Sweet and Salty Sodi[yum]
There was a time when I had convinced myself that I had the body of a 95-year-old portly man.
Accordingly, I made an earnest effort to stay away from foods with too much cholesterol, sodium, etc. Because, ya know, I obvies had to take care of my high blood pressure and cholesterol.
Except I didn’t. Not at all, in fact.
Every time I would go to the doctors for a check up and to get blood work done, my results almost always came back negativo on both of those counts-I actually had low blood pressure and low sodium levels. Go figure.
I guess that’s what staying away from any processed foods and eating an abundance of fruits, veggies, and boring, boring, Boring with a capital B food will do to you.
Of course, eating such “natural” foods is “healthy” in theory, but what is that I’m always telling you, friends?
Moderation. Moderation. Moderation.
No, a diet consisting primarily of frozen meals and fatty meats isn’t ideal. The same goes for hitting up the local McD’s or T-Bell for breakfast, lunch and dinner (although trust me, if I had my way, I could LIVE at Culver’s! Butterburgers and fries and shakes oh my!)
But neither is a diet consisting primarily of all natural unprocessed raw foods. I serve as the perfect example of that. My blood work actually showed that I had become “unhealthy” by being “too healthy”. Sweet salty irony, huh?
As a result of my sodium deficiency, my doctor asked me to increase my salt intake a tad. Initially I wasn’t as excited as I would have been if, say, my sugar levels were low. Cupcake diet? I’m down. But sodium? Meh. My avid sweet tooth wasn’t thrilled.
That was, until I gave salt a fair chance. I started to incorporate little by little plenty of sodi[yummy] foods.
Cheetos are like two treats in one. You eat them and then you get to lick your delicious orange and powdery fingers! What’s better than that?
I do like my weiners.
It’s a sad day in the Wendi house when I lick that last ounce of white chocolate peanut butter out of the jar. That is why I PREVENT this from happening by always having a stock of at least 4 jars in the pantry. Best. EVER!
Trail mix maddness 
White chocolate covered pretzels. Ob.Sessed
And you know what?
I couldn’t believe how much I had been depriving my taste buds like crazy with all of the brown rice, unseasoned chicken, reduced sodium soups, crackers, chips and cookies I had been using. Sounds tasty, right? Yeah…not so much. And for what? To combat high cholesterol and high blood pressure? How can I combat something I don’t have?
I think I tend to do this a lot. I take preventative measures to avoid negative outcomes rather than just letting life happen. Low sugar and low sodium products are intended for people who are can’t tolerate them or need to eliminate them from their diet, not for people to consume in order to avoid maybe possibly by chance having slightly high sodium levels or cholesterol.
And what if I did? What if I went overboard on that whole “sodium reintegration” thing and ended up having high sodium levels?
{ Not likely, but we’re speaking in theory. }
Then what?
Oh, okay. I reduce my sodium intake a bit.
Because, guess what? Nothing in life is permanent.
We always have the flexibility to make changes or alterations to work in accordance with our current state. If it’s extra hot outside one day, perhaps we need to drink more water than we would if, say, it were 20 degrees cooler. That’s life. Living in the present and doing what our bodies need at that point. Not drinking 5 gallons of water every day to avoid potential deydration on a really hot afternoon.
When I was in high school and college, I was so obsessed with burying my head in my text books, camping out at the library doing my classwork (that wasn’t even assigned yet!) just in case my professor did indeed give us that term paper to write or research project to complete so I would be prepared. I would be ahead of the game. How nerdy is that?! The nerdiest!! The irony in this was that by taking super silly class preventative measures, being the uber student, it really was, in turn, preventing me from having any fun.
These are kind of poor examples, but do you get where I’m doing with this?
Basically, live in the moment.
Do what you want.
Live your life.
And if, in turn, problems arise – cross that bridge when you come to it. But don’t avoid the bridge all together. Where’s the fun in that?
Hot Pockets…I never thought I could blabber so much about salt, of all things.
Hope you have a great Tuesday guys.
And remember.
Try to stop worrying about the future (so much), and instead live in the moment.
Live in your todays, not your tomorrows.
I will if you will
Questions of the day:
What are your thoughts on preventative measures?
Are there any specific food groups or ‘additive’ that you tend to shy away from for no other reason than you think they’re bad for you?
