.
