Getting a handle on things and resisting temptation – I am slowly adjusting to the new diet restrictions, reading a lot, and I went shopping to get some things in the house I can have for this week.

I had to go over my sister’s house yesterday for my nephew’s birthday party. They had a huge pasta dinner (one big pot with shrimp and alfredo sauce, the other with red sauce lots of sausage and meatballs), big slices of warm garlic bread, and a nice cake afterwards.

Pasta and garlic bread are BIG weaknesses for me, it was not easy and resisting temptation took all my inner strength. I stayed out of the kitchen and for most of the time I sat out on the front porch just to be away from the food (everyone comes out there to smoke so I got to visit as they came out to have a cigarette — I had some secondary smoke but I stayed away from it as much as possible, at least the smell of cigarettes helped to kill my cravings for pasta.)

While I was there I had 32 oz of crystal light I brought with me and only one shrimp my sister wanted me to taste to see if it was done. When I was the slightest bit tempted I just looked at the food and pictured all the icky salt in it and remembered being the on the table getting the cardiac catherization – something I don’t want to do again any time soon – and any temptation to nibble or taste went away; it wasn’t easy but I survived. I came home and had two soy hot dogs, a seedless cucumber, and a big bowl of air popped popcorm (plain).

I have incorporated Crystal Light in to the diet plan – with an added big splash of lemon because I tried just water and I barely managed to sip a few ounces out of the bottle. I also have three boxes of red zinger tea and even got some lemon zinger to try. I have two 32 oz bottles of cold water I keep in the refrig and easily drink them with the crystal light or tea. Today I plan on making the tea — but since that has to be cooled there may be days that I just want to grab the Crystal Light.

I figure I have to give myself a break some where and tea and Crystal Light have no sodium and no sugar and no fat, so I’m not going to worry about the artificial sweetner right now – and its more important I get lots of water in me and this seems to be the best way.

I keep going over the Rice Diet book (which promotes very low sodium) to learn as much as I can and hope to have a couple days of just oatmeal (instead of rice since I’m not a big rice fan) and fruit as they recommend for a short cleansing period. Hopefully next weekend. Then mostly veggies, fruit, oatmeal (any whole grain is a good substitute for rice) and a little protein after that on a daily basis for as long as I can stand it. My plain popcorn is ok since that is technically a whole grain too (just not for every meal). They have some great sauces and other things at their Rice House Store.

I am making a huge batch of veggie broth today — I am going to roast the veggies first (except for the cabbage). I have containers ready to store it in — so that I can have the soup two or three times a day and once or twice (depending what else I have planned that day) I will toss in a 1/4 cup of TVP for protein.

I peeked on the scale yesterday in the middle of the day — and I don’t want to jinx it so I am not recording the weight any where — but I nearly fainted — if the same weight shows up on Monday morning (my official weigh in time) then I may never touch salt again. If it was a true weight reading than I lost more weight in three days off salt that I’ve ever lost on a diet in a week. But like I said I don’t want to jinx it, and it could have just been an inaccurate reading so I’m just going to wait and see what happens tomorrow morning.

I also started the liver tonic supplement (in pill form, Livatone Plus) — I have wanted to do this for a long — and just said the heck with it and spent the money (it’s not that expensive). I may not be able to totally reverse the fatty liver — but I should be able to detox it a lot and get a lot of the fat out — once the liver starts functioning better then I can lose weight easier (since having a fatty liver means the body can’t get the fat out). The tonic also has lecithin — which soaks up the fat that is released by liver, so it can be eliminated from the body through the bowels (rather then being reaborbed back into the body).

Here is an interesting development I’ve noticed — for the very low salt three days I have been drinking a LOT more liquids. Normally when I’ve made a point of drinking a lot more (but not watching the salt) I pee a lot of times and its mostly just clear. Now I am not going a lot more times — but when I do go its a lot more in volume and its a bright yellow — so I’m cleaning something out of my body (hopefully FAT).

Mama Kelly emailed me a yummy chili recipe that is only 140.9 calories and 23.8 mg sodium per serving– I will use ground turkey (instead of beef) for a little less fat and calories and it looks like something perhaps my hubby and daughter would like it also (provided I keep the spices very light for my daughter’s tastebuds), and I could even use TVP or half tvp with half turkey.

I also am searching around on the web for no salt or very low sodium packaged goods (Healthy Heart Market looks great) – they are a bit more expensive that higher salt products, but since I don’t plan on having a lot of prepackaged items it’s worth it. Hopefully I can find some items and recipes my hubby likes too because he can benefit also. My daugther doesn’t like salt that much and even the smallest amount in her foods she can taste and often won’t finish it if its too much for her taste buds – I am hoping she likes some of the recipes too. I found a pasta and cheese in a box I’m very excited to try – made with rice pasta – per serving calories: 100, total fat:1.5g, cholesterol:5mg, sodium:100mg. Macroni and Cheese is one of my favorites foods so I plan on getting a box or two of this as a special treat to have once in a blue moon.

It will take a bit more planning and preparation on the weekend so that food during the week when I’m working can be quick and easy. But I’m sure I’ll get used it and adjust – and the long term goal is to get healthy so its all worth it.

I am definitely learning how to eat to live (instead of living to eat).

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Currently Diet Pulpit is rarely updated. Lady Rose is now blogging at Blissful Moon, where she is staying healthy and continuing to have adventures, please stop by and visit.

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