Top 10 Cardio Mistakes You're Making

By Dana Laurier

Cardio exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and weight loss. But more often than not, most women tend to commit some serious cardio mistakes when performing their cardio workouts.

Are you guilty of committing any of the following cardio mistakes when you work out?

Cardio Mistakes #10
Doing high intensity throughout
A high intensity workout burns more calories than low intensity workouts, no doubt, but if your objective is to burn more calories from fat, constant high intensity is not the way you want to go.

You can opt to maintain your “target” fat-burning heart range, which is your maximum heart rate (220 – your age x 65%). For instance, a 30-year old woman’s target fat-burning range is 220 – 30 = 190 x .65 = 123.5 beats per minute. A heart rate monitor would be your best bet for making sure you maintain your target heart rate.

You can also opt to go the HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) route, which involves moving at a normal pace for two minutes and then speeding things up to the maximum you can go for one minute. Do this for 30 minutes.

Cardio Mistakes #9
Dressing to sweat
Some women believe that if they sweat more, they’re burning more calories and more fat. Dressing like it’s winter to run on a treadmill will not help you burn more calories from fat; it will simply deplete your body of water and the second you do drink water, all the “weight” will return.

Dress comfortably to workout and forget about increasing your sweat capability.

Cardio Mistakes #8
Doing more than 60 minutes
It takes 20 minutes before your body begins to head into the fat stores for calorie consumption, but after 60 minutes of cardio exercise, your body starts to eat away at the protein and muscle in your body, and that is not what you want to be doing.

Don’t waste your time doing more than an hour of cardio a day, and give your body time to recuperate by eating and sleeping well.

Cardio Mistakes #7
Holding weights
I see women holding 5 pounds weights while they walk on a treadmill and although they think they’re building muscle while they burn calories, all they’re really doing is slowly tearing away at their shoulder muscles.

If you want to add weight to your body while you perform your cardio exercise, wear a weighted vest, a backpack with weights in it or put on some ankle weights. Don’t hold weights in your hands; let your body take on the weight instead.

Cardio Mistakes #6
Leaning on the machines
How often have you seen someone on the stair machine holding onto it for dear life as they step away with their heels barely touching the pedals? Not only are they not doing the exercise right, they’re fooling themselves into thinking that the calories the machine says they’re burning are spot on.

Whenever you do any cardio exercise, whether it be cycling, walking, jogging, or climbing stairs, make sure that you maintain proper form throughout. If you need to lean on the machine for more than a few seconds at a time, lower the speed.

Cardio Mistakes #5
Not personalizing the machine
When you use any machine, it should fit your body type. And considering we are not all built the same, chances are that the person who used it before you isn’t your exact height.

Make the necessary adjustments to the machine so that you’re height corresponds to the machine (on the bicycle, for instance). You need to feel comfortable on the machine you choose.

Cardio Mistakes #4
Not using your entire body
The recumbent bike doesn’t allow for much upper body movement (if any at all), you should use machines that call your entire body into play.

When you walk on a treadmill swing your arms, when you jog, make fists, bend your elbows and swing your arms. Make an effort to get your entire body involved.

Cardio Mistakes #3
Upping the speed not the resistance
I bet you think that, as you improve and your cardio workout gets easier, you should increase the speed and begin moving more quickly. And although that’s not completely wrong, you may actually tire yourself out too quickly by doing so.

Opt instead to increase the incline or difficulty level rather than the speed. This provides just as much challenge without making you feel winded.

Cardio Mistakes #2
Not entering your weight
Do you get on the cardio machine of your liking and press “Start,” without entering any personal information? If so, the calories being burned are not accurate. And although they cannot be completely accurate either way (the machine doesn’t know you personally), entering at least your weight into it helps to make it slightly more accurate.

Cardio Mistakes #1
Not wearing the right shoes
If you wear designer running shoes to the gym, you’re doing yourself a major injustice. To begin, bad shoes may result in injury. As well, when you run, the pressure you put on your feet is three to four times your actual body weight.

Purchase shoes for a specific activity and try them on in the afternoon, when your feet tend to be at their most swollen.
No more cardio mistakes

Now get out there and start burning the calories you need to burn to achieve the body you want.

Do You Take Things Personally?

By Alicia Socorro

Have you ever accidentally cut someone off in traffic, apologized as
best you could, and yet the person could not let it go and continued to
follow and high beam you until you finally head in different directions?

Or, is that what you’re like?

It seems that we all take things personally nowadays and there really is no reason for us to behave in this manner. It turns us into angry, rude women when that’s not who we really are.

But the question that comes to my mind (and it comes to my mind often) is why? Why have we become so quick to take things personally when the “rude” waiter who served us doesn’t know us from a hole in the wall?

Women take things personally

Perhaps a deeper look into the mind of today’s woman will help us resolve this issue and help us to become more patient and less aggressive when someone does something that we don’t like.

The following are possible reasons why you might be taking everything that happens throughout the day as a personal attack and what you can do instead to change your mindset.

Don’t confuse kindness with weakness

A lot of us are afraid to be nice to strangers because we’re afraid that if we emit a kind demeanor, they will think us weak and in turn treat us as such. Although it might sound like a smart preemptive strike, why would you want to walk into any situation with a negative attitude?

Be nice to everyone and only when you are disrespected should you alter your behavior. You know you are not weak, but it’s not necessary to prove it to everyone you encounter throughout the day.

Look at it from their perspective
For all you know, the waiter who messed up your order recently had a death in the family and just can’t concentrate. And the guy who cut you off? Maybe his wife is in labor at the hospital.

The point is that it’s not about you: Everyone has their own set of problems and dilemmas to contend with and their first priority is not always to be considerate to the strangers in their midst. To make sure you don’t take things personally at this point, resolve that they did what they did because they have their own issues.

Give people the benefit of the doubt
I know many a woman who, after someone has apologized after offending them in some way, simply will not let up with the anger and frustration toward that person.

But the bottom line is that we all make mistakes and a little understanding would serve us well. If someone steps on your foot by accident and apologizes, don’t conclude that they don’t like your face and take things personally: It may really have been an accident. Let it go and move on.

Chill out
If you’re wound up tight and stressed anyway, getting cut off in traffic or stepped on on the bus will only aggravate you further. And then, not only will you take things personally, you’ll probably overreact to what’s happening.

Learn to take a moment to put things in your life in perspective each day. This will make the minor irritations of everyday life seem less serious and who knows, you might even begin to laugh off trivial offenses.

Confront the situation
If your colleague Maria is constantly giving you “dirty looks” and you have absolutely no idea why she would be upset with you, the only way to get answers is by confronting her.

Of course, it wouldn’t be an attack situation; you want to resolve the issue (if there actually is one) rather than further complicate the situation. Take Maria aside and ask her if everything is all right. This gives her the opportunity to let you know if there really is a problem or if perhaps you’re misreading her and she’s not upset with you at all.

Don’t take things personally

And there it is; easy ways to not take things personally. After all, everyone has their own story and you won’t always play a relevant role in them.

Until next time, don’t take it personal.

Cardiovascular Exercise: Intensity Or Length?

By Lori Ryan

It has been a long-debated issue in the fitness field and although many studies have been conducted, the question still remains: Should you do long bouts of cardiovascular exercise, or is intensity key?

Well, the answer actually depends on what it is you want to accomplish via your cardiovascular exercise. If you’re objective is to improve your heart, you’d do one type of cardiovascular exercise, whereas if you’re aim is to burn calories from fat, you’d likely opt for something quite different.

Well, I’m here to help you figure out what type of cardiovascular exercise I think would be optimal for you, depending on what it is you’d like to achieve.

Intensity
People who do intense cardio training, such as running for a prolonged period of time or cycling at maximum capacity, would be doing a great service to their heart, but not much in the way of optimal fat burning. Although they are burning fat, no doubt, they are not burning calories from fat stores alone – they are also taking a chunk of calories from their carbohydrate and protein stores.

Length
Prolonged, steady-paced cardiovascular exercise is usually recommended for those who prefer to burn more calories from fat. It is important to note, however, that doing cardio for an extended period of time means that your pace should be steady and not very intense. The intensity usually remains just high enough that you would be breathing heavy.

Now that you understand the difference between length and intensity, let’s focus on what you need to do if you wanted to achieve any of the following:


Weight loss
If you want to lose weight, you would need to complete prolonged cardio sessions, as aforementioned, at a steady, somewhat easy pace.

How much time? Because fat burning only begins after the first 20 minutes of a cardio session, it’s optimal to do between 30 and 60 minutes of cardio, anywhere from three to five times a week.

How fast? There is no one given speed at which every woman should work, since we are all built differently. What you want to do is work hard enough to build up a sweat and move quickly enough that you would have a difficult time carrying on a conversation. Essentially, you want to work at 65% of your maximum heart rate (220 - age x .65).

Or you can opt to complete an HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training. This involves moving at a normal pace for two minutes and then moving as quickly as you can for one, repeating this for anywhere between 30 to 60 minutes.

Recommended cardio: Speed walking, uphill walking, cycling, elliptical machine, skipping rope

Muscle tone
To increase muscle tone in general, strength training is the first step. Then you need to integrate muscle-working exercises into your cardiovascular exercise in order to achieve results. For instance, strapping on a body weight (a weight that you wear like a vest) would be helpful in achieving results.

How much time? Typically, you want to do anywhere between 20 to 30 minutes, three to five times a week.

How fast? You want to move quickly enough that you have a hard time speaking. You want to work at about 70% of your maximum heart rate.

Recommended exercise: Jogging uphill, walking stairs, cycling with resistance, kickboxing, power yoga

Strengthen heart
To keep your heart working its best, start an HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training, program. Keep in mind that this form of exercise is for those in advanced stages of training. If you are not an advanced trainer, elevating your heart rate for brief durations during cardiovascular exercise is recommended (HIIT).

How much time? Working 20 to 30 minutes a day, three to five times a week is optimal. Keep in mind that if you’re working at a very quick pace, doing it for any longer than that will exhaust you.

How fast? Depending on your level of fitness, you can opt to work at 75% to 85% of your maximum heart rate, or you can simply raise your heart rate to the 75% to 85% for short bouts of time.

Recommended exercises: Running, rowing, swimming, running up stairs, rigorous dancing

Improve endurance
If you want to be able to complete a triathlon, there’s no doubt you’ll need to improve your endurance. Doing so requires the willingness to do long sets of cardiovascular exercise, and often.

How much time? Improving endurance will not happen overnight so I advise starting out slowly and working your way up to higher bouts. Start off by doing 30 minutes, three times a week, and eventually work your way up to 60 minutes, five times a week.

How fast? HIIT is your best option for endurance improvement. Again, keep up a consistent movement for three minutes, then move as quickly as you can for one.

Recommended exercises: Walk to run, stair climbing (slow and fast), cycling (slow and fast)

Cardiovascular exercise for you

Now that you know what it takes to achieve your goals, get out there and get to work.

Good luck.

Vitamin Supplements

By Tara Fraser

With all the advice and studies released on a daily basis, it’s tough to really know what vitamin supplements women should be taking, if any at all.

But with a little work and some time, you can figure it all out without ripping your hair out. Luckily, I’ve managed to take most of the grunt work out of figuring out exactly what you might be deficient in and what you’re probably getting enough of.

Do you need much more calcium? Are you lacking vitamin E? Well, here’s your chance to find out which vitamin supplements you might want to stack up on.

Note: Please consult your doctor before taking any vitamin supplements.

Calcium & Magnesium
Calcium is the best source for healthy bones and strong teeth, and can help decrease your risk of getting menstrual cramps menstrual cramps , arthritis, and colon and rectal cancer. When taking calcium, however, you need to team it up with magnesium in order to maximize calcium absorption.

Besides supplementing your calcium with magnesium, you would also do well to avoid salt, phosphorous (found in sodas) and caffeine, as these three tend to deplete the body of calcium and hinder its absorption. On the same note, sugar and alcohol tend to deplete the body of magnesium.

Calcium found in: Milk, cheese, yogurt, dark green vegetables, oysters, some beans, and wild salmon.

Magnesium found in: Almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, grains, seafood, and green vegetables.

How much you need: Women between 19 and 50 years old require about 1,000 mg of calcium (a little over 3 cups of milk), and 280 mg of magnesium per day (about ½ cup of cooked spinach).

Omega-3 & Omega-6
When you throw the word “fat” into anything, it suddenly takes on a negative connotation. But the omega brothers are good friends of ours because, unlike chocolate and butter, they are essential fatty acids (EFAs) that work to keep us looking and feeling good.

Without killing you with technical terms, omega-3 fatty acids are necessary to improve cell membranes, reduce inflammation, decrease blood clotting, and may help to prevent a host of diseases. Scientists have been fortifying eggs, milk, bread, and many other foodstuffs with omega-3 – most recently feeding omega-3 to pigs and cows.

Omega-6, however, can be bad for you. Bad omega-6 contains LA (Linoleic Acid), which can be found in most processed foods, and bad diets can lead to an overconsumption of the bad omega-6 and an underconsumption of the good omega-6 that contains GLA (Gamma-Linolenic Acid).

Omega-3 found in: Wild salmon, wild tuna, sardines, venison, buffalo, ground flaxseed, cod liver oil, and walnuts.

Omega-6 (with GLA) found in: Starflower oil (a.k.a. borage oil), black currant, evening primrose oil, soy, and corn.

How much you need: 4,000 mg of omega-3 (you can take vitamin supplements or eat 4 ounces of fish) and 2,500 mg of omega-6 per day.

Iron
Iron is necessary for carrying oxygen to the tissues and the brain, boosting the immune system, and metabolizing B vitamins.

Without enough iron, you may feel fatigued, short of breath, develop anemia, and be more susceptible to getting sick.

In order to maximize iron absorption, take it with vitamin C, and avoid tannin (which is found in teas), which hinders its absorption.

Iron found in: Wheat germ, liver, red meat, tofu, eggs, nuts, strawberries, spinach, and prune juice.

How much you need: 18 mg per day (2 cups prune juice or 8 ounces of liver).

Folic acid
Although you usually hear about pregnant women needing folic acid in order to keep the fetus from developing spina bifida (deficient development of the brain, spinal cord and their protective layers), this B-vitamin supplement is not only essential in helping women’s bodies manufacture DNA; it may prevent heart disease and some cancers.

Folic acid, a.k.a. folate, a.k.a. folacin, cannot be absorbed to its maximum capacity if you drink alcohol or are a sun worshipper. So be careful if you plan on getting pregnant anytime soon.

Keep in mind that many breads, cereals and even brands of milk are fortified with 100% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for folic acid – just another reason why you should be eating breakfast.

Folic acid found in: Bananas, oranges, peas, nuts, broccoli, and asparagus.

How much you need: 400 micrograms per day (less than 1 mg if you are taking a supplement).

Vitamin E
Vitamin E helps protects both vitamin A and EFAs from oxidation in the body and prevents your body’s tissues from breaking down.

It is quite difficult to create a vitamin E deficiency in the body, as the body is able to store it. But if you follow an extremely low-fat diet, vitamin E, as well as other vitamin supplements, would become deficient in the body, as the body needs fat in to absorb the vitamin supplements.

Vitamin E found in: Whole grains, chicken, nuts, seeds, and wheat germ.

How much you need: 8 mg per day (2 tablespoons of almonds or sunflower seeds -- but not if you’re lactating or preggers).

Essential vitamin supplements for women

The above list is not an exhaustive one, no doubt, but it provides the essentials that all women can benefit from. If you want to ensure maximum health, you need to nourish your body with the right minerals and vitamin supplements.

Always check with your doctor before you begin any supplementation to ensure that there are no conflicts, especially if you are taking any other prescribed medications.

Keep in mind that what might work well for Sally, may not be perfect for you, so the best move would always be to consult a professional.

Book Reviews

By LadyThrills Staff
The Woman’s Guide To Money
By Kelley Keehn

I will be the first to admit that I’m not very good with money. I spend too much, I have no idea what to invest in and saving is almost a foreign word to me.

Kelly Keehn’s book, however, can definitely help women get organized and comfortable with money by helping us understand the fundamentals associated with it. You will stop resolving your guilt by shopping and will start to feel more confident and secure with your paychecks.

If you want to start setting monetary goals, following a budget and building a long-term plan, then The Woman’s Guide to Money will help you do just that.

Thrill Rating: 3 out of 5

For Women Only: What You Need To Know About the Inner Lives Of Men
By Shaunti Feldhahn

As simple as we might like to think men are, it’s evident that we have no idea what’s going on in a man’s mind. If you’ve ever wondered why your significant other acts strangely or freaks out on you for what you think is “no reason,” this book might help you get to the bottom of what’s really going on.

After interviewing 1,000 men, one of which was her husband, Shaunti Feldhahn reveals what most men don’t know how to say. And it isn’t just limited to significant others; this book will help you better understand every man you deal with, whether it’s a colleague, a nephew or a friend. We always knew that men think much differently than we do; now we can finally figure out what it is they’re thinking and what we can do about it.

Thrill Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make
By Lois P. Frankel

Frankel attempts to address the “girly” things women do in the boardroom that sometimes discredit them as heavy hitters in the workplace. Unfortunately, she doesn’t address the fact that being outspoken and “unfeminine” would make a woman quite unpopular in the workplace as well.

The book does offer some insight to some mistakes that women make that hinder their progress in the workplace, such as unconscious body language and constantly apologizing, and helps them to stop pointing the finger and look within. But she unfortunately does not talk about the delicate balance between being a professional and a woman.

Thrill Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Fitness Q&A

By Diane Bomba

Weight loss plateaus, eating more often to burn more calories and why caffeine pills don’t work.

Plateau with weight loss

Dear Diane,

I’m 20 pounds overweight and began doing cardio exercises about 4 months ago. At first, I saw some significant weight loss, but now it seems that I’ve hit a plateau and can’t drop these last 5 pounds. I’ve even been doing more cardio but nothing seems to be working.

Brianna

Hi Brianna,

First of all, congratulations on your commitment to weight loss. It seems to me, however, that your problem is a complex one. The beautiful thing about the human body is its ability to adapt to most anything that’s thrown at it, and it seems that your body has become accustomed to the cardio and you’ve hit a plateau.

To begin, you should not be doing more than one hour of cardio per day. Anything more than that and your body begins eating away at your muscles for calories. Second, I recommend you start lifting weights. Muscle development will help you burn more calories (keep in mind that the scale numbers may actually increase, but you’ll look hotter than ever). Third, try HIIT, High Intensity Interval Training.

Recent studies have shown that interval training is very beneficial for women. What you do is exercise at a steady pace for two minutes, then increase intensity to as quickly as you can go for one. Then return to walking for two and repeat this process for up to 30 minutes.

Remember to keep switching up your routine every four to six weeks so that your body never becomes accustomed to a routine. That way, you’ll achieve the weight loss, or rather “fat” loss, and look amazing.

Keep fit,
Diane

Eat more often for weight loss

A friend of mine recently told me that I should start eating six times a day if I want to lose weight. Is she crazy?

Tina

Hey Tina,

Well, popular opinion is yes, you should ideally be eating six smaller meals a day instead of three, but people aren’t certain what a “smaller meal” actually consists of and . Dietitians however, recommend that you eat only when you are hungry and never avoid breakfast, as it is the most important meal of the day.

Signs of hunger include an empty-feeling stomach and feeling faint. The tip for success, however, is that when you do eat, you should make healthy choices and avoid eating to the point where you cannot breathe and regret having eaten. Keep in mind that it takes the stomach 20 minutes to send the signal to the brain that it is full. If weight loss is what you desire, these steps will help you.

The “eating 6 times a day” philosophy usually lends itself to people who work out quite frequently and have very little body fat. You would be better off eating when you’re hungry, making healthy food choices and eating slowly so that you know when you’re full.

Regards,
Diane

Ephedrine for weight loss

I know that ephedrine is illegal but I have a friend who was taking it and experienced dramatic weight loss. I want to start taking it but am afraid of long-term problems. Are there any studies that show potential complications?

Want the Weight Loss

Hello Want,

While there have been no studies that prove that ephedrine does cause long-term complications (I know that there were headlines of deaths due to ephedrine-use but it was likely because the individuals took more than the recommended dosage), I do think that the weight loss will only be temporary.

Ephedrine is known to cause an elevated heart beat and decrease appetite, which means that your resting heart rate will rise so that you are consistently burning more calories than you normally would, hence the weight loss.

In 8 weeks though, when the ephedrine stops working (which is when most supplements stop being effective), your heart rate will return to its normal rate and so will your appetite. As a result, your metabolism will slow down and you will ultimately regain your weight. So I recommend strength training strength training, cardio exercise cardio exercise and a balanced diet if you want to lose weight.

Good luck,
Diane

Caffeine pills for weight loss

Dear Diane,

I recently purchased caffeine pills because I was told that they will help me reach my fat-burning goals. But before I take them, I want to make sure I’m doing the right thing. Is this a good idea?

Darlene

Hi Darlene,

In my opinion, the only safe and effective way to lose weight is via a healthy diet and exercise, and while caffeine pills may work temporarily, what do you think will happen once you stop taking them?

Of course, the decision is up to you, but there are some distinct disadvantages to taking caffeine pills, so before taking them, consider this:

1- Caffeine is a diuretic, so you’ll need to drink plenty of water throughout the day.
2- Caffeine increases unsightly cellulite cellulite
3- Taking caffeine pills late in the day will keep you up all night, so you shouldn’t take any after 3 p.m.
4- Because caffeine causes the body to avoid using its calcium stores, you’ll also need to take a 5- calcium supplement.
6- You can’t stop taking them in one shot because you’ll experience withdrawal symptoms such as headaches and fatigue, so you’ll need to ease off of them slowly.
7- An increased dose of caffeine may make you nervous and agitated.

If you still think that taking them is a good idea, make sure to test your resting heart rate beforehand and during your time on them. Also, I strongly recommend you visit a doctor before you try these pills.

Good luck,
Diane

Salt Intake; Is It Making You Fat?

By Meredith Thompson

Do you know that an increased salt intake makes you retain water? Of course you did. But did you know that an increased salt intake also makes cellulite more prominent and visible? That’s right, and although salt is necessary to sustain life, chances are you’re salt intake is likely eating too much of it.

Salt, a very popular white crystalline used to make food more palatable, comes in many different forms, although the debate over how good it is for you is still on the table. Next to the pepper.

FACTOID: Salt is 40% sodium and 60% chloride.

Registered dietitians recommend that the average healthy woman consume anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 milligrams of sodium a day (2,000 milligrams = 1 teaspoon). The problem, however, is that most of us are downing anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000 milligrams each day. This is way too much sodium.

There is a host of salts available on the market, the best of which is considered sea salt, as it has a softer taste.

Although salt comes from salt mines and from the sea, most of today’s salt comes from huge deposits left by dried salt lakes all over the world.

Read on to discover how much salt you’re actually eating, what type you should be eating (if any) and what to do if you end up at your mom-in-law’s and she’s serving up salted fish for dinner.

Salt causes cellulite

As aforementioned, high salt intake causes water retention, and in turn makes cellulite look even more unsightly. Now keep in mind that it doesn’t necessarily cause cellulite, but it sure as hell makes it look even dimplier and gross.

So by reducing your salt intake, you’ll be reducing the appearance of dimply skin. And that is always a good thing in my book.

For many women, the way salt is making us appear when we step on the scale isn’t very healthy for our morale, either. That said, here are some things you can do to ensure that you’re on the right track when it comes to salt intake.

Eat less salty snacks
When you’re starving, you need sustenance immediately. And when it comes to immediate foods, you’re usually left with undesirable foods like chips, pretzels, nuts, and cold cuts.

The problem with these foods is that they usually contain a whole lot of salt. If you’re going to have any of these snacks in your home, make sure that they contain no salt.

Read ingredient labels
The beauty of food labels is that all the information is right there for you, so you can see what kind of potential damage you might be doing to your body if you opt to ingest it.

That said, labels clearly indicate the amount of sodium you’ll be ingesting per serving of a given product. So be vigilant about minding your salt intake and put down the Saltines.

Go for “low-salt” or “reduced-sodium” options
If you usually buy chicken broth to put in the food you cook, opt for the “now with 30% less salt,” version of it. In all fairness, it doesn’t taste much different and it’s that much better for you.

Avoid using canned foods
Your best bet when it comes to using produce, fish or meat, is to opt for fresh or frozen varieties rather than canned because canned products tend to use a lot of salt to preserve whatever is in them.

If you happen to have many cans in your home as you’re reading this, what you can do for now is rinse whatever’s in them to wash away some of the salt content and instantly reduce your salt intake.

Pickled & smoked are bad words
I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but pickled products, such as pickles and hot peppers, become that way via salted brine. Smoked products, such as smoked salmon and smoked meat, become that way because a layer of salt is used in the smoking process.

I know they taste like heaven, but you need to reduce, if not eliminate, these items from your diet.

Use other spices
Salt is customarily used to make food taste better, but it’s time you started experimenting with spices and added some flair to your dishes. Get your hands on some garlic powder, oregano, coriander, cayenne pepper, and a host of other spices to flavor up your food.

Seasonings like lemon juice, rosemary and ginger are also great at adding some zest to your food without the addition of salt. And if people like salty foods in your family, then let them add some after the dish is served.

Make your own salt substituteIf using just garlic powder is not cutting it for you, create your own seasoning, put it in a shaker and place it on the table as a salt replacement.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

1 tsp. ground basil
1 tsp. ground marjoram

1 tsp. ground thyme
1 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. savory
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. sage
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbsp. garlic powder

Reduce your salt intake

Salt is not terrible in moderation, but considering that most packaged food already contain salt, you’d do best to avoid adding anymore to your diet.