Insomnia

Tried a handful of almonds Dr. Oz's column said would help me sleep. Also, the warm milk and sliced banana on whole wheat toast, which is such a great suggestion because this whole menopause thing makes me ravenously hungry. Had no trouble falling asleep, but after four hours I was up and wide awake, with my own personal summer. Not just early up, the middle of the night up, 2:30 a.m. to be exact. After I threw off the covers and let my clammy skin cool down I thought about tiptoeing to the family room, but then I would have to feed our overweight cat, who upon seeing me would start crying loudly, her guttural scream, sure to wake my sleeping husband. At seventeen pounds she is so on a diet. Resigned to waiting out this temporary insomnia, I tossed and turned, intermittently staring at the ceiling fan, which frankly could use a good dusting. I began thinking about how I would function the next day on four hours of sleep and how research shows that lack of sleep causes weight gain. Perhaps the research has been skewed due to the fact that we sleep deprived women are being advised to eat almonds, warm milk and sliced bananas on whole wheat toast before we go to bed!