Get the Salt Out (70 page)

BONUS TIP:
Though a fresh fruit plate is certain to be low in sodium, nutritious, and refreshing, an entire meal based on fruit can cause a blood sugar high followed by a blood sugar low, leaving you feeling lethargic an hour or two after eating. To give you the extended energy you need for long trips, order a well-balanced special meal that contains protein. You often will receive fresh fruit for dessert. If you’re
extremely
sensitive to salt or MSG, your safest choice may be a fruit plate, but eat only a small amount of fruit and make most of your meal high-protein snacks that you bring yourself. (See tip 443 for details.) Give the rest of the fruit on your plate to a traveling companion, or stuff some of the harder fruits (such as apples) in your carrying bag for later.

443
Take high-quality mini-meals with you on the plane
to sustain you if the airline gives you a meal you would rather not eat. High-protein snacks that are great for traveling are 3-ounce pop-top cans of low-sodium tuna, sandwiches made from unsalted nut butter, and the Mushroom Broccoli Cheese Muffins in tip 437.

444
Also bring low-sodium snacks with you
to replace the salty pretzels and roasted nuts commonly served on airplane flights,. Take unsalted whole grain pretzels, or an assortment of
homemade, oven-toasted nuts. These choices won’t leave you feeling deprived when you pass up the overly salted snacks handed to you on planes. You’ll also cut the salt by hundreds of milligrams. Other good snacks for trips are low-sodium, low-sugar muffins (like the Wheat-Free Banana Muffins in tip 142) and trail mixes (made with a variety of nuts and unsulphured fruits).
One to Two Salt Shakers.

445
As always, the best drink to order on airplane flights
is low-sodium bottled water. Proper hydration with low-sodium water is always important for getting the salt out, but it is especially important when flying. I find that having low-sodium, quality water is so crucial to my feeling my best when I’m traveling that I make it a point to take a bottle with me in my carry-on.
One Salt Shaker.

446
If you’re planning a cruise,
call your cruise line ahead of time to request a special diet menu low in salt. To both keep the salt out and the weight off, your best choices on board are broiled, baked, or poached meats, poultry, or fish accompanied by steamed vegetables and a green salad.

BONUS TIP:
Whether you take the time to order a special menu or not, be careful not to let eating become a full-time occupation while you’re on board. Relax and enjoy yourself during the cruise, but eat simply and exercise a lot to prevent gaining weight. Taking a cruise should be a relaxing, health-enhancing experience, not an excuse to overindulge in salty foods and come back feeling worse than you did before you left.

M
aking a commitment to keep unhealthy sodium out of your diet is a challenge. Although your sodium needs may change during different stages of life, your resolve to avoid unhealthy sodium should remain constant. Keeping that resolve isn’t always easy, of course. Physically, your body may crave salt because it’s deficient in nutrients. Emotionally, you may be tempted by salty snacks when you’re stressed. Socially, everyone from your kids to your best friends may try to coax you into eating salty foods because “everyone else does.” Also, because the issue of dietary salt doesn’t yet have the widespread media attention that fat and sugar do, you may sometimes feel a bit different from the rest of the public because you have more awareness than most people do of the hazards of refined salt. Learning to cope with these various pressures is difficult, but it is something you need to learn. So important are these personal concerns that if you know how to avoid salt in the foods you eat but never address the personal pressures you face, the chances are not good that your dietary change will last.

That’s because your beliefs, thoughts, and feelings influence your actions. The mind-body connection is so strong that some
researchers say altering attitude does, in fact, alter behavior. My professional experience bears this out. Thinking back about the thousands of clients I have seen, I can honestly tell you that those who have made the most positive and lasting dietary changes were the ones whose attitudes underwent health-enhancing transformations as well.

This final chapter discusses how to cope with all the impediments you may face in your journey to get the salt out. It includes ways to overcome problems with others as well as troubles with yourself. It also covers other important health topics like stress, exercise, and weight loss. Although these subjects seem unrelated, you will see that they all play a part in your keeping the salt out and staying healthy in general.

447
Start by eliminating the sodium sources that you are the least apt to miss.
This means processed and packaged foods that contain hidden sodium additives as well as those that contain hidden salt in combination with hidden sugar.