So, both Hubby and I got bad reports with our cholesterol and blood pressure this week. Our doctor says that since the problems aren’t that bad yet, we should attempt to change things with diet. Okay, so we need to do a no-fat/low fat and as low a salt diet as we can.
We went to the grocery store and started reading labels. A can of soup has over 500 mg of salt! And the things that I love, like cheese unless they are low fat, will probably kill us!
Hubby and I looked around the store, reading and shopping and came away with very little food. As we drove home I told him, “Let’s face it. I think we just have to stop eating!”
Actually what we need to do is stop eating processed foods. That’s where you find the real heavy salt quantities. It means I will need to learn a new way to cook. We will also need to start eating some new things. Healthy things.
Hubby is a wee bit depressed about this, as he loves his junk food. Chips, dips, fried food, bacon, eggs, oh the list is long. I’m feeling sort of shell shocked myself. This is the first time I have to actually “make” a change in my own diet.
Middle age really stinks!
I told Hubby, that we are in this together. We’ll eat the same things, exercise and try to make sense of all the dietary restrictions.
No fat, no salt, no sugar.
Oh yeah, this should be interesting.
Awww man, that stinks, 🙁 Low salt is hard to do!
that’s what meds are for 😉
Oh, no, that’s really hard, specially when it is imposed… I have heard about using white pepper to reduce salt intake..
Time to find new recipes!
Bah ! don’t bother with Cholersterol, if you listen to the doctors we are all almost dead ! I have it since I had been checked for the first time ages ago and have always had a very high level over 300 ! despite diets, pills etc. Now they told me that it is inherited and it’s true my father too had such a high level. What we do, I only use Olive oil for cooking or sometimes sunflower oil, never butter, we eat a lot of vegetables and fruits, especially grapes and that’s it. Otherwise we could burry ourselves immediately ! (BTW my father was 84 when he died with his Cholersterol and not because of ! he just sat besides a kitchen stool and hurt his head)
Thanks very much for your offer to send me a Beanie Baby, that’s really cute of you, but I have already 2 stuffed cats sitting on my bed plus the scottish Teddybear I got from Caledonia ! I have to wait now until my first grandchild, lol !
Oh, dear. Those dietary changes ARE hard. We have been on low-sodium for a long time, due to hubby’s problems with being pre-glaucoma (have to avoid putting extra pressure on the eyes). Now, when I eat something with a lot of sodium, I really suffer afterward.
good luck with it, you two!
linda
Don’t panic! I always tell people in my classes if you stop eating processed foor and salt all of your own food using kosher salt (less sodium, larger grains, better taste) over iodized salt (higher sodium, awful aftertaste) you will likely never meet the daily allowed sodium level.
The first thing I blame are canned soups, ramen noodles, lean cuisine, frozen entrees.
Different salts have varying sodium levels all the way form iodized to sea salt. I’m sure there is a chart out there.
Also, cook heavier with olive oil over butter. I use extra virgin in everything I cook, i do not bother with the lower grades, they don’t add taste like extra virgin does.
Cooks illustrated has a great recipe for oven hips, for instance that use 1 – 2 TBS oil to coat the potatoes baked at high heat in the oven vs. the frozen packaged ones. There are a ton of alternatives and i know you love to cook, you’ll fidure it out.
By the way, look at this link, I bought my Mom some kitty earrings here last year so i get the catalog. thought you might want to run this link by hubby’s eyes.
http://www.dallaspridgenjewelry.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=DPJ&Product_Code=82P&Category_Code=PIN
I bet you will find a ton of good alternatives with the ocassional special treat. 🙂
Thank you for your supportive comments….and I have a somewhat Dackel-related post coming up soon. 😉
Dear you and hubby,
that’s a very wise idea to do not trust readymade food in the big chains. Buy the natural basics, each days’s fresh ingrediants – after light, temperature and humity -i.e. todays recipe or meal.
Does it take more time to prepare? Of course, if you don’t have a clue. In fact, it’s more or less opposite. It’s a question of logistics. What you do first when arriving back from work.
This is a clue: You know we have two cats. First thing to do when entering home: Fill up with hot water and put the frozen piece of Polluck in it. Then, change from working clothes to more “homely”. And then store what’s been brought in to your home (food and you know all we need).
What happens – the Alarm clock: Dinner for the Cats. Our dinner? Hehe – Ready as well- In less than 20 minutes after arrival.
PLS do not shoot me for this comment.
Thanks so much commenting my mothers 88 BD.
Oh man, I can imagine that it must have been kind of a shock… but I think you’ll find out that it’s going to be much easier than you think.
Good luck!
It is so hard! When I saw a nutricionist in 1999, weighting *gulp* 195 on my five foot frame she said first thing: Stop buying anything in a can, no soda and don’t eat out for a week and DRINK YOUR WATER! I dropped eight pounds just doing that.
Making your own soups and stews, then freezing helps a lot.
where are the things that tell you dieting is bad??