Yeah, my friends and I had the "midnight mommy club" on Fb when our kids were all teething at the same time and we were up all night. We did snack a lot, just to stay awake. Now I don't snack so much since I've been tracking everything I eat, and I'm so busy during the day that I usually still have a few calories to spare at the end of the day. I'm staying within my calorie goals and keeping up with exercise (finally doing consistent 9:30 miles!!) but I'm t.i.r.e.d.
We're slowly but surely getting back into school routine since we all start back on the 19th. My kids are 12, 10, 9, 4.5 and honestly they are all a lot of help with housework and getting things done. Playing drill sergeant and entertainer 24/7 is itself exhausting though. And now that I've got them back on a somewhat normal schedule I find myself with insomnia, go figure. I'm trying to avoid naps though so I'll be more tired at night.
Sleep helps you make better decisions regarding food and helps you recover better.
Like you, I've got a little brood that hasn't given me a full night's sleep in years. I've been able to lose the weight, but it was a lot harder than the first time (when I had no children). You CAN do this. It is not as easy as before, but it can be done. Good luck!
I have never had a job that wasn't shift work in my entire life (I am in my late 40s.) I have also never had, like, routine off days either. Off days switch from week to week. I know some people do get to work normal hours, similar to 9-5pm, but that is something completely foreign to me, lol. Currently I work reduced part time hours, which enable me to have a lot more structure and routine to my day/week, and it's like night and day as far as helping me try to diet and lose weight.
aw man, shiftwork was terrible for weight gain for me! I used to think working 3rds (11pm to 7am or so) was the absolute worst as far gaining, but for a half dozen years, I worked rotating 12 hour shifts - as in rotating/flipping from 12 hour nights to 12 hour days WITHIN THE SAME WEEK with rotating off days. That was gawdawful. I honestly haven't made the connection until this thread, but I straight up gained... I'm adding it up... 55 lbs slowly over those 6 years. And I made that gain while doing a physical type job. That was the beginning of my being very obese : / and it didn't stop there. My sleep patterns (when I did sleep) were atrocious.
If I sleep decently, I have will power and also enjoy/crave healthier foods.
I've lost 81 lbs and I will say, I sleep IMMENSELY better now than I did before I lost the weight. However, I think it isn't only because of the weight loss itself, but because I am eating so much better (and less) and therefore do not have the constant stomach issues I once had (especially apparent when you're trying to fall asleep), I exercise regularly so I'm releasing tension and stress every day, I have much more confidence so I deal with things better throughout my day (leading to much less of a busy mind while trying to fall asleep) and honestly, I'm just plain happier (for all the reasons above) so I do not fret as much. I used to lie awake thinking about any and everything bad you can imagine, giving myself panic attacks and convincing myself that I was worthless. On top of that, I rarely physically felt very good, so I was a total insomniac. I was on Ambien for years (which, BTW, is a TERRIBLE idea because I have experienced major memory loss). I had many nights where I literally never fell asleep, or got 1-2 hours of sleep, and then had to work the next day.
I rarely have problems falling asleep now. When I do, it is almost never serious. Sometimes I still have that "busy mind" syndrome, but I think that's normal for most people.
I gained and got to my highest weight ever during a 3 yr period when I couldn't get more than 4 hours of sleep and often got less. The sleep deprivation probably contributed to my weight gain, and it also caused a few hallucinations!
I highly value sleep. For me personally, to feel healthy sleep is the most important, then some exercise, then a healthy diet. Diet's important to lose weight but as long as I'm not consuming excess calories, I can feel ok on a medium quality diet. I *must* have sleep and activity though to feel good.
