Today begins what I am calling my summer of 68.

The picture above expresses my current mood. I want to take an information vacation on a private beach. During this, my 8th maintenance summer season, I plan to keep my dieting efforts consistent while sharing less about the ongoing specifics of my individual behaviors. 
 

Right now, I have nothing new to say, and I don't feel a need to keep sharing the same old things over and over.  DietHobby is my online scrapbook.  I've already shared many of my personal experiences, and the majority of my Thoughts, Ideas, Hopes, and Beliefs about dieting.

   These are now all part of the easily accessible, DietHobby ARCHIVES. If you have an interest in what I'm thinking or doing...Go there. 

Whenever the mood strikes me, I'll post here, and will continue to add articles which I find personally helpful or interesting to this online scrapbook. 

PLEASE NOTE: The fact that I choose not to post about my specific individual maintenance difficulties does NOT mean they've been eliminated or resolved.

                 
Here's the StreetCorner where I hang out for long-term weight-loss maintenance. 

Traffic tends to zoom right by. Sometimes someone will slow down or pause a bit.

People drop by for short visits but most continue on to search for a more comfortable location. Very few people choose to stay.

    See below for a Movie Trailer recently made to help people discover this Diethobby website and its YouTube channels. 

The idea that "salt is bad for you" is entrenched in the American mindset; sodium's right up there with trans fats and cigarettes. We now commonly see ads warning us of the high sodium content of processed foods.

 I take the idea …"that a normally healthy person should restrict salt"… with a grain of salt.
i.e. to take a statement with 'a grain of salt' or 'a pinch of salt' means to maintain a degree of skepticism about its truth. The phrase has been in use in English since the 17th century;

In reality, the IDEA THAT SALT IS BAD FOR US IS NOT (and has never been) BASED ON SOLID EVIDENCE. Even worse, the idea is dangerously wrong: we need salt to live, and not eating enough can make a person die.

Salt does not cause our bodies to gain or lose fat.
Salt has no calories.

High consumption of salt only results in temporary weight gain as it causes the body to retain water. Low consumption of salt can result in temporary weight loss as it causes the body to expel water. It is normal and healthy to see these water weight fluctuations.

Our blood is 0.9% salt and it is continually flowing through our lymphatic system. Salt is also necessary for the production of hydrochloric acid, the digestive enzyme secreted by the stomach in order to digest protein. It’s important for nerves and muscles. When we sweat we can taste the salt coming out of our skin. Salt is vital for life’s existence. Put a salt block outside and all animals will consume it.

A diet low in salt can eventually lead to dehydration. Salt holds water in the body, and without it, people can actually dehydrate and die even while drinking water.

The anti-salt campaign began in the 70s, based on two pieces of flimsy research. Although researchers quietly acknowledged that the data were 'inconclusive and contradictory' or 'inconsistent and contradictory'... publicly, the link between salt and blood pressure was upgraded from hypothesis to fact, probably because there was no other good suspect at the time to blame for hypertension.

After studying new research conducted since 2005, a committee commissioned by the Institute of Medicine and CDC issued a report that "said there was no rationale for anyone to aim for sodium levels below 2,300 milligrams a day" .

One study found that among people with moderate to severe heart failure, those who consumed less salt were more than three times more likely to be readmitted to the hospital; another found that older folks with high blood pressure consuming less than 3,000 mg of sodium a day were as likely to suffer heart problems and strokes as those eating more than 7,000 mg a day. The average, across cultures and generations, is around 3,700 mg, suggesting this is probably around a naturally healthy range.

Despite this evidence, the Am...

                        
A common MYTH is the idea that
…with enough effort…,
it is possible for everyone to be able
to reach the same goals.

However,
not all goals are reachable
for all people.

The existence of this Myth tends to be overlooked or forgotten when it comes to weight and what our bodies can accomplish.

As a result of this blindness or memory loss, overweight or obese people are wrongfully perceived as morally inferior and weak and lazy. Efforts to Diet become internalized “attempts at redemption.”

Our culture contains an enormous Diet Industry. This is a particular form of economic and commercial activity involving the marketing of food, equipment, and drugs etc. as well as the marketing of information, and services from “experts”.

The term Diet Industry “Experts” involves a wide range of information givers, which includes “successful dieters”; trainers; dietitians; nutritionists; therapists, doctors and other medical professionals; hospitals; drug companies; scientists; educators; authors; publishers; journalists; politicians; and various organizations of all types, including “health care” organizations.

Unfortunately, a close look at the Diet Industry shows that even successfully following any Diet, … even those diets that we choose to call: a “Lifestyle Change”, a “Way-of-Eating” Plan, a “non-diet” plan, … doesn’t really bring us a permanent Solution for long-term weight-control.

However, long-term weight-control has never been a requirement or even a primary goal of the Diet Industry, nor the motivation behind it. Any study of the Diet Industry shows that it is a “triumph of capitalist success in selling promises to desperate people”.

One of the ways the Diet Industry sustains itself is by subtly connecting people to “ideals” of body-weight – even though those ideals are unattainable or unsustainable for the vast majority of the population.

 A Yorkshire Ter...