Thursday, September 8, 2011

Still Awake, Despite My Best Efforts

I was so absolutely exhausted that I went to bed around 10:00, and now here I am, wide awake... There are a couple things contributing to this, I think, but part of it is this new "diet" I'm following. I've been having chest pains, and when I went to the ER this time, they decided that I have gastritis. Basically, my stomach is so inflamed that it's causing me chest pain.

The doctor's solution? In addition to laughing at me and suggesting I exercise more, I am not allowed to have:
-Caffeine
-Alcohol
-Fried foods
-Greasy foods
-Too much dairy
-Nothing after 7:00 p.m.

This is all well and good for most people, but I live and work on a college campus... That's what there is for food here. Also, I don't even get out of class til 7:05, and I haven't eaten dinner at that point. I've been doing the best I can, and since I usually don't go to bed until late anyway, I've told myself that as long as I stop eating by 8:00 p.m., I'm okay.

But I think what happened tonight is that I woke up because I was genuinely hungry. Eating whatever, whenever, is something I've gotten used to, especially when I'm on duty, because you basically work round the clock. I've been trying to just drink tea as a substitute, but tonight I had some applesauce and a couple veggie chips. Now I'm terrified that the horrendous heartburn will return...

This is all extra-irritating because I have to get up early tomorrow for a meeting, and I really would like to have been long asleep by now. At any rate, it was nice to have a moment to write something new.