Image via Wikipedia Most of us eat too much salt. It tastes good and makes many things taste better. It’s also a great preservative, which is why it’s in most frozen, processed and canned goods. According to the American Heart Association, adults should keep their sodium intake to no more than 1,500 mgs a day. Yet average Americans consume approximately 3,436 mgs a day, which is over twice the sodium per day than the maximum advised.Too much sodium in one’s diet can be dangerous. It can increase one’s blood pressure and put one at a higher risk for heart disease and stroke. It can also make you puffy, retain water and it keeps your weight artificially elevated.
This is a cautionary tale, my friends.
Two days ago, I was at 10 pounds down in my exergaming program. It was quite exhilarating having lost two pounds over the last week. But Tuesday is my official weigh in day. Tuesday, mind you, the day AFTER Valentine’s Day. Dum dum DUMB.
Valentine’s Day started out fabulously enough. I got in an early double workout and was able to go out to a lovely Mexican lunch with my Dear Husband. We laughed, we joked, we chatted and we ate mucho salsa. Heck, it was our Valentine’s Day date in the middle of the day, because we were going to be at home with the baby in the evening. I felt good, and figured so long as I was reasonable for dinner and drank a lot of water through the rest of the day, I’d be able to hold off at least one of the two pounds I’d lost over the last week.
Then it turned out that my DH had conspired with our babysitter and he surprised me with an evening date night – oh so precious – while the babysitter and baby were having a romping good time at home. DH and I laughed, joked, chatted and ate an absolutely fabulous Tuscan supper avec mucho vino. We had sips of water here and there, but not the two litres I’d been thinking about having to flush out the salsa. In any case, Tuesday morning came and so did the official weigh in. One pound UP from the week before. I’d gained three pounds literally overnight. Ah, sodium. My money’s on the salsa.
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