wowee.. great responses! thank you very much..

texascarl you are an because ive been too lazy to look up how to make sausage at home! see.. i love hamburgers with sausage mixed into them.. love love LOVE them.. and hamburger really is the ideal meat for me (seems to really help with my weight loss plus very easy to chew LOL).. Ive been thinking and thinking about what spices i could add to it to make it 'sausagey' because I know thats the only thing im really missing in them.. not interested in casing since they bother me to chew (wow that makes me sound like a big baby or old granny )

I only seem to retain water when I eat dairy.. and if I go overboard with olives (i love those things)

doreen you are one of the reigning information queens here.. i was so excited to see that you had posted for me! My bloodwork done last year showed EXCELLENT everything (except sodium and calcium were low) (yesterday, .5 hr post workout my BP was 112/67 and pulse 72). I workout about 3-4 days a week (for .75 - 1 hour each time) by mountain biking, hiking, regular street biking and yesterday I started a program on my treadmill (goes up to 5.6 mph with 4 incline for 18 minutes).. yes i find myself sweating alot not only because of these activities but it has been hot and humid.. one day i was a bit dizzy and ate a cuke with salt afterwards which made me feel much better.. (i do take water with me.. unsure if I will begin diluting gatorade or not)

I am in the ladies room ALOT.. if you check my journal youll also see on higher sodium days i NATURALLY drink more water.. yesterday I got pretty high on the sodium scale but i also drank 3 liters of water (I drink nothing else)..

I am going to read that article you posted when i return from work..

thank you so much you all are such blessings!