Therapy of some kind, whether it be social walking, self care or with a professional therapist, is very important even if weight loss is not your focus. Having said this, I would like to share some advice from my therapist.
I casually mentioned that I was unhappy with my weight. My therapist suggested that I not focus on losing weight but instead change a few things for my health. She suggested that I reduce my sodium intake. “Too much is unhealthy and there is so much hidden in foods. Shop the perimeter of the store", she said. Well, I really didn’t think it would help me lose weight but it couldn’t hurt. I didn’t have a salt addiction so it seemed like an easy thing to reduce. So I did. The next two weeks were eye opening! Her advice is what started me on an 80lb. weight loss.
There are many medical issues associated with high sodium intake but I am just focusing on food cravings associated with sodium.
Some things that I learned about salt and sodium-
The salt addiction triangle
Salt leads to craving sugar-
Sugar leads to craving fat-
Fat leads to salt craving and the cycle repeats.
The recommended daily allowance for adults is about 2400mg daily.
Some people are salt sensitive. You do not get fat from eating a Thai chicken wrap for dinner one night but you may notice being bloated the next morning from the salt in the soy sauce. Drink lots of water to help flush the salt out quicker but by all means do not stop eating Thai chicken wraps if you love them!
By the way, soy sauce has 920 mg sodium per teaspoon. Even low sodium soy sauce is very high in sodium.
Some foods like tomatoes are naturally high in sodium but don’t stop eating tomatoes, their health benefits outweigh the sodium content. Eating one serving of chips or pretzels is not the sodium antagonist having approximately 150mg per serving. Instead, work on reducing processed foods, prepared foods and prepared sauces that could pack thousands of mg sodium if you aren't careful. The next blog entry will be a continuation of how to reduce sodium and stop the cravings.
Hi Becky! I love your blog. So much information; it's wonderful! And i'm preparing myself for this "beware of the sodium" lifestyle. It makes so much sense. I always thought that, if my health required it, then i would watch my sodium intake. It seemed to be the one thing i never watched. How could you when you watch fats and carbs, you need flavor from somewhere. But i'm going to give this a try. It makes a lot of sense!
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