Insomniobesity

insomnia Is it possible for jet lag to last for a week? Maybe the better question is; can you get jet lag from only 2 time zones away? Is there a minimum, say, 3 time zones at least? I mean, it’s not like I flew to Hawaii and back in 5 days, I went from eastern standard time to mountain time and back; that’s it. Still, I feel like Tyler Durden-the Edward Norton side. Time is irrelevant for me right now. I go to sleep at 4 or 5 in the morning and rationalize that it’s only 2 or 3 in El Paso. Problem is, I haven’t been in El Paso for 6 days, and my body is starting to notice. I’ve had these cycles before, brought on by an irregular work schedule for the 20+ years that I spent in the restaurant industry; but I can’t use that as an excuse this time. I hope to be out of this cycle by Tuesday or Wednesday, which is why I thought I would blog about it at 3 am on Monday morning.

Random Tangent Moment: sorry, this is why I never write with the television on but this new laptop is holding me captive on the bed as it sits in my lap. TLC has a show on right now called “I Eat 33,000 Calories A Day” documenting the struggle of the morbidly obese. Being overweight myself I can empathize, however; how does one who weighs 672 pounds and is bed-ridden get access to 33,000 calories a day? They just showed a caretaker bringing in a tray full of food that had a salad, large bagel, bottle of salad dressing (Italian, I think) and a JAR of mayonnaise. First off, I think I’d give him a small cup of dressing on the side. Next, the bagel shouldn’t even be on the tray, let alone accompanied by a JAR of mayonnaise; I mean, the guy weighs SIX HUNDRED AND SEVENTY TWO POUNDS! I’m not saying you chop him off at the knees and make him drink Slim-Fast shakes all day, but good gravy, HE’S STUCK IN BED!, bring him a diet coke and a salad with NO dressing. Trust me, if it sits there long enough, he’ll eat it. My daughter asks for Doritos for breakfast every morning, but I certainly don’t give them to her. Well, there was that one day…. My point is; this guy is being enabled to the point of ridiculousness. They’ve offered him stomach reduction surgery if he’ll lose 112 pounds, and he can’t, or won’t, do it. 112 pounds? Skip afternoon snack #4 one day. Forget the mayo slathered bagel. Burp. OK, that’s it; I can’t take this anymore, they’re getting ready to change his diaper and I’m sure it’ll be 3 times as hard to watch as it was to hear.

Launch It:

This entry was posted on Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 2:10 am and is filed under Guess It'll Have To Go Here. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

SurprisedMom

Another insomniac. You have my sympathy. For the last couple of years, insomnia has been a constant companion. I don’t know why it has chosen me to be its best friend. I’m hoping it goes away. I’m always moaning about how tired I am and/or how little sleep I get. I sound like a broken record.
In my youth, before children, I could sleep so sound that nothing penetrated my consciousness. And I mean nothing. As soon as I got pregnant, that all changed. Can we blame the insomnia on the children?
I tell you what. I’ll just give you my cell number. You can call me up and I’ll bore you to sleep. I’m typing this response at almost 4 a.m. Unfortunately, I’ve only gotten about two hours of sleep. I have to be up at 7 a.m. Oh, this will be a great day, I can tell.
As far as the obese man goes, it’s sad. Obesity is a disease, caused by a seritonin imbalance. To enable this man, is a crime. It’s going to kill him. I live with an obese person and worry everyday. I am overweight myself. Some people treat obese poeple with contempt, or as a laughing matter. I know from experience obese people are pre-judged. It’s a shame. I hope that poor man can lose the 112 pounds, soon, for his sake. (Ok, I’ll get off my soap box now.)

(NukeDad) Sounds like you’ve got it a lot worse than me; and I’ve never even been pregnant! The whole enabling part of the show is what upset me; these people can be helped (whether they want it or not) if they’re stuck in bed. Forcing them to eat better while confined to bed maybe the one thing that saves their lives. It’s a battle that a lot of people fight everyday, but having someone on your “team” enabling you just reaffirms your bad behavior.

SurprisedMom´s last blog ..Party Hearty or is it Hardy?

Jul 13, 2009 @ 4:04 am

Momo Fali

Enablers suck. That is all.

(NukeDad) Agreed. (See? I beat you AGAIN! This time in the brevity wars. Asides in parentheses don’t count)

Momo Fali´s last blog ..In Heaven You Don’t Have to Watch Your Step

Jul 13, 2009 @ 6:00 am

Melisa

I saw that show in my program guide last night and was slightly curious but then shook myself out of it and thought, “Nah…” I’m glad you filled me in about it because it confirmed that I made a good decision.

The girls at the salon are ALWAYS watching those goofy shows. Like “World’s Smallest Children” or “Obsessed”, which is the new one out there. Totally weird.

As far as your jet lag goes, I could be wrong but I suspect that it might have come from a can or a bottle. Or three. Having a crazy weekend like that can make your body get really mad for an extended period of time. But I could be wrong!

(NukeDad) I think your can or bottle theory may hold some ~~beer~~ water. The show was maddening because those that can’t get out of bed can be helped whether they want to be helped or not.

Melisa´s last blog ..O-nay Roblem-pay

Jul 13, 2009 @ 7:10 am

PJ Mullen

I’ve never had the nerve to watch that show, although I’ve seen its title many a times in my late night/early morning channel surfing. My wife works in a hospital and tells me stories about the morbidly obese that are ‘frequenty fliers’ (their term for regular admitees). No one would confuse me with slender, I’ve struggled with my weight my entire life. But when I got up to about 320 I looked at myself and said “damn, I’ve got to stop eating like this.” I guess I’m lucky the only enabler I’ve ever had in my life is my Italian grandmother who if she isn’t feeding you feels like she’s failing. As an aside, how does one who can’t get out of bed even afford to eat that much?

(NukeDad) Italian grandmother, huh? I’m a little jealous. That’s the part that got me; the person is too big to get out of bed and yet they still have access to all of that food. They did say that one man got a Home Equity loan with the intention of remodeling it to accommodate for his larger self, but ended up spending half of it on food.

PJ Mullen´s last blog ..Redesign on a Dime

Jul 13, 2009 @ 11:21 am

seashore

My husband has a hard time getting to sleep at a decent hour too. You have my sympathy.

I agree, you would think that someone stuck in bed would be able to loose weight due to no access. Can we say enabler?

(NukeDad) Momo said it best; enablers suck.

seashore´s last blog ..Highlights of a Trip

Jul 13, 2009 @ 11:40 am

Karen

Somewhat in response to SurprisedMom’s comment, a recent study actually showed that most obese people do not have any sort of imbalance nor disorder that causes their weight gain. While there are people who do the vast majority do not. To me blaming it on such a thing, especially if it has not been diagnosed by a medical doctor, is dangerous because the person is less likely to do much to fix the problem.

The number one cause of obesity is ingesting more calories than the body needs. Soft drinks and juices are a sneaky source of that, even diet drinks are linked to obesity (I think that is a chemical thing not a caloric thing). Exercise definitely is good and can help but it is more about health than weight reduction.

I have watched my mother struggle with her weight pretty much my entire life. I have told her time and again that she needed to adjust her portion sizes and lose the weight slowly and not get upset that she would not be losing a pound a day and that doing so is not healthy. She FINALLY listened, stopped the insane fad diet crap, and has lost the weight and has been keeping it off =)!

I definitely believe people should treat obese people like anyone else, it is ridiculous how some are to them. That said I agree with the crowd, that man’s caretakers are helping him kill himself by bringing him a whole jar of mayo and a thing of salad dressing. Keep the bagel though, look at the food pyramid and notice that grains and such are supposed to be a significant portion of the human diet, stupid Atkin’s and his no carb crap has twisted how people perceive anything with carbohydrates. A crash diet would actually be very bad for that man, his portions should be cut back somewhat gradually, he should be fed a balanced diet, and cut out the mayo and salad dressing immediately. The key to losing weight and keeping it off is lifestyle change, one cannot maintain a crash diet and so when they go off of it they gain it back.

I hope you get your sleep pattern back on track, it is something I am working on myself! I am capable of getting enough sleep but I go to bed way too late and my current method of trying to get my schedule worked out is to get up by 10am no matter what time I drag myself to bed. Doesn’t help that I have friends on pacific time and so they are 2 hours behind me so I often don’t get to talk to them until late, also have a friend in the hospital who sometimes has trouble sleeping and I often stay up on the phone with her. This week (and possibly beyond) I am kinda going on phone strike though, gotta get my prelims done!

(NukeDad) I have no illusions as to why I’m overweight, and unless your thyroid is driving you to the store, I have a hard time believing that a little willpower wouldn’t help the situation.

Karen´s last blog ..Thanks Daddy…

Jul 13, 2009 @ 12:46 pm

tom

Maybe there’s more to the insomnia and the trip than just time zone change. There’s lots of stuff to think about when you’ve been around your growing-up family for any length of time.

As for the obese guy: stomach reduction surgery isn’t all its cracked up to be. I’ve heard way too many reports indicating that it doesn’t help. The guy needs to not be enabled, and instead get the proper nutrition and some exercise. SurprisedMom is right: the enabler is killing him.

(NukeDad) You may be on to something, Tom; I’ve been rather contemplative since my return. I had a friend who died last year after having the stomach reduction surgery. He thought it was a free ticket to eat the way he used to and he ended up killing himself because he didn’t follow Doctors orders.

tom´s last blog ..Saturday Matinee

Jul 13, 2009 @ 2:16 pm

Jill

I just found you. On Twitter, I think.

Anyway. Insomnia and I are well acquainted. Jet lag or not. I just don’t sleep. The only time I’m tired? 4pm when it’s time to make dinner, pick the kids up from camp, bathe them, get them ready… ugh. Just thinking about it makes me tired.

And then once they are asleep it’s like I was never tired and I stare at the ceiling until dawn.

As for the obese guy? Clearly he needs help forced upon him. And not by whoever it was bringing him a freaking jar of mayonnaise.

(NukeDad) Hi Jill! Welcome! I’m just like you on the 4pm deal; that is the best time in the world for a nap, and also the least convenient. Mayo in quantities over 2 ounces is never good.

Jill´s last blog ..Alone time.

Jul 13, 2009 @ 2:24 pm

Mr. Man

As I sit enjoying an Oliveros cigar at 10:16pm CST, I, too, wonder at what time the liitle fairies will sprinkle sleep dust into my eyes. I’ve been awake since 4am, drove two hours to start my workweek (still better than the retail mistress I served for 20+ years), and ate a good meal(Char Chicken Tacos from this month’s Men’s Health mag), I still have no idea what time I will pass out from exhaustion. So here I sit on a patio at my home away from home reading some of my favorite blogs.

When sleep comes, I shall welcome her tender caress. Until then, I shall read…

(NukeDad) Hopefully we’ll both get some relief this week; until then, enjoy your cigar! If she (sleep) comes to me, I couldn’t care less about the tender caress; at this point I’d settle for a large hammer over the head.

Mr. Man´s last blog ..There’s Gon’ Be A Discrepancy. A Misunderstanding.

Jul 13, 2009 @ 10:23 pm

Mrs4444

The dude is probably depressed to the point of not being able to motivate himself to do a thing. I hate that he’s being enabled like that; he’s going to die that way.

Another way to look at this is this: We think, “Dude, how hard is it to lose 112 pounds?!” but look at us; we aren’t willing to do what it takes to lose that percentage of our own weight, and for us, it’s ten times easier than it is for him. Wish I could figure out what holds me back.

(NukeDad) Agreed; if I could figure that out I’d be in much better shape; literally. He could shed the 112 lbs needed if he wasn’t being enabled the way he is.

Mrs4444´s last blog ..Still the One

Jul 14, 2009 @ 10:38 pm

My comment was not aimed at you, just so you know, it was aimed at the concept of people blaming alleged disorders instead of looking at what they eat. Dealing with weight issues, on either end of the spectrum (as you know I had the opposite issue before), is difficult and when people delude themselves into thinking it is some sort of metabolic disorder they are less likely to put the necessary effort into getting their life balanced.

My friend in the hospital is in the position she is in mainly due to lifetime obesity. It led to diabetes which led to heart disease, kidney failure and now amputation of her leg. Good news is that because of what she has been through she has lost a lot of weight and has not been needing insulin and her kidney function has been returning =)!

(NukeDad) Willpower can solve a lot of things; unfortunately, it is woefully in short supply most times.

Jul 14, 2009 @ 10:59 pm