Friday, December 07, 2007

Beware the Salt Monster!


Salt is definitely my enemy. I have seen no change in two weeks, but I've been inhaling the stuff like crack! It seems I want it and sugar more than anything on the planet when TOM is set to appear (which it did last night). When I use some self-control, I'm able to prevent the cramps from hell and the stave off the bitch inside; however, most of the time, I cave into my cravings. Then, what happens? Why, the cramps from hell and the bitch inside come to the party. Water is truly the trick. I've got to get my water-schedule back under wraps. I've also been slacking on my food entry. So, for the past two days, I've made sure every morsel has been logged.

An observation: when I work out, I'm hungrier through the day. This doesn't surprise me, but I tend to just make my limit when I'm eating (my limit also changes as soon as I enter workout time). For example, my standard max of calories for the day may be 1, 315 (that's not it, but this is for the example). When I enter my workout time, say 30 minutes on the elliptical, that 1315 suddenly becomes 1515. Well, I'll just about make that 1515 before the day's end. The observation I made is that when I workout, if I keep it at the standard max, the weight disappears. It's so hard, though. The body is in need of more food because of the workout, so I feed it. Then, I deal with no movement on the scale. It could be that I'm not taking into account that my water is less than ideal and the Salt Monster is every present.

So, what do I do? First, I'm going to try and practice some self-control next month. The goal will be not to cave into my cravings. Try as I might, I always have a lot of trouble, so it will need to become a mantra of sorts. This week, I've also been going for my water again and the process of getting back to 2 liters has begun. This one is tough, but I've done it before. I can do it again. Finally, I will need to see about changing what I'm eating for lunch. The frozen meals are wonderful and convenient, but they're full of salt. I guess they have to be or they wouldn't taste like much. Healthy Choi.ce does a pretty good job of not going too nuts with the salt they add, but it's still quite a bit (typically 600 mg). If I make my lunches at home (like my hubby) I'll probably be better off. This also means more cooking (and more work).

I've got a lot to try and figure out, but I'm not discouraged. No change is better than a gain and I'm grateful. I would, however, like to see those numbers dropping again. I gotta be bathing suit ready in a just a few short months! Eye on the prize...

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