Let's talk food: Salt

Salt. Salt gets a bad rep. Well, like everything, it depends on multiple factors. We are always told salt is bad or not to add too much salt on our food. Before keto I did not use salt at all. AT ALL. However, on a ketogenic diet salt is detrimental to your success and health. I don't mean that Diamond Crystal or Morton table salt. Think of those as the equivalent to Wonder bread. All the good things have been removed long before you ever get to use it. I'm talking about real salt, Celtic, Himalayan, pink or grey. Real salt is a true MVP on a keto diet. Without getting too technical here is the essence: with the lack of processed carbohydrates and sugar your body will no longer retain water as on a standard american diet. On keto, you lose electrolytes, sodium and magnesium much faster than when you ate all the junk. Less water retention or bloatedness is great but you must make sure to salt your food and take in electrolytes or a magnesium supplement as needed.  If you are interested in the real scientific logic behind salt you may check out the books below. 

Another cool salt/keto related thing: if you start to get headachy you can add some sea salt to your water and it should get rid of your headache. Personally, I haven't tried it yet because it sounds a bit odd to me. If I get headachy I drop an electrolyte tab into my water and that almost instantly does the trick. Pickle juice is also said to work, but again I have not tested that theory. The few times I have had a headache while keto have been after a long run (5 miles) in the heat (90+ degrees) and did not have enough sodium. 

My favorite is the pink Himalayan sea salt. At Stop and Shop they don't have many varieties. The first time I bought pink himalayan sea salt was at Marshall's for 3.99. If you can find it there or T.J. Max I think it is a bit cheaper than what a regular grocery store will charge. 

About 6 weeks ago I changed my diet to a ketogenic diet and started taking the keto os supplement. A ketogenic (keto) diet is where you train your body to burn fat instead of sugar. You do not eat sugar or processed carbs. Really your carbs come from greens. I know this sounds crazy. In essence you eat high fat, moderate protein and low carbs. By low I mean 50g a day or less. Most days I'm at 20g or less. I'm not writing this to convince anyone to do this. It is more to monitor my progress and share my experiences. What started out as a diet for weight loss has quickly changed and become a way of eating for overall health. There are so many benefits that are greater than weight loss. But we wont go into all of that now. As with anything there is an adjustment period. For the first month or so my workouts suffered. I was running slower, lifting slower and lighter and just overall not where I was when I was eating junk all the time. Interesting huh! This is a normal part of the transition. Your body will fight you and will not want to run on fat at first. But when it does its a great thing. Today I ran 5 miles and it was awesome. I could have probably run forever if it weren't for the blisters on my toes. I want to start sharing my experiences because I feel one day in the future I will wish I had. Also my blogging which was a passion of mine has just been on the back burner and I'd like to get back to it a bit. Here I am after my run. It rained for 3 miles and then was sunny for the last 2. I don't look particularly happy since I've had a rough couple of days but such is life. Every day isn't perfect and on the days where we feel down or sad or mad its just best to keep on going. One foot in front of the other. You know how you see the meme or quote "you never regret the workout you completed only the ones you don't?" Well that is so true. I can't remember a time in my life where I'd thought to myself, "Geesh, I wish I wouldn't have done that workout."