Friday, April 8, 2011

Upsides to the Down Economy/ The Salt of the Earth




Sodium. Not very sexy, I know but did you know it can contribute to that jelly around your middle? Sodium pads fat cells, making your waist appear bigger. I found this out when researching how to get rid of belly fat. We are supposed to have between 500 to 1500 grams of sodium a day so I decided to pay attention to my sodium and record how much I ate in an average day. In the photo above, which product do you think has the most sodium (for milk and soup, based on one cup servings)? When I wrote down my meals for the day and added up the sodium, I was shocked at the results. Here I was eating what I thought were "healthy" foods, but they were packed with sodium. Here were my meals: Cereal with milk, coffee with milk, a mozzarella cheese stick and an apple, a Body for Life Shake and two Lean Cuisines. My total? Almost 2000 milligrams! Some people confuse salt with sodium. Salt is composed of 40% sodium and 60% chloride. One teaspoon of salt is 2000 (read more than your daily allowance) milligrams. Ingesting too much sodium, besides padding fats cells and causing you to bloat, is one factor in the development of high blood pressure. Sodium is found in places you wouldn't necessarily expect it and in some of the usual suspects. One dill pickle has 928 mg of sodium- expected. One ounce of almonds roasted with sea salt only has 40 milligrams, but reach for the Wasabi version of those almonds and they have 115 milligrams. While we would expect regular soy sauce to be high in sodium (1400 mg), a cup of instant chocolate pudding has almost 1000 mg! The point, is read your labels and try to avoid processed food. Also, drink lots of water and focus on eating fresh fruits and vegetables, especially for snacks. Which item in the above photo did you guess had the most sodium? If it was the Lean Cuisine, you were right. It weighed in with 690 mg of sodium, followed by the split pea soup (670), the shake (280) and skim milk at 130. And if you're trying to fit quickly into that little black dress, avoid sodium to drop water weight. Jillian Michaels has a fast flush drink, with cranberry juice, dandelion tea and lemon juice, I sometimes drink before a party or event. It's only a temporary solution, but it works in a pinch.


Jillian Michael's Fat Flush Drink


Mix together:

60 oz distilled water

1 tablespoon sugar free cranberry juice

1 dandelion root tea bag

2 tablespoons lemon juice


Drink, drink, drink and watch the water weight leave your body.

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