Water and Other Drips

Last post I told you how great a week I had by staying on top of sleep, exercise, and eating. Careful observers of the blog would have noticed that I dropped the fourth thing I was supposed to be minding: drinking water.

I made a semiconscious decision to focus on just three of my big four. Water isn't a worry for me, until it is. I'm actually a very good water drinker if it's nearby. When I'm at work I have no problems in the H2O department, as I keep a water bottle beside me more or less all day.

Weekends, however, turn out to be my water challenge. Suddenly on Sunday night I had intense cravings for salty snacks. Just terrible. Upon review, I later realized I was dehydrated. I know that's a little weird and I can't explain it, but there are plenty of sources that claim that cravings can be caused by a lack of water, and I'm now inclined to believe it. I'm wondering if a good goal is to consume X% of your daily water intake prior to consuming X% of your calories. Something I'll be playing with.

My weight. I haven't said much about it because it's in a holding pattern. The Sunday weigh-in was 39 pounds down from my all-time high. It's been in that range for a while now. (Note that I recently decided to go back to my top weight, which was 10 pounds higher than when I started the P.O.P.)

26 minutes. There's some magic to that number, I'm convinced. Tonight I got home at 6:30, played with the kids until 7:00, and despite being fairly hungry for dinner, took a walk with my wife before the sun went down.

Clarification. That old protein diet with the "hour" I referred to in my last post was adamant that the "hour" was not a free-for-all of junk food. It was supposed to be balanced, with 50% fruits and vegetables, 25% protein, and 25% carbs, if I recall correctly - it's been a decade. Now, some may have in fact gone crazy during the hour (myself included, on occasion), but that's not what the authors intended, nor what I'm suggesting.

Here's a great article on the lifetime benefits of exercise. (hat tip: Mom)

Football. I'm sure a lot of you think "a pox on Penn State" - and as an institution they deserve it. But everybody involved in the scandal is gone. Remember that. Saturday, PSU lost at Virginia by one point, missing a torturous five kicks (four FGs and an extra point). Yes, there was a better kicker who bailed after the scandal. Just a brutal situation all around. The abuse is by order of magnitude the most brutal, followed by the incompetence of the many adults inside and outside PSU who didn't follow through to stop the perp. But I do also feel for the current students who, through no fault of their own, can see no light at the end of the tunnel.

That was the college football team I rooted for as a kid growing up in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, the team from where I live now, the Washington Huskies, lost 41-3 to LSU. Missed it by that much.

Weather. Would you believe Seattle just had a streak of 48 consecutive days without rain? The record was 51. Maybe that's why I'm enjoying the daily exercise challenge.

Have a great one!