Tuesday

Fasted fairly comfortably yesterday, then went out and ate smoked turkey and salad with blue cheese dressing; followed up with an ounce or so of Gruyere and one cookie with frosting.  And that was enough for the day.  Although I must admit to being on the verge of cranky just before dinner.

All that effort notwithstanding, I'm still at 148 even.  Probably see some change tomorrow - that does seem to be how it works.  And I am still in some sort of carb-processing, water-retaining state, because I have no hint of what some internet site called "fasciculation" - the bubbling sensation in my calves that signals a potassium loss. 

Speaking of calf cramps (sort of), I have an experiment to try the next time they hit.  I had horrid ones on Friday night, combined with more traditional foot cramps that had my toes aimed every which way.  I got up and downed 4 potassium tablets, a magnesium, and then had an idea to take a swig of some rather old coconut water that I'd had in the fridge for a while.  After swallowing, all the cramps subsided almost immediately, and did not come back in any form for the rest of the night, which I thought was odd - pill-form potassium actually doesn't seem to do anything once the cramping starts.  So I'm wondering about the coconut water, and got another, reclosable, container of it, which I plan to guzzle from when next I have any issues.  Logically, it does seem like it might be quicker-acting than a pill that needs time to dissolve, and it contains other minerals that might also help. 

I meant to get some walnuts to bring to work today but forgot.  I figure that they have to be somewhat better than peanuts from the machine - nuts over legumes, for starters, and of the nuts, walnuts have (I think) the best Omega 3:6 ratio (still not wonderful, but better than most). 

The "one cookie a day" rule I imposed on myself seems to be working.  Thinking back, we were always limited in our junk-food intake as kids; once I was an adult and the food rules seemed to change, I dropped those restraints, and the result was 45 pounds (over 20 years - which I think was roughly the number Gary Taubes' first blog entry was dealing with - "just 20 calories per day".  Yeah, right).  And for what it's worth, I am really savoring those single cookies, as prescribed in French Women Don't Get Fat.  They're much better that way, I think.

Brats and (probably) sauerkraut for dinner tonight - good stuff!