Food Hangover

Hangovers aren’t just for alcohol anymore.

I haven’t written about it much, but one of the hardest and yet best experiences of my life was when I did a 10-day silent meditation retreat.

I’m not going to get into too much detail here, but just the sleep and food regimen are worth noting here.

Here was our daily schedule:

1. Wake up at 3:45 AM
2. Meditate at 4
3. Breakfast at 6:30
4. Walk
5. Meditate until 11:30
6. Lunch
7. Walk
8. Meditate until 4:30
9. Dinner
10. Three guesses? OK, fine: walk.
11. Meditate
12. Movie of guru dude
13. Sleep at 9:30 or 10

Dinner, by the way, was an apple. Maybe a little soup. But that was it. No, really.

After a few days, it was OK. We didn’t need more to eat. Then what happened next was magical.

I slept better.

I needed less sleep.

I woke up without an alarm clock.

I was up and about with more energy and life than I had ever experienced in my life.

Yes, at 4 AM.

Mostly because we ate less at night.

See my photo above? That was last night. Those are nachos. Chips, refried beans, shredded beef, cheese galore, jalapeno peppers and onions.

Delicious.

How did I sleep?

Do I even have to say it?

What do you want your morning to be like?

Above are two extremes. I don’t want to really do either of them on a regular basis but I can tell you which one makes me feel better in the morning.

What works for you?