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On Life III


Tomster

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Are you still asleep or up already? Are you a late riser or an early bird?

Long long time ago I was a late riser. Please do not confuse with a late bloomer. Anyway, I took every chance to start the day later. The weekend was always meant to sleep in. 

Something's changed. Several years ago I changed my behaviour to the contrary. 

It was at a time when I had trouble sleeping. I woke up at night, always thinking about the unfinished tasks, personal goals, ideas and rolled from side to side until I finally fell asleep again in the early morning. When my alarm clock rang, I pressed the snooze button again and again. This battle turned into a morning ritual. When I sat at my desk later I was drained and tired. I did the most urgent tasks and postponed all the others in the hope that I would be fitter the next day. 

Procrastination is a vicious circle.

Now it happened that I got up when I lay awake around 4 am. It wasn't intended. I didn't even think about. I just decided to get up. 

What happened now was interesting. I enjoyed the morning peace and quiet, started to work off my tasks and the to-do list was getting shorter. So I started thinking. I began to deal with the matter. Why did I sleep better again? Why was I more productive? Why was I more relaxed? 

5 reason to get up at 5 a. m. 

Clarity

You have not yet been pushed to and fro by a thousand small and large demands from a thousand directions until you feel dizzy. No one is bothering you, neither mails, nor phone calls, nor life gets in your way. Your partner is still sleeping, your colleagues and your competition even more so. Television has nothing to offer. 

Benjamin Franklin got up at 5 a.m. every morning to be able to plan citizen militias undisturbed, to design the US Constitution in his head and to invent the lightning rod. The philosopher Immanuel Kant got up at this time to smoke a pipe, meditate and think up his epistemology or phrases like "One who makes himself a worm cannot complain afterwards if people step on him.".

At 5 a.m. there is only you, with your clear thoughts, your plans, your goals. Full of energy and time for you. 

 

Self-discipline 

Why do we so rarely manage to do sports after work, or take care of our household or finally give our family and friends the attention they deserve? Why are most diets thrown overboard in the evening?

Self-discipline is like a muscle that goes limp during the day. Every little decision you make (Quickly cross the crossroads at yellow?), every tiny task you don't do out of pure joy or habit (Quickly iron your shirt before going to the office. Better to eat only the apple than the family pack of chocolate bars), strains the muscle of self-discipline. Like any other muscle, it needs energy. At the end of the day there is nothing left of it. All your plans to lose weight, to do sports, to meditate regularly, to start a business, to read more books or to learn to play the guitar, are confronted in the evening, unarmed, with an army of old, bad habits, light distractions and tiredness.

At 5 a.m., you're more self-disciplined than you've ever been that day. Why not invest this energy in yourself and your dreams instead of giving it away over the day to your job and the things that others want to do with you ("Heyyy, do you have a minute...?"). 

 

Enthusiasm 

Between 6 and 9 in the morning, people tweet with the highest percentage of words like "fantastic!", "super", "proud" and "shit, that's cool!", according to the results of a major analysis. It's the people who, in all outward calm, did great things with joy while the sun was rising.

At 5 o'clock in the morning you still have plenty of time to do things that feel fantastic, bring you forward and make you feel proud. While your fellow men are still wallowing in bed.

 

Creativity

Ernest Hemingway got up at dawn to write about old men and the seas, the war and snow on Kilimanjaro, securing himself a Nobel Prize in Literature and millions of readers.

At 5 a.m. you can hang on to the teat of creativity and drink from it with big gulps. Sounds disgusting, but it works.

 

The early morning attracts SUCCESS 

James Citrin, CEO of a global recruitment agency and himself an early riser by conviction, asked 20 managers of international corporations when they get up and how they spend the morning hours. None of them started the day after 6 a.m. One of the interviewees was Steve Reinemund, former head of PepsiCo. Reinemund gets up at 5 a.m., goes for a four-mile run (outside or on the treadmill), takes a shower, meditates, reads a book or the newspaper, and then spends breakfast time with his children without rush before he drives to the office and starts the work day. He knows: what is most important to him must be done first. Because during the day, urgent things come to the foreground, which do not necessarily have to be important.

At 5 o'clock in the morning, the successful ones take the reins of their lives in their hands.

 

Thanks to my monk for reminding me. The five reasons may now appear to some to be somewhat contrary to the completion of tasks. No. I transformed myself into an early riser and realized that it is of the greatest advantage for my private life as well as for my job. Both spheres must be in harmony, in balance. By getting up early I managed to keep this balance. 

Every day I got up just before 4 a.m. At first I allowed myself a delicious tea, which I enjoyed most of all on the balcony in the summer months in all peace and quiet. There is hardly anything better than the sunrise and the chirping of the birds in the morning. Afterwards I went for the morning sport. Freshly showered and wide awake, I got into the car after a leisurely breakfast to arrive at the office shortly before 7 am, two hours before business hours. In these first two hours I accomplished the most essential tasks. BTW, my to-do lists are not sorted by priority, because everything is always important or appears to be. My lists are divided into unpleasant, pleasant and enjoyable tasks. The unpleasant tasks are to be done first. Even for this there is a simple reason. As long as you know that you have an unpleasant task to do, you work less concentrated. The energy is vasted only with the thought "I still have to do this... shit.". But once you've done that, you just pat yourself on the back and say "Well done". Through the relief and the sense of achievement, you gain new strength but above all you are more relaxed and in a better mood. 

At the end of the day I have more time for myself, for my partner,.... and so on. Just because I got up earlier, did not procrastinate, got things finished. Also on weekends I got up at this time. The best time to bake bread and buns. 

I've learned that many people do not understand the importance of (self)discipline, (self)structure and (self)balance as essential tools to live a more fulfilling, positive life. Getting up early is a simple first step, which should be complemented later with further puzzle pieces, such as purposeful relaxation, meditation, etc. But it is a first step. 

In the past weeks and months I was able to observe that especially those people of whom I know that they have a similar attitude towards life and use the same or similar techniques as I do, can deal with the current situation much better. 

As is commonly known, some things in my life have changed in the meantime. I am still an early bird. Something that will never change. I wake up between 4:30 and 5:00 o'clock in the morning, get up and usually prepare an Earl Gay (a self-made herbal tea) with lemon. I enjoy it together with the pleasant silence and the sound of the waves on the deck. Pat and sometimes Ben join me about a half hour later. We swim a few lanes and jog a few kilometres before enjoying the breakfast my husband has prepared in the meantime (or we all prepare it together) in all comfort. After that we are ready for all the tasks and challenges of the day. In doing so, we also pay attention to balance, to enjoy the pleasant things and moments. 

Being an early riser does not mean going to bed early. There is a German wisdom "Mit den Hühnern schlafen gehen." (go to bed with the chickens [and you hold the cock in your hand when you wake up]*) which says that you should go to bed early like the chickens. I realized that my body demands much less sleep than I had ever thought before. *the part in square brackets is a commonly known addition 😁

Life is energy. (If you have read carefully, you have already figured this out.) This energy can be channeled in a purposeful way. 

Thanks for reading.

Please let me know by your comments if you are interested in techniques to transform yourself into an early bird and other ways to achieve more positivity, balance in your life. 

 

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Guest lev_igor33

Posted

 I have been an early riser all my life. When I was a kid we lived in a small house and it was so noisy, that I couldn't think straight. Our public library was too far to go everyday, Thus I got up around 4 AM and did my homework and studies. I went from a C student to an A student. 

As an adult I get up early to achieve the tasks that are hard to accomplish during the day: Go to gym at 3 AM, do independent studies or course work or to just enjoy quiet and do self-reflection and life planning. 

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bakersman94

Posted

i have always been a nighthawk, staying up until 4am and 5am. then i had my heart surgery, after that i was getting up at 7 am and 8am in the morning. 

this used to happen when i would go to Florida on holiday. i`d be up at 8am, and crash around 12am, but within a few weeks after i got back home, i`d slowly transition back to staying up all night and sleeping until 1pm. 

since the surgery in 2017, i have stayed with getting up at 7am or 8am and crashing between 10pm and 12am. i started having trouble staying asleep in the mid to late 2000,`s. i got into this habit of waking up 3 hours after going to bed (not that wanted to, it is just how my waking up a few hours after i went to bed started to happen), then i would go back to bed an hour later and sleep through until morning. i started experimenting with natural remedies to see if i could sleep through to morning. with a combination of 4 vitamin D3`s (1000iu) pills and 2 magnesium (500mg per pill) taken in the morning shortly after i get up, seem to help me sleep more soundly, but haven't done anything to keep me from waking up 3 to 4 hours after i go to bed. i seem to sleep more soundly after i go back to bed, and rarely wake up before morning.

i usually manage to get between 7 and 8 hours sleep at night and wake up fairly well rested. 

i have had the thought that maybe if i had a nap a few hours before bed time, that it might act like the first 4 hours of sleep i get, before going back to bed and sleeping through until morning, but i have yet to give it a try, lololol!! 

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majikthis

Posted (edited)

Let me be the advocatus diaboli here. I have found this interesting article on BBC. ⬇️

We’ve all heard it before: to be successful, get out of bed early. But research shows that morning versus evening types show a classic left-brain versus right-brain division. It’s estimated that some 50% of the population isn’t really morning or evening-oriented, but somewhere in the middle. Roughly one in four of us, though, tend more toward bright-eyed early risers, and another one in four are night owls (like Yours Truly).  Research shows that morning versus evening types show a classic left-brain versus right-brain division: more analytical and cooperative versus more imaginative and individualistic.

Although morning types may achieve more academically, night owls tend to perform better on measures of memory, processing speed and cognitive ability, even when they have to perform those tasks in the morning. Night-time people are also more open to new experiences and seek them out more. They may be more creative (although not always). And contrary to the maxim (‘healthy, wealthy and wise’), one study showed that night owls are as healthy and wise as morning types.

Still think the morning people sound more like CEO material? Don’t set your alarm for 5am just yet. As it turns out, overhauling your sleep times may not have much effect.

"If people are left to their naturally preferred times, they feel much better. They say that they are much more productive. The mental capacity they have is much broader,” says Oxford University biologist Katharina Wulff, who studies chronobiology and sleep. On the other hand, she says, pushing people too far out of their natural preference can be harmful. When they wake early, for example, night owls are still producing melatonin. “Then you disrupt it and push the body to be in the daytime mode. That can have lots of negative physiological consequences,” Wulff says, like a different sensitivity to insulin and glucose – which can cause weight gain.

In many ways, that makes sense, since research shows that our chronotype, or internal clock, is mainly biological. (Researchers even have found that the circadian rhythms of human cells in vitro correlate with the rhythms of the people they were taken from). Up to 47% of it is inherited, which means if you want to know why you pop up at dawn each day (or never do), you should probably look at your parents.

Your preference does change as you age. Children tend toward morning, with a peak shift toward night around age 20 and a slight change back toward morning at around age 50. But compared to your peers, you’ll probably always fall within the same rough part of the spectrum. 

In our rush to figure out the ‘secrets’ of success, we tend to forget a couple of things. First, not all high achievers are early risers, and not all early risers are successful. (Famous late risers include Box CEO Aaron Levie and Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti, Winston Churchill, Barack Obama, NYC mayor Bill de Blasio, creatives like Elvis Presley, Pharrell and Trevor Noah, and giants of art, like James Joyce, Gertrude Stein,  Gustave Flaubert, Marcel Proust or Jackson Pollock).

But more importantly, in a phrase beloved by academics everywhere, correlation isn’t causation. In other words, it’s not clear that waking up early itself provides the benefit. Instead, it may be that most of us are expected to start work or school by 8 or 9am. If you’re a morning person, a combination of biological changes, from your hormones to body temperature, will get you up and at 'em way ahead of your night owl peers. That means people who enjoy rising early will be more aligned with their workday and likely to achieve more. For a night owl waking at 7am, her body still thinks she’s asleep and is acting accordingly, so she’s groggy for much longer than a morning person who wakes up at the same time. 

Researchers also point out that because evening types often have to function when their bodies don’t want to, it makes sense that they may have worse moods or lower life satisfaction. It may also mean that they’ve had to figure out how to be more innovative and cut corners – which may encourage their creativity and cognitive skills. Because the cultural stereotype is that people who go to bed and rise late are lazy, most people probably try to become morning people as much as they can. The only ones who don’t may inherently have more rebellious, or individualistic, traits.

But shifting someone’s chronotype doesn’t necessarily change these traits. As one recent study found, even as people tried to become ‘morning’ people, it didn’t make them have a better mood or life satisfaction, suggesting these traits are “intrinsic components of the late chronotype.”

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20171114-why-you-shouldnt-try-to-be-a-morning-person

Personal note: I have always been (since my childhood) a lot more efficient and creative in the evening (well, after 3 - 4 PM).  I usually stay up late (1 am) and enjoy the quiet of the night. With the chores of the day done, it is my "me time".  It is the time to check Adonismale, read a book, do the daily Vandanā  and meditation. Mind you, being a night owl has never prevented me from enjoying some nice early morning sex. I just go back to sleep afterwards.

giphy.gif

 

 

Edited by majikthis
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Tomster

Posted

16 hours ago, majikthis said:

Let me be the advocatus diaboli here.

You are most welcome. 

There are numerous research studies on this subject. The numbers often differ slightly from each other. Some claim there are 60 percent larks, 20 percent owls, while others say there are 80 percent larks and only 10 percent owls. 

Michael Breus, PhD recently suggested that there are 4 natural chronotypes. And he named these after 4 animals that follow similar sleep/wake patterns. 

Wolves

Just like these nocturnal creatures, you are most alert at night. Wolves tend to stay up later and struggle with waking up early. Only about 15% of the population falls into this group. Wolves are more productive in the later afternoon and evening.

Lions

And like these wild cats, you are most alert in the morning. You have no trouble waking up and getting to work. But, lions tend to feel the afternoon slump. And by the evening, they feel drained. About 15% of the population identifies as a lion.

Bears

But, like these diurnal (awake during the day, asleep at night) creatures, you follow the solar cycle. Bears generally feel awake during the day and need 8-hours of solid sleep at night. About 50% of the population falls into this category. This group is productive in the morning and struggles with the mid-afternoon slump.

Dolphins

Dolphins “only sleep with half of their brain at a time?”

Sound familiar? Well, this is the insomniac (often self-diagnosed) group. You might be anxious and have trouble turning your brain off at night. Dolphins usually don’t get a complete night’s sleep. About 10% of the population falls in this category. And even though they wake-up tired, dolphins are most productive by the mid-morning.

I always thought I am a tiger but it appears to me that I am a lion. 😉

We should bear in mind that research in the fields of chronobiology is relatively new. 

It is also important to remember that since childhood we have been pushed in a certain direction. School starts at 7 a.m. , later the working day starts at 8:30 a.m. When I took office, there were fixed working hours from 8:30 a. m. to 5:15 p. m. including a 15 minute break for breakfast and a 30 minute break for lunch. In the morning you could look into many tired faces.

I myself had already transformed into an early riser. What I wrote yesterday is of course my experience. I didn't even know what I did. I just got up earlier, got more done and just felt more comfortable. That was one reason why we looked into the matter more closely in cooperation with internal coaches and external consultants. One of them was a somnologist. 

@majikthis I can confirm what you wrote. 

At that time I learned a lot about the body's own biorhythm, our performance curves and sleep phases. Some probably know the 24-hour performance curve. We oscillate around this with another 90-minute sinusoidal performance curve. During our sleeping time we go through 5 phases that are repeated. In the light sleep phase, our muscles relax and the brain processes impressions and stores them in long-term memory. The slow-wave sleep phase is the most important for physical and mental regeneration. Here our brain and our body are in standby, so to speak. (I skip the other phases.) 

If you have now set your alarm clock to 7 o'clock, it can happen that you are currently in a slow-wave sleep phase again. The theory and recommendation of the sleep researcher was to gradually bring the time forward by 15 minutes until you found the time that suits you best. In addition and extremely important is to develop a constant daily sleep rhythm. Unfortunately this is not possible for everyone (e. g. shift worker) . Especially at the weekend many break the rhythm. This is often referred to as social jet lag. 

To make a long story short. We have given our employees the opportunity to determine their own working hours as far as possible. Quite a large part of them starts already at 7 a. m. to get more out of the day. Others, however, prefer the business hours and a smaller but not negligible part starts shortly before noon and works until the evening hours. Thanks to the later created possibilities of home office, even more flexibility was achieved. 

Our analysis, which is repeated annually, has shown that there is a small increase in productivity. Errors of carelessness due to a lack of concentration were noticeably less. More important, however, were the survey results. Almost 70 percent were convinced that the working atmosphere and their own well-being had improved. However, I must also point out that we offer additional services (a restaurant, an internal kindergarten, a gym...). Some of these services were implemented in the same period. 

17 hours ago, majikthis said:

Personal note: I have always been (since my childhood) a lot more efficient and creative in the evening (well, after 3 - 4 PM).

 

On 6/14/2020 at 4:00 PM, lev_igor33 said:

 I have been an early riser all my life.

You have already discovered for yourselves how you feel most comfortable. Not everyone is aware that sometimes small changes or adjustments are advantageous. 

On 6/14/2020 at 4:00 PM, lev_igor33 said:

Go to gym at 3 AM

Please do not move to Germany. You won't find a gym there that's open at this time. 😂 

18 hours ago, bakersman94 said:

i have had the thought that maybe if i had a nap a few hours before bed time, that it might act like the first 4 hours of sleep i get, before going back to bed and sleeping through until morning, but i have yet to give it a try, lololol!! 

I am regularly having a power nap. But in your case, Wes, it could be counterproductive. We all wake up on average 10 to 30 times per night. We just don't remember it if that phase lasts less than 3 minutes. 

May I ask when and what you eat in the evening and what you do before going to bed? 

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bakersman94

Posted (edited)

i have my last meal at 8pm. i have a salad with tomatoes and thinly sliced onion on a bed of romaine lettuce. i have 3 or 4 slices of mortadella and sometimes a piece of marble cheese with my salad. i watch tv and check out what's going on at AdonisMale, and crash between 10pm and midnight. before covid19 i was crashing at 10pm, but have been crashing a little later some nights. i do go for walks everyday, and like to get somewhere around 15,000 in a day. with love from Wes!! Hugs!!! 

p.s. i forgot to mention, i have a cup of Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime herbal tea, after my supper. sometimes i`ll have a handful of hard cheesies, or some skinny pop popcorn.

Edited by bakersman94
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majikthis

Posted

5 hours ago, Tomster said:

I always thought I am a tiger but it appears to me that I am a lion. 😉

I can hear you roar 🦁

It seems I am a wolf, howling at the moon. Good. I like wolves.

Speaking of, I just had to share this. Wolf pup trying to howl like the big boys.

 

On 6/14/2020 at 9:33 PM, bakersman94 said:

i have had the thought that maybe if i had a nap a few hours before bed time

 

5 hours ago, Tomster said:

I am regularly having a power nap. But in your case, Wes, it could be counterproductive.

There was this series about sleep on BBC Earth, and one expert (what do you call those? morpheologist from Morpheus? /not to be confused with morphologists or the bloke from Matrix/ hypnologist from Hypnos?) said power naps are good for you.  I can totally get behind the Spanish-style siesta. Have lunch, then 30 mins nap, go back to work reinvigorated. Brilliant.

There is one sound advice I can give: at least half an hour before you go to bed turn off the TV/PC or whatever device you're using and just chill. Do your evening ablutions, and prepare your body and your brain for sleep - read a book, do a simple relaxation exercise (samatha meditation, autogenic training, yoga), jerk off, have sex - whatever makes you relax.  I've found that this simple thing can dramatically improve the quality of sleep.

PS. "Mit den Hühnern schlafen gehen." We have the same saying in Hungarian. Pity your funny  joke with "holding the cock in your hand" works only in English :m1703:

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JoelR

Posted

At 5 a.m. you can hang on to the teat of creativity and drink from it with big gulps. Sounds disgusting, but it works.

Ernest Hemingway must have been suckin' on some big 'ol muscle titties to win a Nobel prize LOL

As always, an uplifting and positive blog @Tomster

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Tomster

Posted

15 hours ago, majikthis said:

said power naps are good for you. 

That is generally true. However, if you suffer from insomnia, you should avoid it for a while. Depending on the circumstances, it is possible that the body does not need this additional rest and therefore the main sleep is interrupted. 

15 hours ago, majikthis said:

I can totally get behind the Spanish-style siesta. Have lunch, then 30 mins nap, go back to work reinvigorated. Brilliant.

I totally agree. Most Mediterranean countries have it in the hot midday hours. It is called riposo in Northern Italy and pisolino in Southern Italy. I find it a pity that few employers allow the possibility of a rest period. A 15 to 20 minute nap or 10 minutes in a quiet room flooded with blue light will help you out of your performance low. 

15 hours ago, majikthis said:

There is one sound advice I can give: at least half an hour before you go to bed turn off the TV/PC or whatever device you're using and just chill. Do your evening ablutions, and prepare your body and your brain for sleep - read a book, do a simple relaxation exercise (samatha meditation, autogenic training, yoga), jerk off, have sex - whatever makes you relax.  I've found that this simple thing can dramatically improve the quality of sleep.

I couldn't say it better. The 7/11 breathing exercises help enormously to relax and fall asleep. Breathe in through the nose and count to 7, then out through the slightly open mouth and count to 11. 

16 hours ago, bakersman94 said:

i have my last meal at 8pm. i have a salad with tomatoes and thinly sliced onion on a bed of romaine lettuce. i have 3 or 4 slices of mortadella and sometimes a piece of marble cheese with my salad.

That sounds pretty healthy. When we eat tomatoes in the evening, our body releases more norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter that keeps our brain busy. Tomatoes also contain a lot of acid, which our stomach has to process first. Cheese prevents you from sleeping well through the night. The reason? The milk product initiates a chemical process in the body which ensures that endorphins are released. And these in turn cause restless dreams.

Chocolate, sweetened food, red meat, white flour products, fried foods, and spicy food should also be avoided in the evening. 

Other foods, however, support sleep. Almonds, walnuts, cashews, and cocoa contain a lot of L-tryptophane. How about a hot chocolate made from unsweetened almond milk and unsweetened cocoa? Sour cherries and raspberries contain melatonin as well as oats (Oats also contain a lot of vitamin D. A lack of vitamin D, for example, causes sleep disorders.) . Sardines, avocados, bananas contain magnesium. Other fish such as herring or salmon contain tryptophan. 

Magnesium lowers the temperature of the brain and regulates the hormone balance, making it easier for the body to relax. In combination with potassium, magnesium additionally improves sleep, as it ensures healthy digestion and can reduce high blood pressure. Of course, the amino acid tryptophane is also crucial, because without it the body cannot produce serotonin and melatonin. However, these two hormones are essential to regulate our biorhythms and control hormone balance. 

15 hours ago, majikthis said:

Wolf pup trying to howl like the big boys.

😍 

10 hours ago, JoelR said:

on some big 'ol muscle titties

Thanks Joel. I would suck on these tits not only in the morning. 😁

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bakersman94

Posted

@Tomster i only have 2 or 3 cherry tomatoes cut in 1/2 with my salad. i take D3 (4 pills 1000iu) and magnesium (2 caps 500mg) in the morning. would it help if i started taking them with my last meal? i can stop eating cheese in the evening, and are you suggesting i not have the herbal tea after my last meal? the herbal tea helps me relax as bedtime approaches. with love from Wes!! Hugs!!! 

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malelover

Posted

@bakersman94 

I had similar problems. 3 to 4 hours after falling asleep I woke up and was awake. It took me about an hour to fall back asleep. After much experimentation I understood that some food kept me from sleeping through the night. Meat, various types of cheese and various vegetables such as cucumbers and tomatoes caused it. 1 or 2 small tomatoes with a little fresh lovage do not cause problems. @majikthis advice is important. 

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Tomster

Posted

18 hours ago, bakersman94 said:

magnesium (2 caps 500mg)

As far as I know, people who suffer from calf cramps at night are recommended to take magnesium in the evening. Since you take two capsules a day, it might make sense to take 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening. Is the magnesium level in the blood regularly checked? 

18 hours ago, bakersman94 said:

are you suggesting i not have the herbal tea after my last meal?

No. This herbal tea is fine. Make it a ritual and enjoy the tea. 

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majikthis

Posted (edited)

On 6/16/2020 at 7:43 PM, bakersman94 said:

the herbal tea helps me relax as bedtime approaches

 

8 hours ago, Tomster said:

Make it a ritual and enjoy the tea.

The best herbs that help you sleep are hops, valerian, lavender and lemongrass. And they all taste pretty nice. Well, valerian can be rather powerful (it's used in treating insomnia and other sleep disorders), but you can drink  the others to your heart's content and your bladder's capacity.

Or you can make a potpourri pillow with those herbs and place it next to your head. It's an aromatherapy thing. It also covers one's noxious sleep farts...

Edited by majikthis
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bakersman94

Posted

Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime has a mix of chamomile, spearmint, lemongrass, hawthorn, tilia flowers, and valerian.

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bakersman94

Posted

12 hours ago, Tomster said:

As far as I know, people who suffer from calf cramps at night are recommended to take magnesium in the evening. Since you take two capsules a day, it might make sense to take 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening. Is the magnesium level in the blood regularly checked? 

i have no way to check my blood  for anything, Tommy!! i am trying, for the first time, to take my vitamin D3 and magnesium with my supper instead of in the morning. i`ll probably have to do it for a week before i`ll know if its working or not. 

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Tomster

Posted

7 hours ago, majikthis said:

Or you can make a potpourri pillow with those herbs and place it next to your head.

Great advice. I always had a lot of lavender in my garden. When it bloomed, I always hung little bouquets to dry. The fragrance is wonderful and soothing. Valerian roots are not the best choice if you have a cat in the house. It has the opposite effect on them. 😂

3 hours ago, bakersman94 said:

i have no way to check my blood  for anything, Tommy!!

I thought you had a routine checkup with the doctor every now and then. 

3 hours ago, bakersman94 said:

i am trying, for the first time, to take my vitamin D3 and magnesium with my supper instead of in the morning.

I'm sorry I didn't make it clear. My recommendation was to take one of the two magnesium capsules in the evening. The D3 should be taken in the morning or latest at noon with a meal. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. "It stimulates serotonin (a feel-good neurotransmitter), which can lower the sleep hormone melatonin. Magnesium helps to achieve a better, deeper sleep and is therefore best taken with dinner. It should be taken in the evening, but separately from the meal directly before bedtime to avoid disturbances from digestive enzymes and stomach acid."

 

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bakersman94

Posted

6 hours ago, Tomster said:

I thought you had a routine checkup with the doctor every now and then. 

i did for the first 2 years ...... now, not so much. i do have an appointment with the cardiologist in a few weeks, but nothing with my family doctor. 

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bakersman94

Posted

6 hours ago, Tomster said:

I'm sorry I didn't make it clear. My recommendation was to take one of the two magnesium capsules in the evening. The D3 should be taken in the morning or latest at noon with a meal. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. "It stimulates serotonin (a feel-good neurotransmitter), which can lower the sleep hormone melatonin. Magnesium helps to achieve a better, deeper sleep and is therefore best taken with dinner. It should be taken in the evening, but separately from the meal directly before bedtime to avoid disturbances from digestive enzymes and stomach acid."

thank you for this, Tommy!! i did read your suggestion for one in morning and one in the evening, but i took it upon myself to take both in the evening with the last meal. i`ll start taking them, one in the morning, and one in the early evening with my mid day meal around 5pm, as per your suggestion. when i was experimenting, looking for something that would help me sleep better, i tried taking melatonin, but it made me so uncomfortable to be in my own skin, i stopped after the second dose, as the uncomfortableness was getting more pronounced. 

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majikthis

Posted

On 6/18/2020 at 7:28 AM, Tomster said:

Great advice. I always had a lot of lavender in my garden. When it bloomed, I always hung little bouquets to dry. The fragrance is wonderful and soothing.

I don't know if you know this, but if you put dried lavender (in a small cloth pouch ) in your wardrobe it keeps away moths. And lavender honey is absolute bliss.

 

On 6/18/2020 at 7:28 AM, Tomster said:

Valerian roots are not the best choice if you have a cat in the house. It has the opposite effect on them. 😂

It's not very nice, is it. Smells like dirty socks and stale catpiss. Cats have weird tastes.

My latest discovery is hop tea. It doesn't make you sleepy or woozy, just helps you have a deeper, more relaxing sleep. And no, you can't substitute it with beer.

And now I promise I'll stop ranting about herbal medicines, and go dance naked under the full moon.

Maybe take  my broomstick for a whirl.

Ea0PWoxXsAAvzgX?format=jpg&name=large

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Tomster

Posted

@bakersman94 I asked because I believe that a mineral deficiency should first be diagnosed before it is addressed (I'm a scientist). As long as one does not suffer from renal insufficiency, excess magnesium is excreted. 

11 hours ago, majikthis said:

And no, you can't substitute it with beer.

Such a pity. :m1205:

But you can improve your athletic performance with beer.

Beer-And-Performance-2.thumb.jpg.435955122d660e9a09a771014b10f2e5.jpg

:m0172:

11 hours ago, majikthis said:

And now I promise I'll stop ranting about herbal medicines

We have not yet shed light on the calming effect of melissa (lemon balm, Melissa officinalis). Herbs have a beneficial effect on health not only as tea or as an extract. When cooking, they add the necessary spice to the food and sometimes also help the food to be digested better. They can also replace part of the salt (we eat too much of it).

When I think of the quantities of different herbs I had in the garden. Starting with melissa, chamomile, different kinds of mint (also catnip), different kinds of thyme, oregano, marjoram, tarragon, sage, lovage, parsley, coriander, rosemary, ...

Another advantage of the herbs is that they are a valuable source of food for our bees, bumblebees, butterflies and other insects during the blooming period.

11 hours ago, majikthis said:

And lavender honey is absolute bliss.

Yes! A homemade lavender flower jelly is also delicious. You can also lure me with thyme honey.

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I get up early so I am ready to work when the sun comes up.  I enjoy nature at sunrise and sunset.

I enjoy the company of early risers - more positive people!

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majikthis

Posted

On 6/20/2020 at 9:17 AM, Tomster said:

different kinds of thyme, oregano, marjoram, tarragon, sage, lovage, parsley, coriander, rosemary, ..

You got it wrong. It should go like this "parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme"

 

On 6/20/2020 at 9:17 AM, Tomster said:

You can also lure me with thyme honey.

Thyme honey - duly noted. 😉

 

On 6/20/2020 at 9:17 AM, Tomster said:

melissa (lemon balm, Melissa officinalis

Now, I said I would shut up about herbal medicines. Ah well ...

Yes, the marvellous melissa. Tasty and good for you. In the summer I regularly make iced melissa and elderberry tea. The best cooling drink ever. And, should you run out of lemon juice, as I did a few years ago while making apple and quince compôte, melissa and apple vinegar can do the job.

The name "Melissa" comes from the Greek word μέλισσα (mélissa), "bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (meli), "honey". Melissa was one of the nymph nurses of Zeus, but rather than feeding the baby milk, she fed him honey.  🤓

Now I really have to rush, I have an important meeting at midnight on the Brocken (Blocksberg), and it's rather far, even on a broomstick.

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Tomster

Posted

Welcome aboard @Judi

13 hours ago, majikthis said:

You got it wrong. It should go like this "parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme"

It is because I listen the birds while gardening, not Simon & Garfunkel. 😇

However, I was forced to learn that some herbal plants become very huge. Something you don't expect when you buy a small pot or seeds. Tarragon 1,90 m, lovage 2,30 m when blooming... For mint you should plan enough space around it, as it multiplies very quickly. 

13 hours ago, majikthis said:

Now I really have to rush, I have an important meeting at midnight on the Brocken (Blocksberg), and it's rather far, even on a broomstick.

Hexentanzplatz_-_Teufel.jpg

Hexentanzplatz_-_Hexe.jpg

Hexentanzplatz_-_Des_Teufels_Gehilfe.jpg

 

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majikthis

Posted

7 hours ago, Tomster said:

Hexentanzplatz_-_Teufel.jpg

The sculptor has obviously never been to my kind of witches' sabbath. The fellow I had to meet on the Brocken looked like this:

Diablo.thumb.jpg.ddcd08f14dea5ca50ccf39a9a79593fa.jpg

He can do amazing tricks with his tail ....

7 hours ago, Tomster said:

Hexentanzplatz_-_Hexe.jpg

 

 

Yes, I have heard Kim Kardashian shows up now and again.

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