In less than 3 weeks Matt and I will be leaving the country for a little tropical getaway. The thought of living in a bikini for 5 days makes me freak out juuust a tad. Okay, maybe a lot. So to get bikini-ready {and preferably lose at least 5 pounds}, Matt and I began a new crash diet on Sunday. We are cutting salt and sugar for the next few weeks. Simple, right? Not so much. Apparently those tiny little crystals are in just about everything, including lots of healthy food choices! I never really paid much attention to my daily salt use and had no clue my intake was off the charts until I tracked my usual meals in My Fitness Pal. Yikes!
So to find out how much sodium I really need and to learn which high-sodium foods to avoid, I did some research. Along the way I found the Sodium Girl which is a blog filled with low-sodium recipes and written by a girl who lives a low-sodium life.
Next up, I wrote out my grocery list for our first few meals:
- Fresh Fruits {apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, watermelon, etc.}
- Fresh Vegetables {spinach, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, etc.}
- Unsweetened Dried Fruit
- Fresh Fish
- Eggs
- Beans & Peas {packaged, not canned}
- Fat Free Greek Yogurt
- Unsweetened Almond Milk
- Sparkling Water
As I continued to write out my shopping list, I realized that this list wasn't all that different than my usual list. So where was all my salt coming from? The way I prepared our meals. I add salt to just about everything. A a single teaspoon of salt has 2,325 mg of sodium and the Mayo Clinic recommends consuming less than 2,300 mg of sodium a day.
However, it should be noted that salt does not cause your body to gain or lose fat. In fact, salt has no
calories. High consumption of salt only results in temporary weight gain
as it causes your body to retain water. Conversely, low consumption of
salt can result in temporary weight loss as it causes your body to expel
water.
So a few of my biggest changes will be kicking the added sprinkle of salt, switching from salt-packed salad dressings and condiments to oils & vinegars, using more garlic, herbs, onions, lemons and limes to season our foods and cut pretty much all processed foods {most of my snacks}! If I can't choose fresh, I'll have to pay closer attention to the Nutrition Facts Label to check the amount of sodium - foods with 5% Daily Value (DV) or less.
So now that I've announced my diet to the world I'll have more accountability. If I make it to my goal weight I'll tell you what it is {but don't expect before & after pictures}.
Wish me luck or give me some tips!
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