2024 Resolution – How Things Are Going (Month Two!)

Now here’s the longer version for those who want more details. ? The “no sugar” New Year’s resolution has become very easy. I’m honestly not even tempted to eat sugary treats anymore. I go out to eat with my mom and brother every Sunday after church, and on Sunday a week ago, my brother ordered a strawberry shortcake. Most of last year, we’d order that and all three of us would share it. The restaurant where we go (Longhorn Steakhouse) has THE BEST strawberry shortcake I’ve ever had. But a week ago when he ordered it, and he and my mom shared it, I wasn’t even tempted by it, and I didn’t feel deprived in the least.

So I’ve had no sugar for two months! And for me, that’s a pretty huge deal. (For the details on what I mean by “no sugar”, I explained that here.) I’m still convinced that what has helped me the most is focusing on eating more protein (most Americans, especially women, aren’t eating enough protein as we get older), and eating healthy fats (animal fats, olive oil, avocado oil, but NO SEED OILS!!!) Those two things keep me satiated so that I’m not always thinking about food and craving sweets.

In other health news, I read a book that I highly recommend for everyone to read. It’s called The Salt Fix: What The Experts Got Wrong, And How Eating More Might Save Your Life (affiliate link). The thesis of the book is that most of us aren’t getting enough salt in our diets. I know that sounds shocking considering that we’ve all been conditioned to be afraid of too much salt. There are three things that we’ve been conditioned over the last three or so decades to believe are going to kill us — saturated fats, cholesterol, and salt — when in reality, those three things have been blamed for the damage that sugar, processed carbs, and seed oils are doing to our bodies. The book is fascinating, but let me share with you how I even came to read it.

At the end of January, I started seeing ads on Instagram and Facebook for an electrolyte drink called LMNT. It was a no-sugar-added electrolyte drink, and I’m always looking for a good, low- or no-sugar electrolyte drink for Matt. So I ordered several boxes to try out the flavors. When it came, Matt and I both started drinking it. It is, hands down, THE BEST electrolyte drink I’ve ever tasted in my life. Most electrolyte drinks try to cover up the salty taste by adding so much sweet flavor, which means you’re either getting way too much sugar (like with Gatorade or Liquid IV), or it’s filled with sugar alternatives that have that overpowering fake sweetener taste (like Dr. Berg’s electrolyte drink). Bleh on all of those.

So the LMNT was a bit different. They don’t try to cover up the salty flavor. They just add a hint of fruit flavor and a bit of stevia, but nothing overpowering. So the first sip I took was a bit shocking, so my initial reaction was, “Ugh, I don’t think I like this!” But then after a second, I was like, “Wait. That’s actually really good!” It just wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting that fake, overpowering sweet flavor, so that first salty sip was shocking to me. But after I readjusted my expectations, I realized how much I loved it. And now, it is my favorite drink. I love it more than my precious unsweet tea, and anyone who knows how much tea I drink knows how shocking it is that I could love something more than unsweet iced tea.

Back to my story. We got our first LMNT at the end of January, and I started drinking one (okay, maybe two) a day. First, I noticed that I wasn’t getting hungry as often. That made sense to me because I remember being in keto Facebook groups where people were often doing intermittent and long-term fasting, and when people would complain about being too hungry to continue, the advice was always to put some salt under your tongue because salt keeps hunger and cravings in check. So that made sense to me. The more salt I was drinking, the less hunger I experienced, and the fewer cravings I had, so I wasn’t continually wanting to rummage through the fridge to find snacks throughout the day. In fact, the thought of food was no longer consuming my mind. After lunch, I wouldn’t even give food another thought on most days (with Wednesdays being the exception).

But here’s what really shocked me. On one Wednesday — the day of the week when I go out out to eat with my mom and brother for lunch, and then my church group has our Wednesday night gatherings that start with dinner together — I ate horribly all day. I didn’t have sugar, but I ate every carbohydrate in sight, including several pieces of garlic bread (right up until bedtime!!), some chicken spaghetti, potato salad, white bread. I mean, I was out of control. Now generally on days like that, my weight will be up about two or three pounds the next morning, especially if I’m eating right up until bedtime, which I was on that day. So the next morning, I stepped on the scale expecting just that, but my weight hadn’t changed at all from the morning before (i.e., the morning before my carb fest).

That has NEVER HAPPENED in my entire adult life. I was absolutely astounded, and wondered what the heck was going on. Had I suddenly become one of those lucky people who could eat whatever I wanted to, and never gain another pound? And then it dawned on me. Could it be the salt?! That was the only thing I had recently changed.

And that’s when I remembered hearing about the book The Salt Fix.

I wondered if, perhaps, the answer to my question was in that book, so I immediately bought the audio version and listened that day as I worked. And sure enough! He answered my question, and gave me so much helpful, amazing, and enlightening information that I have become an evangelist for this book and for salt (specifically the amazing tasting LMNT) for the last month. Right in the very introduction of the book, he talks about how salt can help you get control of your weight. Eat salt, lose weight. That’s the very title of a section of the introduction to the book.

I have to admit that with this new information, and with a healthy stock of LMNT in my kitchen, I was not as disciplined with my eating as I should have been during the month of February. In fact, if I’m being completely honest with myself, it’s amazing that I even managed to lose any weight at all in the month of February. In the past, that type of undisciplined manner of approaching food would have resulted in me gaining weight. So the fact that I lost any weight at all during February is quite amazing to me.

So in March, I’m going to do a little experimenting. I’m going to stick with the LMNT and combine that with a way more disciplined approach to healthy eating, and I’m going to be way more committed to my daily exercise. I didn’t do well on that, either, during the month of February. I started off very strong, but once I saw the coyote in our back yard, my commitment to daily walking and determination to stick to an exercise routine took a hit. So I’m excited to see how this month goes. No sugar, way fewer processed carbohydrates, more salt, more disciplined healthy eating, and a commitment to daily exercise. I’ll report back at the end of the month to let y’all know how it goes.

EDIT: I completely forgot to tell y’all this! I bought myself a cute little outfit for Easter. It’s nothing terribly special, and I’m not quite ready to spend money on cute dresses. I’ll need to lose more weight and feel more confident before I spend money on dresses. But for now, I just wanted a cute pair of pants, a colorful shirt, and some new shoes. So here’s what I bought…

As soon as I saw my favorite brand of pants/demins (Judy Blue) in this pretty pink, I knew I had to have them. The shirt is from one of my favorite online stores called Mod Boutique. The shoes are Madden Girl from Belk. Who knows if the weather will even cooperate. This is Texas, after all. We might be in the middle of a snow storm on March 31st. ? If that happens, I’ll need to switch out the shoes and throw on a coat.

But here’s the kicker. I bought the pants and the shirt one size smaller than what I wear right now. ? And I’ve already flittered away the month of February with my undisciplined eating and lack of exercise for the last two weeks of the month. So now it’s down to crunch time. I honestly have no idea if I can do it, but if I don’t make it, it won’t be for lack of trying or for lack of discipline during the month of March. So I’ll let y’all know how it goes! If I make it, I may even post a picture of me in my cute little Easter outfit. We’ll see. ?