(no subject)

[elainegrey]

Gray and damp here. Misting, no significant rain. Solar-chargeable toys arrived and so they sit in the best window we have, squeezing current (maybe?) from the very filtered sun.

https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/webcam/Stelvis/1 shows a North Carolina beach.
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/webcam/13000/1 shows an North Carolina estuary.

The 11:30 am Raleigh advisory removed our part of the county from the wind impact region; rain totals are still the same (innocuous).

At 6:18 pm, we had 0.37" of rain. All the pines are dry on the south side and wet on the north, consistent with the storm catching us on the west side of it's counter clockwise flow. I imagine folks before the massive weather forecast engines would recognize something like that as a different rain than the usual summer thunderstorms that blow in from the west.

--== ∞ ==--

"My" HR person invited me to be her friend on the corporate wellness site. I replied with corporate email with all my crankiness about the program (and that i valued the live coaches). Then some random person -- i may have seen his name on a cc list or an org chart -- invited me to be a friend. I canceled my account after that.

In more healthy lifestyle obsessing, i've decided to use the app that comes with my phone to track meals. It has a nice nutrition "coach" that lets you know nutrients missed etc. Because of my concern about blood pressure, i am concerned about salt. And it was delighted with my salt intake yesterday. What about the chips i ate for desert? Not on there as contributing to salt. The nutrient data entered for the packet left out various elements - including salt - listed on the bag.

I'm a little indignant, and now recognize it's not just the home fixed foods but all foods that need a little checking to verify the data is right.

Comments

[annie_r]

Not everyone has the salt/blood pressure connection (I do, low-sodium did make a big difference). But a high-salt diet is not good in general. For a while I was obsessive about counting sodium mgs, but eventually could eyeball most things and went to "avoid restaurant food except sometimes" since I am on low dose BP meds anyway. I had it well controlled with diet for quite a while after the initial diagnosis, and was able to go off the meds I was on, but BP eventually crept up even with being reasonably strict about sodium (menopause + family history.) Being on this level of meds is much easier for me than the obsessive counting and checking of pressure and worrying about it. Finding the right med and dose was a bit challenging; initial prescriptions were too strong and I got really dehydrated and my electrolyes were way off, side effects, etc. But anyway, it's a shock when you find out how much sodium is in everything, particularly baked goods and cheese. I do have baking powder and baking soda substitutes but haven't baked much. Unfortunately, the things that have the least sodium are usually loaded with sugar, or are empty carbs like pasta and rice (which I love anyway). I have gotten used to less salty stuff, but treat myself fairly frequently. Getting enough potassium is important, too in balancing out the salt.

If you like salty snacks, some of the Trader Joe's stuff is less salty than many brands. I have tried salt-free tortilla chips and pretzels, but they taste like cardboard, and most people do not need to limit salt quite that strictly. The lower sodium ones are a good compromise. There is a lot of sodium variation in snacks. TJs has a lot of lower-sodium products, interestingly. I read a lot of labels.
With the new ADHD meds, I have some appetite problems so am eating more prepared food and takeout, but my pressure is OK so I am not beating myself up as long as I get something resembling decent nutrition. I haven't actually lost any weight due to late night snacking.
Sorry for wall of text, meds kicked in :P