Does anyone else feel like a big bloated # ? I can relate to the yucky, gross and unattractive feelings associated with feeling bloated. Your body is literally holding on to fluids like a sponge holds onto water? It really is that you are bloated! I was absolutely FLOORED when I began to investigate one of the main culprits of our bloated bellies. SODIUM! I am sure many of you have heard this before, but read on! Did you know that 77 of the salt in our diet comes from processed and prepared foods? That’s the boxes and bags of packaged foods in your cupboards and freezers along with the take-out food and restaurant dining!
It is recommended to consume less than 2400 mg of sodium a day and 1200 mg if you have high blood pressure. So, a Wendy’s large chili would put you over your sodium limit if you had high blood pressure. Oh, and a Chimichanga is a whopping 3,000 mg and that’s without the beans, rice and sour cream! Here’s one for you, a meal of spaghetti and meatballs at Olive Garden has over 5,290 mg of sodium! That’s almost 2 ½ days worth in one meal! WHOA!
When you are over consuming sodium, you retain water. If you have more blood volume to pump, it is going to be more stressful on your heart and more force on the walls of your arteries! This is what high blood pressure is. I know this may be gross, but it proves a point! Have any of you seen what happens to a snail when you put salt on it? It actually blows up in size because the snails will increase the water in its body as more salt is added. It actually fills up so much that is explodes. Anyone ever felt it would just be easier to explode? Sorry, our body seems to be able to accommodate without exploding, we just expand. So, if you increase your sodium in your body, you will have an increase in your bodily fluids. (You will never look at snails the same again!)
Why is there so much sodium in our food? It makes things taste good! Why is it that prepared foods at restaurants are so much tastier than what we make at home? Sodium! Why do “diet” foods have so few calories, but still taste good? Sodium! Why do soups have so few calories, but are so yummy? Sodium! It’s everywhere! And it’s making you feel bloated and blah. Here’s the other kicker…you become addicted to the taste of high sodium foods! You crave them! You have to have them! It’s a viscous cycle!
Check your labels! Anything above 20% of the Daily Value per serving is considered high in the sodium department. Don’t buy it. Check out your favorite restaurant’s website. It should have a full menu with nutritional facts. Check out the sodium and the calories and fat while you’re at it! Look at the labels of what you are feeding your kids! The number of children being diagnosed with high blood pressure is on the rise, including kids being prescribed MEDICATIONS for their high blood pressure! OMG!
What would your life look like if you didn’t walk around feeling unattractive, bloated and tired? Our weight loss lessons can help you lose that bloated feeling. You’ll be able to lose that bloated feeling and reduce your high blood pressure with our weight loss lesson thus enabling yourself to live a happy, healthy lifestyle!
Would eliminating fast food or at least limiting the fast food be a price you would be willing to pay to not walk around in the bloated suit you have been wearing? Just a thought! These are the principles my husband and I live by and swear by! We choose to not eat fast food, eliminate almost all processed foods and we learned how to correctly read food labels! And guess what? You actually STOP craving those sodium laden foods by following the advice in our weight loss lesson! I encourage you to take a HUGE step in your health and weight and apply some of these principles! It’s worth it! Our weight loss lessons will have you feeling better and not bloated!
