Ok, ok, ok. I admit it. I am a late night binge eater. I love to sit in front of the telly and munch on whatever I can hold in front of me and flip between Jay Leno, Scrubs reruns, and Jimmy Kimmel. I sometimes even catch Conan’s monologue and if I am up reeeeeealy late it is Poker After Dark.

I know it looks like I am one of the only NBC fans in the world, but I don’t have cable and NBC is one of the few channels I can get clearly (CBS is right out clarity wise, and good thing too since I HATE David Letterman). But even without cable I am staying up WAAAAY too late. Wifey usually has to call downstairs to remind me to get to bed.

Problem is, during college I never slept. In my last 3 semesters I carried 22, 19, and 26 credits each term to graduate with a double major (neither of which I use in real life). So for the next 20 years I have never gotten to like sleep again. To paraphrase Poe, “Sleep, those little slices of death, how I loathe them.”

So I figure, since I am working out but not trying to count calories (I have FAILED every calorie counting scheme out there) I can try to regulate my sleep. A backhanded attempt to eat less since I have never been known to eat in my sleep (somnophagia?)

But how to get to sleep when the only way I can drowse off is to be so exhausted I can barely crawl up stairs to the bedroom? Valium and other narcotics are out, my liver is scarred enough from all the extra weight, I don’t need the pills adding to my cirrhosis.

I am going to give a natural herbal product a try, Valerian Root By Gaia Herbs [60 liquid-filled capsules]. Similar to the way Valium acts but non habit forming and easier on the liver. I have given it a try and so far the results are promising.

I am not saying it makes we want to go to bed at a reasonable hour, that is my responsibility. But when I do lie down to sleep I brain isn’t going a million miles per hour keeping me awake and frustrated. This is product is also NOT used to keep one asleep. I still woke up to go to the toilet and all that.

But so far, going to bed at a normal human hour seems to be helping. It is early and I still don’t have a baseline weight yet. Still have to stop at Walmart to get the scales. I’ll let you all know when I do.