Solving My Sleep Troubles

[firebreather]

I changed my diet drastically about 3 weeks ago after reading some of Matt Stones stuff. I basically went from eating paleoish to eating lots of everything including a ton of sugar.

I was probably eating 8,000 calories per day when I first started. I didn't seem any big improvements with cold hands , but I did see a slight improvement with sleep troubles, unless it was just by chance.

Basically I went from waking up around 2:30 or 3:00am to not waking up till around 4 or 4:30am.

Then about 5 days ago I started to move more toward Peat (more fruit, milk and gelatin, etc).

The last few nights I have been waking up at 2am and really needing to go pee (typical before I started eating a lot more).

At first I thought it was because of the increased fluid intake from juice and milk but then I realized it's really not that much, maybe a couple glasses of juice with salt and a couple glasses of milk with sugar and salt throughout the day.

And when I was eating Stone style I would feel really thirsty before bed and would drink a glass of gatorade with added salt and I was amazed that I didn't have to pee at 2am.

Yesterday the last thing I had to drink was a glass of milk with salt, sugar and gelatin at 5pm.

I'm wondering now if I was sleeping a little better eating Stone style because of all the extra processed sugar calories.

I already use a ton of salt on my food and drink and still do so I don't see that playing a factor in anything.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I will say that it seems that I have to be really careful with the sugar before bedtime as it definitely makes it hard for me to fall asleep if I have to much.

I don't know if it's related or not but my temp is nowhere optimal. It's gotten slightly better over the past few weeks but waking temp is still around 98.6 and bedtime is between 97 and 97.5

 

[tara]

For some people timing of meals makes a bit difference. For me, it seems best if I eat a lot in the morning, and the more lightly afternooon and evening. Have you tried having a tiny snack as soon as you wake up in the night, to see if the can send you back to slumber? Peat has suggested going easy on protein after dark.

If you are eating lots of refined sugar (or starch), it also takes various other nutrients to be able to make good use of it, including protein, minerals, vitamins. So if you eat 8000 cals, you might need three times as much of some nutrients as you did when you were eating less.

Magnesium makes a difference for some people's sleep.

Stopping mouth breathing helped me.

Sunshine during the day.

There are a few threads where people have listed things that helped their sleep.

 

[marcar72]

I would again suggest that you are suffering from mild, chronic protein deficiency. A good rule of thumb on how much protein you should be getting is to make protein 25% of your daily caloric intake.

Increase the protein and reduce the carbs a bit. I don't know where people get that eating Ray Peat style is simple carbs out the Ying Yang. It's like they're all carbs and thyroid supplementation, it's crazy. Ray Peat is pretty adamant on getting enough protein in one's diet, and seems to imply that 25% of daily caloric intake is pretty optimal. :2cents

So when you were eating Matt Stone style with 8,000 calories a day, 2,000 of those calories theoretically should have been protein. With 4 calories per gram of protein that would work out to 500 grams of protein. Hopefully you notice how crazy that is.

Eating Ray Peat style I probably hit 3,000 to 3,500 calories per day and I'm somewhat active. So going from that I personally aim to get 200 grams of protein per day which is 800 calories of protein/day. That's 25% of 3,200 calories and is very doable unlike that crazy **** Matt Stone fad diet bull****. :2cents

Don't be afraid of eating some red meat. Hell, think of Ray Peat eating as Paleo with dairy and simple carb acceptance if that helps you out. :2cents

 

[marcar72]

Peat has suggested going easy on protein after dark.

I do the opposite of this for the very reason that a protein dense meal tends to make me tired and ready to turn in for the night. I'm not sure Peat's reasoning for this. If I eat a protein dense meal before going to work I'm not gonna be that productive. This seems almost intuitive to me... :2cents

 

[firebreather]

Do u understand that I said I was sleeping better on the 8000 cal a day?

Where does Peat say 25%? I thought he says 150g per day max?

There have been many many days where I was pretty close to 25% over the past two yrs and hat didn't make a difference?

I eat red meat near daily, why do u assume I don't?

I would again suggest that you are suffering from mild, chronic protein deficiency. A good rule of thumb on how much protein you should be getting is to make protein 25% of your daily caloric intake.

Increase the protein and reduce the carbs a bit. I don't know where people get that eating Ray Peat style is simple carbs out the Ying Yang. It's like they're all carbs and thyroid supplementation, it's crazy. Ray Peat is pretty adamant on getting enough protein in one's diet, and seems to imply that 25% of daily caloric intake is pretty optimal. :2cents

So when you were eating Matt Stone style with 8,000 calories a day, 2,000 of those calories theoretically should have been protein. With 4 calories per gram of protein that would work out to 500 grams of protein. Hopefully you notice how crazy that is.

Eating Ray Peat style I probably hit 3,000 to 3,500 calories per day and I'm somewhat active. So going from that I personally aim to get 200 grams of protein per day which is 800 calories of protein/day. That's 25% of 3,200 calories and is very doable unlike that crazy **** Matt Stone fad diet bull****. :2cents

Don't be afraid of eating some red meat. Hell, think of Ray Peat eating as Paleo with dairy and simple carb acceptance if that helps you out. :2cents

 

[lindsay]

A simple question for you firebreather...... do you drink coffee? If so, how much?

I am having a hard time with winter because I basically want to sleep until 9 or 10 every morning, which is fine on the weekends, but not during the work week days when I am working or have things to do. I'm also tired a lot during the day. I've boosted my protein intake with gelatin and some chicken bone stock, which helps, but I still have to rely on an extra glass or two of coffee to keep me going on really dark days and if I drink it in the afternoon, I have more trouble sleeping at night. No afternoon coffee, I sleep much better.

Also, when I wake up in the middle of the night, I go straight to the refrigerator and drink a glass of OJ. Helps me fall right back to sleep. I usually make it all night without having to pee, so I don't salt my beverages, but keeping a glass of salted OJ by your bed might be helpful. Drink with a straw to keep from having issues with your teeth.

 

[firebreather]

I rarely drink coffee.

I tried a cup of decaf the other day and I was peeing every 30 min

The thing about the OJ is that it sugar before bed makes it hard for me to fall asleep before bed, assume it would be the same in the middle of the night

A simple question for you firebreather...... do you drink coffee? If so, how much?

I am having a hard time with winter because I basically want to sleep until 9 or 10 every morning, which is fine on the weekends, but not during the work week days when I am working or have things to do. I'm also tired a lot during the day. I've boosted my protein intake with gelatin and some chicken bone stock, which helps, but I still have to rely on an extra glass or two of coffee to keep me going on really dark days and if I drink it in the afternoon, I have more trouble sleeping at night. No afternoon coffee, I sleep much better.

Also, when I wake up in the middle of the night, I go straight to the refrigerator and drink a glass of OJ. Helps me fall right back to sleep. I usually make it all night without having to pee, so I don't salt my beverages, but keeping a glass of salted OJ by your bed might be helpful. Drink with a straw to keep from having issues with your teeth.

 

[pboy]

try using less to even no salt for a day, or just a little...depending on what youre eating. Salt makes it harder for water to be evaporated which is what is supposed to mainly happen at night. Instead you have to pee it out, salt messes with my entire urinary system and rythmn, like have to go bad and little, have to go bad and little...rather than just a few times ever few hours. Theres natural sodium in milk already, and some root vegetables and greens, and meat and eggs. Having said that, sometimes wakingup once at night isn't that huge a deal, and is kind of normal. These days I wake up once maybe 3 times a week, rest of the nights I sleep through. You shouldn't wake up ravenous, but a slight hunger is normal...it just shouldn't be haze inducing and debilitating. Try to stop intake around dark and go to sleep by like 10pm, it really helps, of course making sure you eat enough from beginning of the day throughout so youre pretty satisfied at dark

if you eat as much protein as marcar youre on the fast track to gout and calcification, unless near to all of that protein is coming from milk, its inefficient to do so. And you shouldn't have to sedate yourself to sleep...its actually a more restful and better dreaming sleep if you lay down while still energized, not like stimulated, but energized, it shouldn't be to where you pass out from tiredness or a heavy meal. It might allow you to fall asleep quicker but its not really the best way of going about it, your GI wont flow properly and you probably wont have a lot of mental energy when you wake up

 

[Zachs]

Three weeks is not enough time to see major improvements. Paleo can really screw up your thyroid. Most likely you are hypo, you may need medication at first to bring temps up.

I believe stress and inflammation are the major contributers to sleep troubles and excess urination.

Personally i would cut out most animal meat and fat because of the inflammatory aminos and omegas. Go fairly low fat and keep the fat you do eat mostly saturated. Dairy and coconut mainly. Eat mineral dense foods that arent too watery. Bananas, oysters and other shellfish, cheese, eggs, cottage cheese, etc. drink milk and oJ but make sure they are with a meal and salted. Starches can also help to bring up temps, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, squash, rice.

This is what i did when transitioning off of paleo, i went from waking up like clockwork at 2 and 4 to pee to sleeping 9 hours straight and still no immediate need to pee in the morning. It took me quite awhile to bring up metabolism and clear my hypo though.

 

[marcar72]

Where does Peat say 25%? I thought he says 150g per day max?

http://www.litalee.com/shopexd.asp?id=402

It's the only time I've seen him mention protein intake as a percentage of daily caloric intake and it seems like general advice to a specific person. Here's the context from the link I provided:

"Below is a paragraph from Dr. Ray Peat, private consultation:
Four ounces of meat contains about 25 grams of protein, so having that three times a day would meet the basic (low) requirement. A quart of milk contains 33 grams of protein, so 3 quarts a day would be close to the optimal amount of protein. A dozen eggs per day would do it, but this would provide too much PUFA (omega-3 and -6 fats).

For the average slightly hypothyroid person, I've seen very sick people suddenly get well when they increased their protein to 70 grams, but it isn't the amount I recommend for good sustained health.

Muscle meats and liver contain too much tryptophan for an adult if those are the main protein source, and will contribute to hypothyroidism, etc., but when the metabolic rate is optimal, most adults who aren't completely sedentary probably should have around 130 to 150 grams. If their calorie consumption is around 3000 kcal per day, that's about 25% of the calories as protein. Great Lakes Gelatin (cooked collagen), a prothyroid protein is recommended to balance the anti-thyroid amino acids in muscle meats."

I eat red meat near daily, why do u assume I don't?

I assume you don't from your very own posts that I combed through before providing you a possible solution to your problem. Here are your own words from previous posts.

Changes - I think I might be feeling a little bit warmer. I think I need to back off the dairy (even though I love it) as it seems to lend to constipation for me and my bowel movements are already not great.

I would say I have been getting at least 100g of protein per day.

To me in that quote there you don't sound too confident that you're getting even 100 grams/day. You also imply you're backing off dairy which ties into your next quote from a post where I specifically mentioned protein deficiency, yet you made no indication of eating red meat...

I'm definitely getting 100 grams of protein but I'm not sure I'm getting 150.

I just find it so strange that the brittle nails are so prevelant since I changed the eating.

I haven't done the crazy exercising for at least a ur and have hardly done any exercise in the past 8 months. But my calories were probably around 2000 before I changed a couple weeks ago.

I am eating liver, eggs and dairy. Probably not enough dairy as causes me congestion and some constipation

So according to your own words you're backing off dairy, and your other two protein sources are liver and eggs. I don't see how you're getting even 100 grams/day with the information that you yourself provided. :2cents

 

[tara]

I would again suggest that you are suffering from mild, chronic protein deficiency. A good rule of thumb on how much protein you should be getting is to make protein 25% of your daily caloric intake.

Increase the protein and reduce the carbs a bit. I don't know where people get that eating Ray Peat style is simple carbs out the Ying Yang. It's like they're all carbs and thyroid supplementation, it's crazy. Ray Peat is pretty adamant on getting enough protein in one's diet, and seems to imply that 25% of daily caloric intake is pretty optimal. :2cents

So when you were eating Matt Stone style with 8,000 calories a day, 2,000 of those calories theoretically should have been protein. With 4 calories per gram of protein that would work out to 500 grams of protein. Hopefully you notice how crazy that is.

Eating Ray Peat style I probably hit 3,000 to 3,500 calories per day and I'm somewhat active. So going from that I personally aim to get 200 grams of protein per day which is 800 calories of protein/day. That's 25% of 3,200 calories and is very doable unlike that crazy **** Matt Stone fad diet bull****. :2cents

Don't be afraid of eating some red meat. Hell, think of Ray Peat eating as Paleo with dairy and simple carb acceptance if that helps you out. :2cents

Hi marcar,
I agree with you that Peat emphasises the importance of adequate protein, and I think that quote you found is a good one. (I'm a little puzzled by how Peat gets 130-150g protein (520 - 600 cal?) to be ~25% of 3000 cals - looks more like ~20% to me. But that may not be critical - it may not matter much or it may just vary individually.)
I'm not sure that it follows that Peat recommends (20% or) 25% of calories under all circumstances. It may be that at 8000 cals it makes sense to eat more than 150g protein, at least for some people, but I don't think that necessarily implies 500g/8000cals, unless someone is craving that much. Catching up after an extended period of carb and energy deficiency seems to sometimes require a lot of calories, but I have not seen Peat address such situations directly - if you have I'd be interested. I read him as favouring carbs as the optimal primary energy source, with ample protein for the functions its needed for. I would think sometimes people really do need 8000 calories for a limited period, but I'd be surprised if most of them could put 500g protein to optimal use.

 

[firebreather]

Tara, I like

I would again suggest that you are suffering from mild, chronic protein deficiency. A good rule of thumb on how much protein you should be getting is to make protein 25% of your daily caloric intake.

Increase the protein and reduce the carbs a bit. I don't know where people get that eating Ray Peat style is simple carbs out the Ying Yang. It's like they're all carbs and thyroid supplementation, it's crazy. Ray Peat is pretty adamant on getting enough protein in one's diet, and seems to imply that 25% of daily caloric intake is pretty optimal. :2cents

So when you were eating Matt Stone style with 8,000 calories a day, 2,000 of those calories theoretically should have been protein. With 4 calories per gram of protein that would work out to 500 grams of protein. Hopefully you notice how crazy that is.

Eating Ray Peat style I probably hit 3,000 to 3,500 calories per day and I'm somewhat active. So going from that I personally aim to get 200 grams of protein per day which is 800 calories of protein/day. That's 25% of 3,200 calories and is very doable unlike that crazy **** Matt Stone fad diet bull****. :2cents

Don't be afraid of eating some red meat. Hell, think of Ray Peat eating as Paleo with dairy and simple carb acceptance if that helps you out. :2cents

Hi marcar,
I agree with you that Peat emphasises the importance of adequate protein, and I think that quote you found is a good one. (I'm a little puzzled by how Peat gets 130-150g protein (520 - 600 cal?) to be ~25% of 3000 cals - looks more like ~20% to me. But that may not be critical - it may not matter much or it may just vary individually.)
I'm not sure that it follows that Peat recommends (20% or) 25% of calories under all circumstances. It may be that at 8000 cals it makes sense to eat more than 150g protein, at least for some people, but I don't think that necessarily implies 500g/8000cals, unless someone is craving that much. Catching up after an extended period of carb and energy deficiency seems to sometimes require a lot of calories, but I have not seen Peat address such situations directly - if you have I'd be interested. I read him as favouring carbs as the optimal primary energy source, with ample protein for the functions its needed for. I would think sometimes people really do need 8000 calories for a limited period, but I'd be surprised if most of them could put 500g protein to optimal use.

 

[firebreather]

Thank u Zach's that's very encouraging.

I am hypothyroid, take 2 grains of thyroid per day.

That seems like pretty good advice but will be tough.

How long did it take u to recover once u started Praying?

Three weeks is not enough time to see major improvements. Paleo can really screw up your thyroid. Most likely you are hypo, you may need medication at first to bring temps up.

I believe stress and inflammation are the major contributers to sleep troubles and excess urination.

Personally i would cut out most animal meat and fat because of the inflammatory aminos and omegas. Go fairly low fat and keep the fat you do eat mostly saturated. Dairy and coconut mainly. Eat mineral dense foods that arent too watery. Bananas, oysters and other shellfish, cheese, eggs, cottage cheese, etc. drink milk and oJ but make sure they are with a meal and salted. Starches can also help to bring up temps, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, squash, rice.

This is what i did when transitioning off of paleo, i went from waking up like clockwork at 2 and 4 to pee to sleeping 9 hours straight and still no immediate need to pee in the morning. It took me quite awhile to bring up metabolism and clear my hypo though.

 

[firebreather]

That makes sense except for cutting out salt.

Only because I've tried several times and I start peeing like crazy within a day

try using less to even no salt for a day, or just a little...depending on what youre eating. Salt makes it harder for water to be evaporated which is what is supposed to mainly happen at night. Instead you have to pee it out, salt messes with my entire urinary system and rythmn, like have to go bad and little, have to go bad and little...rather than just a few times ever few hours. Theres natural sodium in milk already, and some root vegetables and greens, and meat and eggs. Having said that, sometimes wakingup once at night isn't that huge a deal, and is kind of normal. These days I wake up once maybe 3 times a week, rest of the nights I sleep through. You shouldn't wake up ravenous, but a slight hunger is normal...it just shouldn't be haze inducing and debilitating. Try to stop intake around dark and go to sleep by like 10pm, it really helps, of course making sure you eat enough from beginning of the day throughout so youre pretty satisfied at dark

if you eat as much protein as marcar youre on the fast track to gout and calcification, unless near to all of that protein is coming from milk, its inefficient to do so. And you shouldn't have to sedate yourself to sleep...its actually a more restful and better dreaming sleep if you lay down while still energized, not like stimulated, but energized, it shouldn't be to where you pass out from tiredness or a heavy meal. It might allow you to fall asleep quicker but its not really the best way of going about it, your GI wont flow properly and you probably wont have a lot of mental energy when you wake up

 

[lindsay]

Marcar - I get your protein recommendations. Protein is very important indeed. But I wouldn't recommend anyone just eat 150 grams of protein per day if they cannot eat balanced protein because there are a lot of inflammatory amino acids in most protein sources, gelatin aside. This has been my problem coming back to eating protein (I was vegetarian for years) - I don't feel well eating most muscle meats on a regular basis unless I eat them in small amounts (or in a nice gelatinous broth). Drinking too much milk can also be problematic for many. Cheese and eggs are fantastic protein, but then not too many eggs because of the PUFA. The only protein that's safe to really eat in high amounts is gelatin. Even milk has a ton of tryptophan in it. And let's not forget the iron content in the ruminant meats. It's really hard to eat 150 grams of protein per day and not get lots of inflammatory amino acids or too much iron. Sometimes I think it's better to eat enough protein to make you feel good. For you, it might be 150 grams. For others, quality might be better than quantity.

Also, eating more sugar helps the body spare protein. Also, remember that Ray Peat is "elderly" and older people need to eat more protein than younger people because they waste protein faster.

 

[lindsay]

I rarely drink coffee.

I tried a cup of decaf the other day and I was peeing every 30 min

The thing about the OJ is that it sugar before bed makes it hard for me to fall asleep before bed, assume it would be the same in the middle of the night

A simple question for you firebreather...... do you drink coffee? If so, how much?

I am having a hard time with winter because I basically want to sleep until 9 or 10 every morning, which is fine on the weekends, but not during the work week days when I am working or have things to do. I'm also tired a lot during the day. I've boosted my protein intake with gelatin and some chicken bone stock, which helps, but I still have to rely on an extra glass or two of coffee to keep me going on really dark days and if I drink it in the afternoon, I have more trouble sleeping at night. No afternoon coffee, I sleep much better.

Also, when I wake up in the middle of the night, I go straight to the refrigerator and drink a glass of OJ. Helps me fall right back to sleep. I usually make it all night without having to pee, so I don't salt my beverages, but keeping a glass of salted OJ by your bed might be helpful. Drink with a straw to keep from having issues with your teeth.

Everybody is different when it comes to peeing. I stopped having to urinate all the time when I started taking thyroid, but it seems like you are doing that already. You are not diabetic are you? People who are diabetic tend to urinate very frequently.

Also, your sleep issues are likely related to low thyroid and your liver not being able to properly store glycogen. Maybe the 8,000 calories worked well because you weren't wasting so much sugar at that amount and your liver had the glycogen it needed??

Regarding the OJ, sugar when I awake puts me right back to sleep - whether it's OJ or a soda. Works like a charm.

 

[Zachs]

Took me 2 years to fully recover from hypo on my own. Sleep improved after a few months of getting away from a meat centered diet but didnt fully improve until i started eating like i wrote.

I fully agree with lindsay on her protein recommendations. Peat recommends a upper limit of 150g a day but he says to balanace the inflammatory aminos with glycine/proline, etc. so a good idea is to try for 1/3-1/2 of your protein from glycine rich sources. He also only recommends small portions of animal flesh and only once a day and also only 1-2 eggs a day so really, hes saying most protein should be from dairy, gelatine and other glycine rich animal products. Maybe some from potatoes and whatever is in fruit.

I feel fine on a diet of only 100g protein a day, but i dont eat any meat and get in a ton of carbs. For me, animal flesh and pufa was the source of most of my issues.

 

[firebreather]

Lindsay, I am not a diabetic.

I tried the on last night when I woke up at 2:45, I fell back asleep in about 5 min but unfortunately as usual I woke up briefly several times after, no need to pee though after 2:45 but that's normal

I rarely drink coffee.

I tried a cup of decaf the other day and I was peeing every 30 min

The thing about the OJ is that it sugar before bed makes it hard for me to fall asleep before bed, assume it would be the same in the middle of the night

A simple question for you firebreather...... do you drink coffee? If so, how much?

I am having a hard time with winter because I basically want to sleep until 9 or 10 every morning, which is fine on the weekends, but not during the work week days when I am working or have things to do. I'm also tired a lot during the day. I've boosted my protein intake with gelatin and some chicken bone stock, which helps, but I still have to rely on an extra glass or two of coffee to keep me going on really dark days and if I drink it in the afternoon, I have more trouble sleeping at night. No afternoon coffee, I sleep much better.

Also, when I wake up in the middle of the night, I go straight to the refrigerator and drink a glass of OJ. Helps me fall right back to sleep. I usually make it all night without having to pee, so I don't salt my beverages, but keeping a glass of salted OJ by your bed might be helpful. Drink with a straw to keep from having issues with your teeth.

Everybody is different when it comes to peeing. I stopped having to urinate all the time when I started taking thyroid, but it seems like you are doing that already. You are not diabetic are you? People who are diabetic tend to urinate very frequently.

Also, your sleep issues are likely related to low thyroid and your liver not being able to properly store glycogen. Maybe the 8,000 calories worked well because you weren't wasting so much sugar at that amount and your liver had the glycogen it needed??

Regarding the OJ, sugar when I awake puts me right back to sleep - whether it's OJ or a soda. Works like a charm.

 

[firebreather]

Zachs,

Hope u don't mind if I ask a few more questions.

I guess that's quite a bit of cottage cheese and oysters eeh.

Do u have recommendations on certain amounts of carbs and sugar to aim for? I have mainly started using sugar in the raw and honey for added sugar.

I think the 3 factors that messed me up were low carb, sleep deprivation at work (firefighter) and then doing cross fit on top of the sleep deprivation.

Thanks so much for your input.

Took me 2 years to fully recover from hypo on my own. Sleep improved after a few months of getting away from a meat centered diet but didnt fully improve until i started eating like i wrote.

I fully agree with lindsay on her protein recommendations. Peat recommends a upper limit of 150g a day but he says to balanace the inflammatory aminos with glycine/proline, etc. so a good idea is to try for 1/3-1/2 of your protein from glycine rich sources. He also only recommends small portions of animal flesh and only once a day and also only 1-2 eggs a day so really, hes saying most protein should be from dairy, gelatine and other glycine rich animal products. Maybe some from potatoes and whatever is in fruit.

I feel fine on a diet of only 100g protein a day, but i dont eat any meat and get in a ton of carbs. For me, animal flesh and pufa was the source of most of my issues.

 

[lindsay]

Lindsay, I am not a diabetic.

I tried the on last night when I woke up at 2:45, I fell back asleep in about 5 min but unfortunately as usual I woke up briefly several times after, no need to pee though after 2:45 but that's normal

Just checking on the diabetes thing.

How long did you say you were on the Paleo diet? And how long have you been taking thyroid (and what brand)? That's another thing I forgot - thyroid can sometimes make people really sensitive to adrenaline when they first start taking it. Lots of people report sleep issues taking Cynoplus. Getting the extra sugar helps with this. I would suggest trying something really weird, like making yourself a big cup of warm jello before bed. Either with milk, honey and gelatin, or juice, sugar and gelatin.

You will likely keep waking until you are storing the sugar you need. And also, what are your stress levels like? High stress makes it harder to store glycogen. You could try things like meditating or praying or doing yoga before bed. Or reading. I can never get through a book because reading puts me right to sleep. Also, listening to soothing music really helps.