Summer mode - sunsets, salt, and a big welcome to new readers

I'm in full summer mode:

What's up with me:

1. Sunset beach walking after work
2. Sweating a lot due to the high heat and humidity
3. Salt. Sea salt and Himalayan salt = awesome
Conventional salt = weight water gain and puff. It's temporary.

I've been working on getting better sleep quality and that's impacting how often I blog.

Fine by me. I've been fully working my food, exercise, stress relief and even gardening!!  Ah, sleep. No easy task during the higher coastal heat and no air conditioning. Coastal San Diego.. I know.... tiny violins are playing a sad song for me... It's only hot for a few weeks here over the whole year.

Welcome: If you are coming over from the Compulsive Overeating Diary podcast #65 where Laurie gave me a huge shout out, welcome. Ask me questions in the comments. There is no right way to lose weight, address compulsive /emotional/ binge overeating. One thing was for sure for me, there are ways that work better for people and choosing one can be a matter of life and death, literally.

Today's big take away for any new readers: Had I not started losing weight, then addressed my binge eating in the form of abstaining from wheat, processed sugar, I would likely not be here right now, or I'd be post heart attack. First things first- getting my weight down and my hs-CRP ( I was at 6.8 mg/L down to 2.8, then 0.8, and finally 0.4. ) allowed me lower my risk ASAP. Then I addressed emotional/binge eating

 For me, it started with food. Food either helps to keep me well or makes me ill. Low inflammation or high.

If you address your binge eating first, then your weight, kudos if that's right for you. There is no one right way. But being alive sure is an awesome bonus. I did not let me get me and I'm standing here typing this and sipping  some coffee, because I prioritized my weight loss and reduced my risk. Differences in Genetics, disease management, food preferences, age and activity levels will all play  into weight loss, weight maintenance, stopping emotional eating, over all health, etc. 

Here's to finding what works for you!

Here's what's what's working for me:

1. Walking at sunset and early in the AM near the coast to beat the high inland valley heat during the day.
2. Better sleep experiments. Ah... sleeping well is awesome! It's the best feeling ever.
3. Getting sea salt and steering clear of conventional salt as much as possible. I still have some conventional salt, like this Chipotle salad (chicken, lettuce, mild salsa, sauteed onions/peppers, and a heap of guacamole.) Eating out happens. Not very often.

Here's what didn't work in the past
1. Not adjusting my walking and using excuses like "It's too hot out to walk". There are times that are dangerous to walk due to heat stroke, but adjusting my schedule to outdoor walking is totally do- able.
2. Letting the cats, high carb diets, and TV keep me awake at night
3. Eating lots of salty frozen diet dinners

Onward. Feel free to say hello in the comments if you would like. :)