What you MUST do first before trying to lose weight

I met a guy who told me he had lost 200 lbs by reducing his daily salt intake to a very low amount (x grams - I don't remember). That made no sense to me because salt has no caloric content. Also, I put lots of salt on my food and I am not overweight.

Then I began to ask the guy questions and something became clear. In order to get his daily salt intake down to x grams he had to eliminate all processed foods from his diet and could only eat a very limited number of menu items at a limited number of restaurants.

So what happened he quit eating processed foods and rarely ate out. His new diet was fresh fruits and vegetables, lean chicken cuts, infrequently lean beef and pork cuts, and fresh fish.

So he was eating much better and eating fewer calories. It wasn't salt that was a problem it was all the things that have salt in them.

I suspect that if he poured salt on his new diet he still would have lost 200 lbs.

I never though to ask him if he slept well.

To the lack of sleep and too much fat and salt, I would add empty carbohydrates (especially for T2 diabetics)
Once I switch from 'whatever is handy' to adequate protein and fresh or frozen veggies, sufficient water,
plus a modicum of non-tropical fruit or berries, those horrific cravings just VANISH.
It's weird not eating all those warm, soft carbohydrates, but to me, they are wicked, foul, fat builders,
that produce cravings for more, and still more, empty calories.

A recent study, (I'll find it if you all insist, but don't have the time at the moment) found that the average increase in BP for people who consume excess salt is 2 mm of mercury. TWO. In other words, it ain't the salt!

Sorry to be a dead horse beater, but my BP came down some with CPAP and a LOT with cutting the carbs out of my diet. Now, I can't say that my N=1 proves anything about reduction of salt--I still salt my food ad lib and enjoy it immensely. BUT, I am not eating ANY processed foods anymore (except for whey protein powder), and the amount of salt in processed foods is ungodly. All that is gone from my diet.

I am trying to use more natural sea salts, simply to get little trace bits of minerals too, instead of Morton's iodized salt and Blue Diamond Kosher Crystals which are devoid of anything (except added iodine). But that's just an added bonus of using salt.

The Choker wrote:I met a guy who told me he had lost 200 lbs by reducing his daily salt intake to a very low amount (x grams - I don't remember). That made no sense to me because salt has no caloric content. Also, I put lots of salt on my food and I am not overweight.

Then I began to ask the guy questions and something became clear. In order to get his daily salt intake down to x grams he had to eliminate all processed foods from his diet and could only eat a very limited number of menu items at a limited number of restaurants.

So what happened he quit eating processed foods and rarely ate out. His new diet was fresh fruits and vegetables, lean chicken cuts, infrequently lean beef and pork cuts, and fresh fish.

So he was eating much better and eating fewer calories. It wasn't salt that was a problem it was all the things that have salt in them.

I suspect that if he poured salt on his new diet he still would have lost 200 lbs.

I never though to ask him if he slept well.

Let me guess. He still thought it was salt that made him so fat!

Janknitz wrote:A recent study, (I'll find it if you all insist, but don't have the time at the moment) found that the average increase in BP for people who consume excess salt is 2 mm of mercury. TWO. In other words, it ain't the salt!

Janknitz, I am a believer.

Went through this with my blood pressure getting near the unacceptable level. Tried salt reduction. Did not work.

Eventually got a CPAP.

Now the doctors are surprised at how low my BP is. I eat out often and eat salt, even using the shaker at home.

I thought the myth that salt would make your BP high had long been thrown out the window?

Well let's see if I start another violent debate.

VVV wrote:
Well let's see if I start another violent debate.

No debate for me... that will raise my blood pressure.

All I know is the excessive salt and my body do not get along with the
effects being visible.

I love the Redmond pink salt from Utah.
A little goes a long way.

I still eat some processed food just because of time. I know I shouldn't but I do.

Janknitz wrote:A recent study, (I'll find it if you all insist, but don't have the time at the moment) found that the average increase in BP for people who consume excess salt is 2 mm of mercury. TWO. In other words, it ain't the salt!

Sorry to be a dead horse beater, but my BP came down some with CPAP and a LOT with cutting the carbs out of my diet. Now, I can't say that my N=1 proves anything about reduction of salt--I still salt my food ad lib and enjoy it immensely. BUT, I am not eating ANY processed foods anymore (except for whey protein powder), and the amount of salt in processed foods is ungodly. All that is gone from my diet.

I am trying to use more natural sea salts, simply to get little trace bits of minerals too, instead of Morton's iodized salt and Blue Diamond Kosher Crystals which are devoid of anything (except added iodine). But that's just an added bonus of using salt.

VVV wrote:

Let me guess. He still thought it was salt that made him so fat!

Exactly! I did not even bring up a different thought to him.

After all his erroneous belief has very practical benefit for him! No need to upset that apple cart.

Sometimes I think the media and the medical establishment do us all a great disservice by touting one diet after another, and one scapegoat after another. Carbs are the culprit, eating at night is the culprit, salt is bad for you, coffee is bad for you, red wine is bad for you, red wine is good for you, eat organic, eat like a caveman, you need a fasting regimen, keep up with being a vegetarian, you need our patented liquid formula diet with 27 vitamins and minerals and chemicals, sugar is poison but chocolate is good for you, no wait, chocolate has fat and is bad for you, all fat is bad for you, no wait, only some fats are bad for you, yeah says you, all fats are bad for you..., no wait, it's really not about fat, it's about protein, no wait you just need apple cider vinegar and cabbage soup - bah humbug!

We've been hearing mutually contradictory messages for decades - it is no wonder that people get confused and eventually give up. I've had doctors and so-called nutritional experts tell me every single thing in my list above, and they were ALL WRONG. I finally declared my independence from all of these twits a few years ago and did it myself, because ultimately I know my body best. I know what works for me, and there's no guarantee it would work for anybody else, because we all have different needs, different medical situations, and different everything.

I also know that with a sixty-hour a week job, apnea, fibromyalgia, a bum thyroid and a destroyed knee, the deck is stacked against me, but nobody guaranteed me life would be fair. I have two choices: play the hand I've got, or fold. Folding isn't an acceptable alternative. So I play the hand I've got. No amount of me wishing it were easier would change that.

For me, it meant deciding that no food is inherently evil, because demonizing whole classes of foods didn't work for me. It meant accepting that there is no magic bullet, because there is no pill or "diet" that will fix everything. And it meant gritting my teeth and exercising as much as my knee allows me to, every day without fail, even when the rest of me is screaming not to.

For me, those three decisions took all the angst out of the process, and then I started to win. Everyone else's mileage may vary.

All I know is what worked for me during a 6-month 80 lb weight loss many years ago...

- daily exercise that consisted only of walking

- reduction in the total amount of food consumed daily

- consuming a balanced diet with no emphasis on one food
over the other

For me, it meant deciding that no food is inherently evil, because demonizing whole classes of foods didn't work for me. It meant accepting that there is no magic bullet, because there is no pill or "diet" that will fix everything. And it meant gritting my teeth and exercising as much as my knee allows me to, every day without fail, even when the rest of me is screaming not to.

My husband and I have this debate nearly every night at dinner. He was getting overweight and decided to eat a healthier diet and start exercising. He was very successful. He eats everything but in moderation, doesn't go overboard with carbs and when he eats grains they are whole grain. He gets up every morning at 5:30 to exercise--yoga, kettlebells, and free weights, and walks the dog several miles a week. He looks and feels great. His favorite saying is that he can't see that any diet that cuts out an entire category of food is healthy.

My response is that he had a fairly healthy metabolism to begin with. And for people with healthy metabolisms, his approach can and should work very well. But there are those of us who do not have healthy metabolisms. I have PCOS, which we now understand is not just a fertility issue, it's a metabolic issue. I had it just as bad when I weighed 110 lbs as I do now over 200 lbs--my weight did not cause it, my impaired metabolism caused the weight (and, yes, I freely admit that I helped with a knife and fork!).

Because of severe insulin resistance, a so-called “balanced approach” that includes any grains or more than very limited carbs is NOT ever going to work for me. For ME and my impaired metabolism, those foods are “inherently evil”. They may not be for YOU—you’re lucky that is so. But they are for me.

I don’t consider this a diet, this is a way of life. And the improvements are huge. My lipid panel just came back and it’s better than my husband’s! My HbA1C is within normal range and almost perfect. BP normal. GERD gone (not just when I’m on CPAP). And I’m able to exercise now—before I could not walk across the room without pain and shortness of breath. I feel GREAT! No feelings of deprivation, either, when I can have all the butter and cream and eggs and meat and fish I want.

BTW, do you want me to post the studies that show that exercise is not such a big factor in weight loss? It’s very, very good for you, but if you think you lose weight because the exercise causes a calorie deficit, that theory does NOT prove to be so. Some types of exercise (resistance) do reduce insulin resistance in your muscles and can augment weight loss, but the effect is not as much as many would like to think. Gary Taubes writes persuasively on that.

Paul56 wrote:All I know is what worked for me during a 6-month 80 lb weight loss many years ago...

- daily exercise that consisted only of walking

- reduction in the total amount of food consumed daily

- consuming a balanced diet with no emphasis on one food
over the other

Paul, How did CPAP fit in with that? Did you lose the weight before or after the commencement of CPAP?

Exercise promotes weight loss... given exercise builds muscle and muscle
burns more calories than fat.

Kairosgrammy wrote:Okay, folks, leave Lynn's salt alone. I have been a salt freak all my life. My mother said I'd sneak the salt shaker off the table, pour it my hand and eat it by itself. I love my food salty. I have tried to salt less but I don't know. It's possible I'm a curable salt freak. I do know it's good advice. I guess as I travel along my path to better health, I will eventually get that more under control. One thing at a time. *sigh*

Salt craving can indicate adrenal insufficiency -- which can be caused by stress. Just like chocolate craving can indicate a need for magnesium.