I have been so fortunate to be free from Minimum crew rest for the last 6 months. The Hawaii flying Has been beautiful. We had early mornings at the beginning of our trips but once we were on the road the wake up times for check in were very reasonable. I would be tired waking up to start my trip at 4am, but  once I was at work I was having so much fun with crew that I didn’t think about sleep. We all were so excited to be going to Hawaii that it didn’t matter. We worked hard and the light at the end of the tunnel was ending  up in a Tropical paradise at the end of the day . I was especially excited when overnighting in Maui. That was my favourite.  Now the Hawaii flying is done for the season and Its back to reality.

I was blessed with a 4:40am Checkin on my schedule. When I saw the checkin Time I wanted to cry. I was offered some trades for this trip but those trips were even worse, so I decided to stick it out. I didn’t want to go through no sleep, and I didn’t want to take sleeping pills. I don’t want to become dependant on taking them so I went to the health food store.  The lady in the store was really nice and she helped me to figure something out.

She helped me choose this Bach remedy. This is a Natural product made from flowers. Bach remedies are great products that have been around for years. This product is made by Dr.Bach. He has made 38 flower remedies for different issues.  if your interested in learning more  here is the website     www.BachFlower.com

There is a lot of stress I feel with really early am wake ups or checkins because Im always so stressed about sleeping in through my alarm. Waking up at 3am or 4am is not a normal wake up time so at times falling asleep is stressful  because If I don’t fall asleep right away I feel pressure  to sleep or else I won’t be getting any sleep at at all. Its just a never ending battle. Good thing I love my job so this is just part of the game.

Melatonin is amazing. I have been using this for a long time. Melatonin is a chemical that our brain produces naturally to sleep. I use it from time to time when I have troubles sleeping. I find that Melatonin works for me when I am wired. When I know I am exhausted but for whatever reason I can’t sleep, Melatonin helps me to doze off. But If I am wide awake then Melatonin does not help me fall asleep.

I had a very  busy day the night before my trip, so I was ready to get a good night sleep. I took the melatonin and rescue remedy around 9pm. I was in bed by 10pm and I actually fell asleep around 11pm. My alarm went off at 3am and I woke up feeling really good. I didn’t get much sleep but It was not a broken sleep. I felt so grateful that I felt good. I took these remedies with me and 3 out of the 4 nights the Remedies worked. I only had 1 night, my last night, where I fell asleep at 9:30pm and woke up at 2am. I had to wake up at 4am. But with time zone changes my body clock was awake and there was nothing I could do. I was exhausted the last day at work. I was just dreaming  of my bed and my pyjamas the whole day. There have been trips where I don’t get any sleep. The worst that has ever happened was for 5 days I could not sleep at all. I was ready to just cry. I don’t know why I was not able to but it was awful. Thankfully that only happened once.

So overall my sleep solution was a success . To have been able to get 3 out of 4 good night sleeps was good for me. I felt great throughout my days at work except the last day. It had taken its toll and I was just ready to be done. When I finally got home I wanted to kiss the floor because I was so happy to be home.  I jumped into the shower threw on my pyjamas and jumped into my bed and I just slept and slept and slept and It was the most wonderful thing ever.   Im glad I found a remedy to help me sleep so that I don’t have to resort to taking sleeping pills. For those people that have to Take sleeping pills so be it, because not sleeping at all is worse. If I have to take them one day It will be because I tried everything else first. So I will keep trying this for now and hopefully It will keep working. Until then I will be dreaming of Maui until Im back next season hopefully 🙂

I am not a doctor and I don’t recommend or not recommend these products. I am just sharing what has been working for me personally.

Thanks for reading!!!! 🙂

I have been reading up a lot on Raw food lately, and Its something that I am really excited about incorporating into my diet. I was In Honolulu and I decided that I would try raw fruits and veggies for my flight home. I was really pumped about trying this and felt a load off my shoulders thinking of how simple this would be, to just load up on fruit ad veggies and be ready to go. No preparing, no fussing, no cooking, and It’s healthy, It was a dream.

I walked over to the grocery store called the Food Pantry, and loaded up. I bought strawberries, plums,peaches,and a few Bananas. I have learned that when eating raw you need to make sure your getting your calorie intake for the day, so Quantity  along with quality is very important. The fruit would be for lunch, and for dinner I bought a bag of salad.I bought some lemons to squeeze for the dressing to go with my salad.I had it all worked out.

When I got back to my hotel, I disinfected the sink with my cleaning wipes and cleaned the fruit really well. I had an amazing workout that morning and was so excited to see how eating raw would make me feel. I hoped that I would have more energy and that I would feel great.

So I started work in the friendly skies, and was having a great day. After first service I was really hungry. I opened up my lunch kit and was ready for this new experience. I took a bite out of the peach and It was not too bad, but then after eating more I found the fruit did not taste fresh and was very dry. I ate most of it, but had to stop. So I went ahead and had the plum. Even worse. It was a little brown on the inside, and was very dry as well. Both fruits had very little flavour. This was not how I planned things would go. So I thought well the strawberries have to be good. Negative, awful as well. All the fruit I bought  had no juices, were dry, and some parts brown. What a disasterl!!!!!! How do you go grocery shopping on a tropical island and find fruit to eat that is horrible????

It was a complete fail, but I still had my dinner. I open the bag of salad and It was horrible too. It had no flavour and the lettuce was a bit soggy. The lemons however were good for the dressing…(at least one item tasted the way it should  ). I threw everything out. $40 bucks American down the drain and a Hungry Flight Attendant later I caved, and had a crew meal. These Crew meals are probably one of the worst foods for your health that you can eat on the planet. But I was starving and had no place to go to get food .

This is the picture of the good looking fruit I bought. The colours were bright, and everything looked so ripe and juicy. I have bought fruit from the Food Pantry before and It was really good. What kind of luck was this on my Raw food adventure. I had to just laugh about it, what else are you going to do. What is the  lesson here? I wanted to eat fruit and salad and it so happened that every single item I bought tasted horrible. The lesson is Don’t take life seriously. It won’t change the circumstance anyway.

My Second attempt was a success. The next morning back at home I hit the grocery store for another shot. I needed to erase the bad experience and replace it with a better one. Back In Calgary where its similar to a desert I found beautiful, juicy, delicious fruit. I added Bananas, mangos, strawberries, and plums. I added some lemon juice as well, and It was really tasty. I loved that It was quick, no cooking, and very filling.  I really enjoyed how fresh everything tasted. After eating my lunch I felt really inspired and had a great amount of energy. A lot of times I have so much going on and It can be really busy. I get so involved in my to do list that eating sometimes feels like a chore, and at times I forget that I have not eaten. Adding some Raw food into my diet is healthy and it  saves me time because its so quick. the only preparation is cleaning the fruit well and cutting it.  Its fast filling, and it feels great!!!! it was worth the effort!!! 🙂 Success!!!! yay!!!

Thanks for reading!! Talk soon 🙂