Our BetterMost Community > Chez Tremblay

I Wish I Knew How to LOSE You--The Weight Loss Thread (check first post)

<< < (70/196) > >>

SuperDistortion:
Goal: Lose 50 lbs.

Front-Ranger:

--- Quote from: SuperDistortion on March 17, 2010, 09:43:54 pm ---Goal: Lose 50 lbs.

--- End quote ---

Yay! Welcome to our merry band, friend!

Front-Ranger:
Apologies to Ennis, who welded his salt shaker so assiduously, but I wanted to pass along a few thoughts that may be worth their salt.

Excess salt is something that you should eliminate from your diet. It can lead to imbalances and deaden your taste buds so that you need to eat more and more in order to taste anything. Salt lurks in processed and boxed foods, pastries, fast foods, and restaurant foods. For instance, there is more salt in some pancake mixes than in potato chips!!

You may think that freshly ground salt or salt from the Dead Sea has nutritive properties. Not really. Salt is salt. Whether it’s kosher salt, salt crystals, or seasoned salt, salt is sodium chloride and it’s bad news for 4 out of 5 people in the developed world.

To eat healthy foods and avoid a salt imbalance, buy fresh food that is located around the perimeter of the grocery store. Avoid the canned, frozen and processed foods in the middle aisles. Eat at home or prepare your lunches and take them with you to work. Be wary of snack foods. If it’s white, don’t bite. DON’t eat foods from bakeries, pastries, or diners. Some Asian foods can be high in sodium or monosodium glutimate. Seek out authentic foods!

Some foods that are not as bad as you might think: Chips. Did you know that you can buy or make chips out of many different foods? Some of my favorites are radish and yam chips, eggplant (really!) chips, and pita chips. There are whole grain chips with flaxseed and even potato chips that are healthful and delicious. You just have to be ready to read labels and look for the kinds that are not loaded with salt and saturated fats.

Meats. Prosciutto, sausages, and other meats can be healthful if bits are added to noodles and veggies. The key word is bits…small amounts used as flavoring or condiments rather than as a significant part of the meal.

Some foods that are worse than you might think: Pastries and sweets. Believe it or not, oftentimes these foods contain a lot of hidden sodium. One time my mother left a couple of croissants at my house after she visited, and I ate them, basically just to get rid of them. An hour or so later, I felt awful. The sodium made my heart beat wildly, and the hidden fat made me feel sluggish. It took me over a day to recover!! I stay far away from croissants and whatever looks like them now!

Soft drinks. Yes, this is another place where excess sodium lurks. I can’t imagine why manufacturers feel they must put sodium in soft drinks!!

Lynne:

--- Quote from: SuperDistortion on March 17, 2010, 09:43:54 pm ---Goal: Lose 50 lbs.

--- End quote ---

You and me both, bud.  I'm not making much progress, but I'm not gaining.  I have been grocery shopping and now have food in my house, so hopefully there will be less dining out and delivery and more cooking for myself.

After Lee's post (Thanks, Lee!), though, I realize that too much of it is convenience food from those 'middle aisles' with the exception of my healthy Kashi cereal and milk and eggs.

I'm now mostly drinking water during the day, sometimes hot tea or coffee (milk, no sugar) - I'm off the diet cokes - no more aspartame for me!  So I'm happy about that.

I am also drinking a 14 oz bottle of milk most days.  Just now checking the label, it contains 210 mg of Na.  But it has 50% of my RDA of Ca, which is necessary just now.

Interestingly, I have those chocolatey caramely Ca chews, and I never really want them.  They're completely edible.  I think it's because I know they're good for me.

southendmd:

--- Quote from: SuperDistortion on March 17, 2010, 09:43:54 pm ---Goal: Lose 50 lbs.

--- End quote ---

Added!

Thanks, Lee, for the reminder about decreasing salt.  I find that a squeeze of lemon juice is a good substitute.

Cutting out prepared food and eating fresh food is a challenge, and requires different shopping habits.  Keep to the perimeter!  Exactly. 

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page