Today, a Christmas gift in the form of a workable and sustainable health hint to my friends who like me have fought the battle of the bulge for most of their lives. Translated this is a weight loss plan that is working for
me.
My cardiologist hooked me up to a daily report called CardioMEMS which keeps track of the fluid level around my ticker. After a few weeks of bad numbers, my Doctor told scolded me, saying “if you don’t drastically change your diet you will be in serious trouble within a year.”
Fortunately, I followed his instructions and my new eating habits resulted in excellent results. How does minus 25 pounds sound?
Today I’m sharing the three changes that spelled success for me. One STOP, and two ADDS!
The STOP was table salt. This isn’t rocket science but it is working. The average American eats 5 or more teaspoons of salt each day. Our daily need is about ¼ teaspoon a day. We ingest 20 times more than we need!
I haven’t touched a salt shaker in months after years of salting everything even before tasting it! I’ve learned what foods are loaded with sodium in them. A good example is barbeque sauce. I still eat pretty much
what I like, but without salting any thing and it’s working.
The ADDS are simple too. Water and Pop Sickles! My daily goal is 80 ounces of water. Five, 16-ounce bottles get me close, and once my body adjusted it has become a routine.
The pop sickles probably surprise you, but 3 or 4 a day of the single stick, the all-natural kind that Bobbi found, have helped me stay the course.
I have tried so many diets I can’t count them all. They all worked as long as I didn’t cheat. But most diets aren’t sustainable. My low sodium plan does leave me craving salt on food like baked potatoes and watermelon, but there are substitutes and my success helps me maintain.
Like I said earlier – this is not rocket science, but it’s working, and guess what? Christmas cookies don’t have much salt in them, so enjoy big boy!
Merry Christmas, stay safe and for this year please stay home.
I’m Steve Sauder
