SteveOH

Feelings and Thoughts

Today I woke up with a stomach ache from last night’s juice.  Weird.  Other than that, I’m just sleepy, as usual.

Resources and Tips

Tip of the day:

Don’t drink your juice too close to bed time.  I’ve found that since it’s liquid and doesn’t require much time to digest, it’s ready to “leave” sooner than you think.

Goals

• DeTox: Nothing new here.
• Lose body fat (a plus but not required): I’ve officially kept the 3 lbs off and have decreased my body fat by about 1.5%. I also lost 3/4″ off my waist.
• Start the new year more disciplined: Going good.
• Get over this constant fatigue: Still tired. Apparently it takes several weeks to recover from adrenal fatigue, which is a longer journey than a short detox.
• Learn good habits: Yea, they’re coming.
• Sleep 8.5 hours: I slept 8:40 hours last night and want to sleep mooooooore!

Supplementation

Supplementation is continuing for the next month to allow my thyroid, adrenal glands, liver and kidneys to recover.

Diet

Today’s menu:

1. 8 AM: Breakfast: juice
2. 10 AM: Mid-morning: DeTox Tea
3. 12 PM: Lunch: food (chicken breast and a whole tomato)
4. 2PM: Mid-afternoon: DeTox Tea
5. 4PM: Late-afternoon: protein shake
6. 5PM: Pre-workout: no workout today
7. 6PM: Post-workout: no workout today
8. 8PM: Dinner: food (TBD)

I didn’t make a juice last night because I was too tired from kicking the sh!t out of the gym, haha.  So today my juice is consisting of Naked’s Green Machine 100% Natural Smoothie.  It’s not the same as the vegetable juice, but I just didn’t have it in me to make the juice last night.  Tonight I’ll be making a large batch so that I can drink it over the weekend.

Exercise

I kicked the crap out of the elliptical last night. Burned 498 calories in 33 minutes!

Feelings and Thoughts

o I’m going to continue posting for awhile until I feel like there’s nothing new to tell.  For the record, the actual detox ended on Day 5, with Days 6-10 being the reintroduction of food.  Days 10+ will consist of the aftermath of everything so that anyone considering doing the detox can have some baseline to compare to.

I’ve been sticking to the juice for breakfast and after my workout (before dinner) and feel pretty great.

Resources and Tips

Tip of the day:

Goals

• DeTox: Nothing new here.
• Lose body fat (a plus but not required): I’ve officially kept the 3 lbs off and have decreased my body fat by about 1.5%.  I also lost 3/4″ off my waist.
• Start the new year more disciplined: Going good.
• Get over this constant fatigue: Still tired.  Apparently it takes several weeks to recover from adrenal fatigue, which is a longer journey than a short detox.
• Learn good habits: Yea, they’re coming.
• Sleep 8.5 hours: I slept 8:40 hours last night and want to sleep mooooooore!

Supplementation

Supplementation is continuing for the next month to allow my thyroid, adrenal glands, liver and kidneys to recover.

Diet

Today’s menu:

1. 8 AM: Breakfast: juice
2. 10 AM: Mid-morning: DeTox Tea
3. 12 PM: Lunch: food (lean steak and potatoes with green beans)
4. 2PM: Mid-afternoon: DeTox Tea
5. 4PM: Late-afternoon: protein shake
6. 5PM: Pre-workout: protein bar
7. 6PM: Post-workout: juice
8. 8PM: Dinner: food (steak and a salad)

Today’s recipe is the same as yesterday’s but with the addition of butternut squash and an apple, and the removal of the romaine lettuce.

The apple makes a world of difference in the drinkability of the juice, and the squash gave it some texture but not much taste (which was great).  I only used about 4oz of squash.  I removed the romaine lettuce because it just adds gross vegetable water to the juice and not much else, so I’ll stick to eating it.

Exercise

I kicked the crap out of the elliptical last night.  Burned 498 calories in 33 minutes!

Feelings and Thoughts

I woke up pretty good today.  Not great but not normal.  The routine is just fine now, with the juice in the morning and at night.  Today’s juice kicked my ass (more information below) so I was taught a lesson there.

Resources and Tips

Tip of the day:

Goals

• DeTox: Nothing new here.
• Lose body fat (a plus but not required): I quickly weighed myself today and found that I haven’t gained any of the weight back (yet).  Still down 3 lbs.  Body fat is unknown until Friday (Day 12)
• Start the new year more disciplined: Juicing regularly is getting to be normal, though it does take more time than I’d like (about 30 minutes from open the fridge to get the stuff and sitting on the couch after washing the juicer).
• Get over this constant fatigue: Still tired, so not 100% yet.
• Learn good habits: Good habits on the way!
• Sleep 8.5 hours: Last night I slept for about 8.1 hours, which is good but not great.

Supplementation

Supplementation is continuing for the next month to allow my thyroid, adrenal glands, liver and kidneys to recover.

Diet

Today’s menu:

1. 8 AM: Breakfast: juice
2. 10 AM: Mid-morning: DeTox Tea
3. 12 PM: Lunch: food (lean steak and potatoes with green beans)
4. 2PM: Mid-afternoon: DeTox Tea
5. 4PM: Late-afternoon: protein shake
6. 6PM: Post-workout: juice
7. 8PM: Dinner: food (chicken and a salad)

Today’s juice consists of broccoli, kale, celery, carrots and cucumber, which is the same recipe as yesterday but excluding the apple.  I wanted to see if I could get away with not having that much sugar and still enjoy the juice.  Well quite frankly, I cannot.  The juice needs some fruity sugaryness.  Otherwise, it’s not very enjoyable to drink.  I still drank it, but boy did I not enjoy it.

I’ll probably add 1 apple instead of 2, to reduce the sugar but increase the sweetness.  I may also throw in a kiwi if I have any on hand for tomorrow.

Today is also the first time I’ve eaten steak.  It’s a little heavy for my stomach (a bit of indigestion) but not as bad as before.

Exercise

Cardio tonight!  Let’s do it!

Feelings and Thoughts

Today was a normal day.  I’m continuing the replacement of meals with juice to ease into eating solid foods and continuing the fat utilization.  I’m obviously no longer detoxing, but I’m minimizing the amount of artificial foods I ingest to keep my consumption of toxins within my food low.

Resources and Tips

Tip of the day:

Drinking juice before meals is an awesome way to get the nutrition you need and maintain discipline while eating.  When you drink 16oz of juice about 30-60 minutes before a meal, you’re less likely to over eat, binge or eat unhealthy foods.

Goals

• DeTox: My urine is still pretty light and I make sure to maintain my water intake as well.
• Lose body fat (a plus but not required): I’m still not sure, but I’m leaner than when I started.  I was paid a few compliments on my musculature as well as my leanness, so I’m happy.
• Start the new year more disciplined: Salads and vegetables are slowly becoming a staple of our diet.
• Get over this constant fatigue: Still working on this, I’m definitely not full of energy yet, but I’m hoping that I will be.
• Learn good habits: Good habits on the way1
• Sleep 8.5 hours: I’m having a tough time getting to bed on time with all the things I need to work on, but I’m trying.

Supplementation

Supplementation is continuing for the next month to allow my thyroid, adrenal glands, liver and kidneys to recover.

Diet

Today’s menu:

1. 8 AM: Breakfast: juice
2. 10 AM: Mid-morning: DeTox Tea
3. 12 PM: Lunch: food (homemade meatloaf and salad)
4. 2PM: Mid-afternoon: DeTox Tea
5. 4PM: Late-afternoon: protein shake
6. 6PM: Post-workout: juice
7. 8PM: Dinner: food (steak and steamed vegetables or salad)

Today’s juice consists of broccoli, kale, celery, apple, carrots and cucumber (same as yesterday).

Drinking juice for breakfast makes my hunger kick in sooner; today I had lunch at 11:30 AM.  But either way I’m liking the feeling and will continue doing so this week.

Exercise

Tonight was cardio night.  I did my usual of 30 minutes and burned 400 calories.  Not amazing, but pretty good.

Feelings and Thoughts

I woke up feeling normal today.  Food tastes AMAZING!  Today I cut back on the food (was planning to have food for dinner) but decided against it since I didn’t want to push too far.

Resources and Tips

Tip of the day:

Take your re-introduction of food very slowly.  Otherwise you will feel extremely bloated, have mean heart burn and / or indigestion, and feel like the detox was a waste of time.

Goals

• DeTox: My urine is still very light, so that’s good!
• Lose body fat (a plus but not required): I won’t know the progress until this Friday.
• Start the new year more disciplined: My family is eating more salad and vegetables already!
• Get over this constant fatigue: Still working on this.
• Learn good habits: I’ve definitely learned my lesson.  I think my detox was so tough because of the abuse I put it through before hand.  I’m definitely going to increase my fruit and vegetable consumption substantially so that the next time I do the detox, I don’t get my ass handed to me so bad.
• Sleep 8.5 hours: Sleep is wonderful!

Supplementation

Supplementation is continuing for the next month to allow my thyroid, adrenal glands, liver and kidneys to recover.

Diet

Today’s menu:

1. 8 AM: Breakfast: juice
2. 10 AM: Mid-morning: DeTox Tea
3. 12 PM: Lunch: food (chicken and salad)
4. 2PM: Mid-afternoon: DeTox Tea
5. 4PM: Late-afternoon: protein shake
6. 6PM: Post-workout: juice
7. 8PM: Dinner: juice

Today’s juice consists of broccoli, kale, celery, apple, carrots and cucumber.

The picture on the far right is the salad I’m having with my lunch.  Basically, the same ingredients as my juice, but not juiced!  As you can tell, there’s much less vegetables than what I’d be drinking, so I intend on incorporating vegetable juice into my diet on a regular basis.  At least once a day.

Exercise

I worked out tonight, did an upper body regime of weights, with a rep range of 8 – 15 for most movements.  I was so tired at first, but once I started I got a second wind and finished up.  I would rate the workout an 8 out of 10 overall.

I do feel accomplished to have gone even though I had absolutely no motivation to go.

Feelings and Thoughts

This post encompasses Saturday and Sunday.  So Friday night I ended up completely killing the fast as I ended up at a bar with my friends.  So, I decided on Saturday that because of that, and in light of the headache I had that would not go away, that I would begin breaking the fast Saturday.

Yes, it was a lack of discipline on my part, but alas, 5 day fast is still pretty good for my first time, and I plan on taking about 5 to 7 days to fully break the fast, correctly and completely.  I’ll outline the plan below under diet.

Resources and Tips

Tip of the day:

If you’re a casual drinker (like me) and have your regular group of friends, outtings, drinking nights, etc. you need to plan with that in consideration.  I swore up and down that I wasn’t going to hang out, but alas, that’s just one bad habit I couldn’t break.

Goals

• DeTox: I feel lighter, happier and calmer.
• Lose body fat (a plus but not required): I still look pretty lean, but I can tell the bloating is already starting to come back as my body tries to digest solid food again.
• Start the new year more disciplined: A win and a loss here.
• Get over this constant fatigue: Still working on this.
• Learn good habits: I should have put learn good habits and STOP bad habits.
• Sleep 8.5 hours: Some nights yes, some nights no.  But I’m averaging the 8 hours.

Here’s a picture of the salad my family is eating today and this week!  I’m really happy the healthy habits are contagious (even if I have to make their salads for them to eat it).

Supplementation

Supplementation is continuing for the next month to allow my thyroid, adrenal glands, liver and kidneys to recover.

Diet

Saturday’s menu:

1. 8 AM: Breakfast: food
2. 10 AM: Mid-morning: protein shake
3. 12 PM: Lunch: juice
4. 4PM: Mid-afternoon: protein shake
5. 8PM: Dinner: juice

Sunday’s menu:

1. 8 AM: Breakfast: juice
2. 10 AM: Mid-morning: protein shake
3. 12 PM: Lunch: food
4. 4PM: Mid-afternoon: juice
5. 8PM: Dinner: food

Some of the salad I ate this weekend with my meals.

Exercise

I worked out Saturday evening and it was amazing.  I worked out with the same intensity that I would before on large doses of caffeine and pre-workout supplementation.

This will serve as my comprehensive post and my Day -2 post, since after today everything will be laid out and should be smooth sailing on auto-pilot.

I am 2 days out from my juice detox, which will commence on Wed, Feb 1 and go until Fri, Feb 10.  between today and tomorrow I will replace a meal with juice to slowly work my way into the detox.  For instance, today I replaced breakfast and my afternoon snack (around 3 PM) with Carrot – Spinach – Apple – Celery – juice (recipe). [see edit at the end regarding timeline, etc]

Feelings and Thoughts

I had a tough night of sleep last night, so today’s comments are going to be skewed.  Either way, today I started the preparation for the detox, so I’m excited.  Made juice last night (first time) and it was super easy.  Almost fun.  Cleanup wasn’t a big deal either, just have to make sure to clean the mesh screen really good with the included nylon brush.  Then rinse everything else with soap and water, and you’re done.

I brought the juice to work without an issue.  I don’t feel anything yet, other than being really exhausted (eyes burning, etc).  I do have a small nagging headache that I’m pretty sure is a combination of not sleeping well and not eating breakfast.  I sure hope I don’t have this headache throughout, or these posts are going to be very cranky.

Hopefully with a good night’s sleep and some good juice tomorrow, I should feel like 2.34 million bucks.

Resources and Tips

So the first tip I have is when trying to juice leaf vegetables in a centrifugal juicer, you must ball up the leaves really tight and use another vegetable to push it into the cuter.  Otherwise, your leaves are going to fly around (there’s a lot of moving air in there) and won’t make it in your juice.

Useful sites:

• http://www.juicefasting.org/detoxification.htm
• http://www.livestrong.com/article/435213-how-to-keep-slim-healthy-young-with-juice-fasting/
• http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/detox-diets-purging-myths
• http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/randy13.htm

Goals

The goals for this detox are many.  I’m not a fad dieter and typically wouldn’t try a ‘diet’ unless there’s some research or medicine backing it.  I’m more of a healthy and consistent person.  I do know, however, that I don’t eat anywhere near as well as I should (I eat for results), so my high protein and low carb and fat diet is limiting the nutrients I get.  I’ve been eating like this for 15 years and want to eat a results-oriented but more natural and healthy diet.  This is how I’m going to dive right in.  Furthermore, recent health issues within my family have made me more conscious to the needs of my body, mind and soul, so this is my first step in the right direction.

I have outlined my overall goals and motivation for taking on this endeavor:

• Increase consumption of raw vegetables in my diet (especially post detox)
• Detox all the crap I know I have in my body
• Take a break from my supplementation regime to allow for better absorption post detox
• Burn some fat and try to retain as much (lean body mass) LBM as possible.  I’m shooting to get lose around 3% body fat.
• Start the new year more disciplined, goal oriented and on the right track
• Get over this constant fatigue that I’ve been dealing with for awhile (and abusing caffeine and other supplements as a result)
• Dive in and then grow into good habits that I can share with my family
• Sleep 8.5 hours a night and continue doing so.  I have the bad habit of forcing myself to stay awake for some strange reason.

Supplementation

I have stopped all my performance supplements listed below for the detox.  What I am going to take is listed below, with some rationale as to why and dosage information.  I don’t endorse any of these, I just want you to see what I’m doing and why.  Everything listed below is what I take because I have done my research, am informed with their contents and their interaction with my body, and consult with my doctor regularly.  You should do the same before taking any type of supplementation.

• Yogi DeTox Tea (2 bags twice daily): This tea is great for liver and kidney health.  It has some of those herbs and extracts that I can’t seem to find to put in my juices.  I’ve used this tea in the past and have experienced clearer skin and overall higher well being.
• Gaia Herbs Adrenal Health (2 pills twice daily): Adrenal support.  I’m pretty sure I’m on my way to adrenal fatigue, if I don’t already have it.  So I’m combining this supplement with the detox (and continue until I finish the bottle) to get my adrenal glands back up to where they need to be.
• Gaia Herbs Thyroid Support (1 pill twice daily): A few months ago my doctor said my thyroid was almost near the low-end, so I’m going to give it some nourishment just in case.  I really like these products because they’re all organic and natural (nothing synthetic).
• Dymatize Elite Gourmet Protein Powder (1 scoop twice daily): This is the protein I take on a regular basis to maintain my muscle mass.  As you know, vegetables don’t have nearly as much protein as meat unless you 1) eat very large quantities, 2) eat soy (I don’t), or 3) eat nuts (too high in fat and the fat / protein ratio isn’t great).  With that said, I’ll be drinking one shake in the mid-morning, and one in the evening before my workouts.  Your body uses carbs (muscle glycogen then your liver stores) as fuel first, then protein, then fat during workouts, and I don’t want to fuel my workouts with my muscles.
• PrimaForce Max CLA (10 pills twice daily): That comes out to 14g of CLA daily, which should increase my blood levels of saturated fats (i.e. causes my body to release fat from my cells to utilize as fuel and energy) and they be used as fuel themselves.  I use this regularly in my supplement regime and have had great results (but at a lower dose of 6 pills twice daily).
• trunature Liver Health Complex (2 pills twice daily): Me and my liver have a love / hate relationship.  I love to kill it with alcohol, and it hates when I do it.  So I’m taking this supplement in addition to the detox tea to allow my liver to get in shape.  I’m also significantly reducing my alcohol consumption throughout this process.
• A multivitamin
• Other vitamin and minerals for general health (i.e. vitamin C, E, calcium, etc).

Diet

Fasting is broken up into 3 phases where you 1) slowly reduce food and prepare the body for the juice, 2) the juice fast, and 3) the recovery period where you reintroduce food into your diet.  Some people have suggested reducing certain types of food during the prep, and simultaneously increasing juice consumption (reference link).  I like the idea, but it doesn’t seem practical, as you’re cutting out foods that may only work with others that have not (i.e. remove meats (turkey) while maintaining grains (bread) – that’s a gross sandwich).  So what I’m doing is a hybrid approach where I replace a meal with juice over the next 3 days.

I eat at least 5 times a day, in some way, shape or form.  Here’s a quick outline:

1. 8 AM: Breakfast: eggs, whole wheat bread, ham
2. 10 AM: Mid-morning: protein bar or fruit
3. 12 PM: Lunch: meat (chicken, steak or pork) and a vegetable (usually corn, green beans, tomatoes or sweet peas)
4. 4PM: Mid-afternoon: protein shake or protein bar
5. 8PM: Dinner: meat and vegetable, maybe some starch

 Day -2: Replace Breakfast and Mid-Afternoon with juice.  Eat food for mid-morning, lunch and dinner.

1. 8 AM: Breakfast: juice
2. 10 AM: Mid-morning: food
3. 12 PM: Lunch: food
4. 4PM: Mid-afternoon: protein shake
5. 8PM: Dinner: food

Day -1: Replace mid-morning and lunch with juice

1. 8 AM: Breakfast: juice
2. 10 AM: Mid-morning: protein shake
3. 12 PM: Lunch: juice
4. 4PM: Mid-afternoon: protein shake
5. 8PM: Dinner: food

Day 1-10: Replace dinner and all food consumption with juice

1. 8 AM: Breakfast: juice
2. 10 AM: Mid-morning: protein shake
3. 12 PM: Lunch: juice
4. 4PM: Mid-afternoon: protein shake
5. 8PM: Dinner: juice

Day 11+: Slowly introduce food back into your diet

I haven’t yet decided if I will start reintroducing food on day 8 through day 10, or complete up to day 10 with juice and utilize a slower re-introduction process for days 11 – 20.  I have to do a little more research on this.

I really like this plan because of the convenience.  I can juice once per day (in the evening), drink that juice for dinner and then pack up the rest for my 2 juices the next day.  The protein shakes are super easy as well, since it’s just powder that you add water to.

Exercise

Physical activity is extremely important to a healthy life style, and a juice detox is no different.  My typical workout regime consists of heavy weights 2 days and cardio 3 days a week.  Typically, cardio Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with weights on Saturday and Sunday (more time available on the weekend).  I’m going to keep that routine, but instead of lifting for mass / muscular growth, which is probably going to be impossible to sustain at this caloric intake level, I’m going to utilize endurance rep ranges (15 – 25 reps) (reference link).  That way I’ll remind my muscles that they’re there, but not destroy them and then leave them with no nutrients to rebuild (since this detox is low protein).

Edit: As it turns out, I had it wrong.  The time that you reduce food is considered part of the detox phase.  That is, the moment you start reducing your food and increasing your juice, you are detoxing, and thus, if you do that for 3 days and then just juice for 10 days, you’re actually detoxing for 13 days.

So I’ve renumbered today as Day 1 and adjusted my timetable.  Now the 10 day juice detox will be Jan 30 – Feb 8, with the reintroduction of food more or less ending on Feb 12 (4 days).

So I’ve decided to do a 10 day juice detox, which entails drinking vegetable and fruit juices only for 10 days.  There’s more to it than that, which I will outline later, as well as some modifications I’m going to make to suit my personal needs and goals.  I intend to post once a day for the entire duration of the cleanse, which I am planning for the entire month of Feb (more details to come).  I will also outline my motivation (prior to commencing), my supplies and diet plan, supplementation, my goals and my expectations throughout.

I will post once a day with all of the information, outlined in the following sections (below).  The only deviation from this will be the beginning and end comprehensive posts, any recipes I think may be helpful, supplement write ups and reviews, and anything that is not specifically juice detox oriented.

Post Sections and their descriptions:

Feelings and Thoughts

This section will contain my thoughts and feelings about the process, possible improvements, how its affecting my daily life, etc.  This should give the reader an idea of what it takes to get through it (from my research and prior experience I know it’s going to be quite difficult) and perhaps some tips that I can come up with.

Resources and Tips

This section will contain resources that I am utilizing on that particular day, that is, the books (and recipes), juicers and equipment, websites, blog posts, etc.  Further, I’ll include any tips that I discover or think up on a daily basis.  At the conclusion of the detox I will aggregate all the tips, resources and supplies for a comprehensive list.  That way someone can work backwards for the “best” preparation.

Goal Progress

At the beginning of the detox I will outline some of my goals and the corresponding issues / problems that these goals should solve (if applicable).  For instance, I intend on reducing my body fat and trying to maintain as much lean body mass (LBM) as possible, so I’ll be evaluating that frequently to see how it progresses.  (I know a lot of bodybuilders are interested to see just how much muscle they’d lose on this diet / detox, so hopefully this can shed some light on the subject).

Supplementation

Most instructions for the detox omit or exclude supplementation (i.e. vitamins, minerals, performance supplements, etc) for one reason or another.  I’m going to include the ones that I take and their rationale.

Diet

What I eat, drink, etc will go here.  I’m typically add the recipes in a separate post.  So if you want to see progress, you come here, if you want to get a recipe, you can just go directly to that page.  I will also include the removal and addition of foods at the beginning and end of the process.

Exercise

I work out between 3 – 6 times a week (depending on the week) and I don’t intend on stopping while fasting.  But I will definitely change the manner and frequency of my workouts to adjust to the added strain.  All those details go here.

I will be as specific as possible utilizing psuedo-scientific methods so that anyone (including myself) can duplicate the experience, improve upon it, or deviate from it according to their personal needs.

What a night. The woman of your dreams appeared. Your pulse raced. Heavy breathing ensued. You do remember it, right? Oh, wait, you were asleep. And that’s not all you missed. Under cover of night, sleep floods your veins with age-defying human growth hormone. Sleep raises an army of T cells and sends them into battle against colds and infection. Sleep resets the appetite controls that tell you to not hit the turn signal when you pass a McDonald’s. And, of course, sleep helps you above the neck as well as below the belt.

“It stabilizes your waking brain, makes you more alert, and allows you to process information faster,” says David Dinges, Ph.D., who studies shut-eye at the University of Pennsylvania. “It helps you remember things and consolidate those memories.” You won’t get that from a Red Bull. So then why are we engaged in a society-wide experiment in sleep deprivation? Average nightly sleep time during the workweek in the United States is down nearly 20 minutes in the last decade, to six hours and 40 minutes. And men ages 30 to 44 are the worst offenders: Thirty percent of them say they log less than six hours of sleep at night, according to a survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The price you pay for this sleep deficit is more than just lost productivity—your health can suffer too. So wake up! It’s time to shed some light on this dark territory.

Successful, driven guys should be good to go on five hours a night: MYTH

True, Napoleon slept four to five hours a night, and Thomas Edison got by on four. But world domination and the lightbulb might have been mere warm-ups had these guys slept more. Sleep scientists estimate that only 10 percent of adults are hardwired to need appreciably less (or more) sleep than the recommended seven to eight hours. And by cheating on sleep, you’re limping through life with the cranial equivalent of a torn calf muscle. Scarier still, people who are sleep-deprived often don’t even know they’ve turned into zombies. After dividing 48 volunteers into four sleep regimens—eight, six, four and zero hours a night (a.k.a. torture)—University of Pennsylvania researchers found that the six-hours-a-night group fared as poorly on measures of alertness and memory after two weeks as the no-sleep crew did after 24 hours. But participants in the six-hour group didn’t feel very sleepy even when they were performing at their worst. Accumulating a sleep deficit also leads to “microsleeps” while you’re awake. “Your brain becomes unstable and will go ‘off-line’ for half a second,” Dinges says. The more sleep-deprived you are, the more frequent and longer the lapses.

Snooze strategy: If you didn’t sleep seven to eight hours every night this past week, go to bed this weekend at your regular weekday time, but don’t set your alarm clock. Did you rise on Saturday and Sunday at the same time you would have on, say, a Tuesday? Then you may be one of those few people who can sleep less yet remain healthy. The rest of us mere mortals can begin to repay our sleep debt by dozing 10 hours a night on weekends and then sticking to seven to eight hours during the week. Your brain will use this strategy whenever you accumulate a sleep debt, says Ruth Benca, M.D., Ph.D., medical director of the Wisconsin Sleep Center. Otherwise, you want to stay consistent with your sleeping.

Frequently needing to pee in the middle of the night might indicate a health problem: TRUTH

That first stumble to the bathroom in the dark can be chalked up to the beer you drank watching the Knicks game. The second one can spell trouble. “If you habitually take two or more bathroom trips a night, you probably have obstructive sleep apnea,” says Alex Chediak, M.D., medical director of the Miami Sleep Disorders Center. With sleep apnea, the soft tissue at the back of your throat blocks your upper airway during sleep, stopping your breathing for anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute or even longer. This can occur hundreds of times in a night, depriving you of restorative deep sleep and starving your vital organs of oxygen. No wonder sleep apnea has been linked to heart disease, hypertension, and mood disorders.

But why does it wake you up to pee? Because those mini-suffocations result in lower circulating oxygen levels, your heart pumps harder, raising your blood pressure. As excess fluid builds up in your veins, a feedback loop triggers the release of a pressure-relieving diuretic, making you need to pee. An enlarged prostate and high blood sugar can also prompt middle-of-the-night bowl breaks. But with those conditions, says Dr. Chediak, you’ll pee a lot day and night.

Snooze strategy: Raising the pillow end of your bed by a few inches can help prevent that tissue from blocking your throat. Snoring could also be waking you in the middle of the night, and one major cause is nasal obstruction. Wash out mucus and irritants by mixing 1/4 teaspoon of table salt in 2 cups of warm water and flushing your nose twice a day using a medical or bulb syringe. Japanese researchers found that people with nasal obstruction were twice as likely to experience daytime fatigue as people with clear passageways. For video instruction on the technique, visit mayoclinic.com and search “nasal irrigation.” If the peeing persists around the clock, schedule a prostate exam and have your blood-sugar level checked by your doctor after an overnight fast.

The post-lunch bonk can’t be avoided: MYTH

Many Europeans scarf down a carb-loaded lunch and then shut down from 1 to 4 in the afternoon. But with unemployment soaring, let’s assume a three-hour nap won’t play well at the office. If you find yourself entering what amounts to a food coma after lunch, you’re probably eating too many carbohydrates in the morning. And what you’re not getting enough of is making it worse. “A postlunch crash is a telltale sign of poor nighttime sleep, as is dozing in meetings, theater performances, or similar environments,” says Dr. Benca. Not sure if you’re experiencing a modest dip or a true crash? Take a minute or two to fill out the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. This online questionnaire is the same one sleep docs use on their new patients.

Snooze strategy: Along with improving your nightly sleep pattern, eat three small meals spaced two hours apart in the morning. Try a protein shake at 7 a.m., two eggs and a small cup of oatmeal at 9, and an apple and a handful of almonds at 11. You’ll consume fewer carbohydrates, and you won’t be as likely to overeat at lunchtime. In fact, a salad with grilled chicken and avocado on top should be enough to keep your mind focused and your head off the desk all afternoon, says Keith Berkowitz, M. D., medical director of the Center for Balanced Health in New York City.

Waking up at 4 a. m. every day just means I’m an early riser: MYTH

More likely, you—along with 60 million other Americans—have insomnia, an inability to fall or stay asleep. “Insomniacs wake at the slightest disturbance and feel unrefreshed in the morning,” says Dr. Benca. Insufficient sleep exposes the sufferer to a litany of performance and health problems. In a study published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, researchers found insomniacs were more than twice as likely as normal sleepers to call in sick for long periods.

Snooze strategy: Let’s assume that you’ve already cut back on caffeine. What you want to do is make your sleep more efficient, says W. Christopher Winter, M.D., medical director of the sleep medicine center at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, Va. Dr. Winter likens poor sleep to a bookcase missing a few volumes, representing gaps in your sleep. By going to bed an hour or so later, those gaps won’t be as long as or frequent. Soon enough, you should be waking up after the roosters, not before them.

A tiring workout before bed will help me sleep more soundly: MYTH

Regular exercise is one of the best sleep-promoting remedies, but working out late at night risks leaving you wide-eyed in bed. “It’s easiest to fall asleep when your core body temperature goes relatively quickly from very warm to very cold,” says Dr. Chediak. “After exercise, that cooling process takes four to six hours.” It’s better to take a hot bath or sauna session close to bedtime. “Anything that raises core body temperature will help get you started on sleep,” says Dr. Chediak. He says the cooldown period into the sleep zone following a bath takes just two hours—half that of an exercise session.

Snooze strategy: Work out—but do it first thing in the morning for all-day energy and a quick drift into deep, restful sleep. Studies show that exercise improves sleep as effectively as a class of sleeping pills that includes Restoril and Halcion.

Alcohol can help me sleep at night: MYTH

Only if you equate a good night’s sleep with passing out drunk on your girlfriend’s sofa. Alcohol messes with the normal sleep cycle, especially the back end of the cycle. “Four hours into sleep, alcohol wears off and leaves you in an excitable state,” says Dr. Chediak. You’ll sleep lighter, wake more easily, and be hung over when you do wake. After three nights of intoxicated slumber, even the initial knockout punch begins to wane. Dr. Chediak warns of another drawback to using a six-pack as a sleep aid. “Being a muscle relaxant as well as sedative, alcohol can even create sleep apnea symptoms in snorers who don’t otherwise have the condition,” he says. Unfortunately, liquor is a go-to therapy for many sheep counters, used as often as over-the-counter sleeping pills and more often than prescription sleep meds.

Snooze strategy: Be consistent with your overall schedule and you won’t need booze. “Your internal clock is a structure in your brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus,” says Dr. Winter. “To set this clock, eat your breakfast, lunch, and dinner at exactly the same time every day for a week.”

So when I rowed last week I was going through the workouts in the system and found a great one!  It looks like this:

1 minute rowing / 1 minute rest
2 minute rowing / 2 minute rest
4 minute rowing / 4 minute rest
2 minute rowing / 2 minute rest
1 minute rowing / 1 minute rest

That’s a total of 12 minutes of rowing and 12 minutes of rest.  It’s a great way to get back into it and force me to conserve energy and increase stamina.  I will be using it, hopefully, tomorrow.  If not, it will have to wait until next week.

I’ll keep you updated.