Ways to Escape the “Hidden” Salt…
Sodium/Salt Awareness activists, and I, believe everything we eat and do assists us in changing a person’s behavior and think differently.
The way we challenge people is by enabling people to interact with others who are in the same situation, assist in developing skills such as sodium tracking, charts, reasons why sodium should be watched, and providing concrete information and tools to aid in the learning process.
We do this by not only researching the internet for “low sodium” topics, but teaching the benefits so everyone has the opportunity to have a better quality of life no matter how old, young, healthy or not healthy they are.
To the point above. This week is World Salt Awareness Week. So what does that mean for most Americans and people in other countries? Probably not much because most of us don’t think about what the amount of sodium we consume on a daily basis really adds up to, whether we are considered healthy or not.
For those of us who have to “watch” our sodium (in particular, heart patients and high blood pressure patients), it does require work. However, in the end, it should be worth the effort because we feel better, we have more energy, we are more motivated, and the list goes on and on for each individual.
How do we do it? Honestly, I don’t have a solid answer to that question yet. I’m still working on it myself. I think it will always be a work in progress. I tried to use the old fashion method of paper and pen and log what I was eating. Fail. I have tried to find a reliable app that does all the things I would want to see in an app. Fail. I’ve tried to start writing my own app. Fail. I’ve tried the “rounding” method. Not the greatest. I’ve started to memorize certain foods that are my favorite. Better.
Although, lately, I have found that I prefer to log in my food using an app that is workable. It’s limited to logging in your count. I read the label on the package, and enter it in as one of my “Favorites” and then add it to my total. For one time food items, I just add the total. It’s okay, but still not that great. I would love to find an app developer to work with or just have the time to use my love of technology and learn to build a wonderful app, but time seems to get in my way.
Searchable online databases have become one of my favorites to use.
I have found to be very good and reliable is Nutrionix.com. This site will allow you search their large database of restaurants, as well as single food items. From that point, you can start to generate your own personal list to keep handy.
Another great one is SELFNutritiondata.com. This site has valuable information, not only for people watching their sodium, but all other types of data you are interested in learning about. I suggest bookmarking these two sites to refer to often. I’m sure there are more. Hey! It’s the 21st Century and we can put our finger on just about anything in a matter of seconds.
Another good site to refer to is Fooducate.com. This site is full of great resources to refer when wanting to “educate” yourself on good nutrition. Check it out.
I will tell you, it’s not going to be an easy task to watch your sodium on a daily basis, but like with anything,…the more you practice and learn, the easier it will become. Will be fail? Of course! But, we all know that with failure, learning happens. (See my previous post Pretzel “Bites” on my first epic fail.)
I hope to become an expert and have a wonderful quality of life!