By: Mary Ihla

Two years ago, my doctor warned me: "You won't live to see your grandchildren grow up if you don't develop a healthier lifestyle." I listened. 

I've now lost more than half the weight I had gained over the previous 25 years, lowered my cholesterol, and no longer need insulin injections or the use of a CPAP machine at night. However, one problem still persisted -- hypertension. Despite eating healthier and moving more, I couldn't manage to lower my blood pressure to an acceptable level.

"Cut the salt," my doctor ordered, and set my daily allowance at 1,500mg. I quickly discovered this was going to be a challenge. 

I'd been faithfully tracking my daily intake of calories, carbohydrates, cholesterol, and fat, but hadn't paid much attention to sodium. What a shock to discover I was consistently consuming nearly twice my doctor's recommendation!

So where was all that sodium coming from? As I analyzed my habits, I realized I was automatically grabbing the salt shaker, both during cooking and before I had even tasted the food. And, this was sodium I wasn't even tracking! So, the first thing I did was switch from a shaker to a grinder. This simple gesture not only made me mindful of when I salt the food I cook and eat, but also reduces the amount of salt I use. 

But, I still wasn't even close to my daily limit of sodium. Next, I began looking closely at nutrition labels and was surprised to learn "low-fat" often means "high-sodium." How was I going to continue losing weight while keeping my sodium levels low? 

When I started the Healthy Habits: Eat Less Salt program, I was already aware of the high amount of sodium in my diet and thought I knew where it was coming from. However, the article "Hidden Sodium in Healthy Foods" was an eye-opener. I was dismayed to discover some of my favorite foods in my diet plan contained much more salt than I imagined. 

Another stumbling block was my craving for salty snacks, a habit that had been with me since childhood. In my quest to lose weight, I substituted low-fat popcorn for the sunflower seeds and pistachios I usually enjoyed and started snacking on dill pickles when the munchies overtook me. Of course, these all contributed to my high-sodium intake.

At that point, reducing the salt in my diet while still losing weight seemed a daunting task. But, over the last month, I've adapted the Healthy Habits tips and tricks to fit my lifestyle. I've gradually trained my tastebuds, and my cravings for salty foods have diminished considerably. These days I rarely get the urge to grab the salt shaker, either when I'm cooking or eating. 

I'm happy to report that since I started the Healthy Habits program, I've reached my goal to eat less salt, and for the last few weeks have even managed to stay below my 1,500mg daily limit. Plus, I've lost another 14 pounds! 

Although nearly everything I've learned in this program has been beneficial, there are four "healthy habits" that have become a part of my daily life. 

1. Use only large-crystal salt. I can buy boxes of kosher salt for use in recipes where I measure it out and sea salt in grinders to use while I'm cooking. Both will allow me to add only the absolute minimum while still imparting sufficient flavor. 

2. Grow my own herbs. I can plant a variety of herbs in clay pots on my patio in the summer and in an indoor herb garden the rest of the year. It's much cheaper than buying fresh herbs from the grocery store, and I don't have to worry about them going bad in the refrigerator.

3. Make it myself. I can bake bread in my bread maker, can tomatoes, and freeze vegetables from my garden and the farmers' market, make oatmeal and soups in my crockpot, create my own biscuit mix, and put together rubs, marinades, and dressings, all with minimal sodium content. The bonus: They all taste much better than the store-bought products.

4. Shop for low-sodium products. I can purchase non-perishables in quantity when they're on special and ask my grocer to stock specific items with low sodium or no salt added. If there's not a lower-salt option, I can find an alternative product or eliminate it completely from my diet. 

I'm confident the changes I've made, with the help of Cooking Light's Healthy Habits, will result in a lower blood pressure reading at my next appointment. Then, I can listen to my doctor say, "Great job!"

This is the final week of the Reduce Your Salt Healthy Habit challenge, and I'd to summarize how Susan transformed her salt habit this month. I feel like this month, more than any other, we were playing a mental game.

So to put us in the right state of mind, before we begin this blog post, let's say a collective, yoga-style Oooohhhhhmmmm.

"Ooooooohhhhhhhhhhmmmmmm." Thank you. Now let's begin.

Susan fought salt all her life. Her father fought salt (and still does), and Susan inherited the salt ageda. The whole I-just-need-one-more-shake-I-really-shouldn't-but-there-I-go-again-with-my-bad-habit thing. She wouldn't use salt in her cooking, then the food would taste bland. So she'd add it at the table, with constant negative-self talk.

Susan thought I'd come in like Attila the Hun and forbid her from having salt; but that's not my mojo. First of all, every body needs salt, and second: a little bit of salt can bring a whole lot of magic to food. I'd never do without.

Linguine with Pesto Sauce

So instead of taking salt away, we added: kosher salt (a less salty kind of salt), a special pink salt cellar for her daughter, and Susan started using salt in recipes again. One she realized the salt wasn't going anywhere, we stopped focusing on it, and shifted our focus to flavor.

That's right; we didn't take away any salt. But we added a whole lot of flavor. Susan began using fresh herbs, leeks, ginger, and other flavorful fresh ingredients. She experimented with Asian cooking (which her family loves, but always feels guilty about enjoying due to the salt content). She made sauces with fresh herbs and prepared at least three new dishes every week. She was motivated.

Here, in Susan's own words, is  how she did it:

1. "The more you try not to do something, the more obsessed you get with it. Once I stopped being so focused on the salt, it freed me up to put attention in other areas."

2. "Kosher salt is a permanent change. You can see it and taste it; in the long run, we’re using less salt because of it. I’m not using salt shakers any more. When salt is something I have to spoon out; it makes a different connection in my brain."

By: Maria Parker Hopkins

October was my month to eat less salt, but I will warn you: I didn’t want to! My family has a history of high blood pressure—who cares! Though, I don’t have medical issues, I could in the future—so what!

See, I told you I wasn’t happy about it. And I could think of 11 challenges that would have been much easier for me to do. However, because this particular challenge was the one with which I have the most difficulty, and because I’m competitive by nature, I set out to overcome my salty addiction.

After consulting with my challenge motivator, I began to implement some of her suggestions: I started to salt “once.” Mind you it was the most forceful shake of the salt shaker ever, but it was still only once. I also began to become more mindful of the amount of salt-ful components on my plate. And now I must admit that once my desensitized buds recovered, I really began to enjoy the natural flavors of foods.

Salt enhances a food’s flavor, but I was missing the taste that food supply on their own. I am still a work in progress, but I’m pretty proud of myself.

Read More: Top 10 Ways to Reduce Sodium

This week, Susan successfully experimented with herbs. She made a fresh pesto that she tossed with linguine, tomatoes and long shavings of Parmesan cheese. She also made a chimichurri sauce (parsley, cilantro) which she served with steak, and a lemon rosemary chicken.

Prior to this herbstravoganza, Susan’s hands-on herb experience was limited to fresh basil and dried oregano. This week, she found herself playing with scallions, cilantro, parsley, and arugula and loving it. “I think of parsley as having no flavor, because out of a shaker, it doesn’t. Fresh herbs have a completely different flavor than dried,” said Susan.

Plus, since Susan chose recipes that use handfuls of herbs instead of teaspoons, she noticed another benefit. “In the past, I didn’t buy fresh herbs because I don’t use them up,” said Susan, “Right now, I have a little rosemary, but we’ve used up everything else.” Since rosemary keeps for up to a month in the refrigerator, I feel confident that Susan will find more uses for her rosemary before it goes bad.

But there’s one part of Susan’s coaching session that had this coach jumping up and down, and it’s this: When I asked Susan how much she was salting her food, and if she noticed a difference, she said, “You know, salt isn’t really on the forefront of my mind. I’m thinking about the food now. When I was having dinner last night, I had to stop and ask myself, ‘Did I use it?’”

Hallelujah! Susan, who used to spend a good part of dinner criticizing herself for her salting, has shifted her focus. Sure, there’s salt on the table, but it’s not on her mind as much. She salts once, and is satisfied to see those big ol’ grains of kosher salt smiling up from her plate. 

And now, the conversation at the dinner table is about flavor, flavor, flavor. Oooh, is this chimichurri too spicy? Not according to her husband, who said he’d eat it on anything. She thought her daughter wouldn’t like the pesto linguine since she’d recently staged a Parmesan protest, but as it turns out, what a 6-year-old doesn’t know won’t kill her; she loved it and may even reconsider Parmesan once she learns that Parmesan is one of pesto’s leading ladies. 

This week, Susan’s salt conversation was secondary; now she’s much more interested in what new delicious dishes she can cook. This week, she’s taking a trip to Asia. We found versions of family favorites on cookinglight.com, so Susan is going to rock a Pan-Fried Udon Noodles with Teriyaki Sauce, Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry, and Sesame Orange Chicken. 

How’s this month going for you, salt-wise? Let us know!

It was with a bit of trepidation and a lot of trust that our October coaching candidate, Susan, followed some counter-intuitive coaching recommendations for limiting her sodium intake.

After our call, here were my recommendations to Susan:

- Instead of feeling guilty about your sodium intake, enjoy the process of salting your food. First: don''t leave salt out of your recipes, and second: buy a little salt cellar for the table so that salting is a fun thing. Do it, take pleasure in it; don't feel guilty. Your body needs salt, so be mindful, but not guilty.

- Use larger-crystal kosher salt. This is real salt, it just has a larger crystal. Teaspoon for teaspoon, this has less sodium than a fine salt which has a smaller crystal. Plus, it takes longer to dissolve into your food, so you "taste" it more.

- Put cut lemons and limes on the table. If you like to "pop" the flavors in your food with salt, chances are you'll enjoy perking up your meal with some acid. You know how the Brits love malt vinegar with their fries? Same philosophy. So increase of reaching for the salt, try a lemon squeeze!

Here's what happenned:

Susan bought her daughter Sarah a salt cellar and put kosher salt in it. It's pink and she loves it. Plus, Sarah is really taking to the lemons and limes on her food. "I've been pleasantly surprised," said Susan. "Now I find myself saying "Ok, enough with the lemon and lime, you're overdoing it!"

When Susan invited her salt-loving dad to dinner, there were no salt shakers on the table, but she did provide small bowls with kosher salt for pinching. By parting with the old habit of shakers, she was able to encourage a new approach to salt.

Ironically, Susan's husband found the kosher salt *too* salty, and wished that he had put less on his food the first night he tried it. The lower-sodium salt was too salty? Terrific! I'll take that as a win!

Susan prepared a chicken and caper dish (pictured below), and for the first time, used the amount of salt that was called for in the recipe. Susan and her family also measured the salt they added to their meal that night first night (without holding back), and found that she used about 1/8 of a teaspoon of kosher salt. Which is 12% of the recommended daily allowance of salt. Which is absolutely fine. 

When Susan invited her parents and sister over for a Quick Pastitsio, her Dad was worried about trying it. He was nervous that this no-salt thing would have removed all the salt, and joy, from the meal and the table. Susan reassured him that there was salt in the dish, and though she was not using salt shakers, there would be salt on the table as well.

"When it came time to dish it out onto plates, my Dad told me to just give him a small amount because he wasn't sure he was going to like it." said Susan. "A few minutes later, his plate was clean and he asked me for a second helping.  When it was time to go home, I offered him leftovers and he seemed very happy to have them."

"I used the recommended salt in the recipe (1/4 tsp) and salted my food only once with the kosher salt and that's all I needed," said Susan. "Sarah squeezed her lemons and limes all over all of her food and also into her water.  She is loving having the lemons/limes on the table.

This week's goal: Susan will start cooking with fresh herbs. She's going to make a basil pesto, herb chimichurri, and chicken with rosemary. Basil and dried oregano are the only herbs Susan has used to date, so we're hoping that by adding vivid flavor to her food, she'll be reaching for that salt cellar even less. 

Stay tuned, and please share your ideas for eating less salt!

This month, I'll be working with Susan to help her getting a handle on her sodium intake. Here's the letter she sent me to explain why she needed my help:

Hello...
My family has always used too much salt on everything. I remember my Dad trying to cut back when I was a kid and he warned me to watch my salt because of how hard it is to stop once you start.  He tried every salt substitute out there and never did manage to get off of salt.  He still keeps a salt shaker next to him at the table at large gatherings. 

Now I have the same issue.  I salt everything...over and and over.  I find that when the salt sits on the food, the taste fades...so I salt it again.  I have a six year old now who, despite my efforts not to introduce table salt to her, has developed a strong affinity for it.  We cannot leave salt shakers out because she will try to use it when we are not looking and will oversalt her food.  I try very hard to make myself stop using it, not so much even just for my own health, but because I know my daughter is watching me and I can't tell her to stop using salt, if I can't do it. 

I wish I could say I'm hopeful i can stop using salt entirely...but I would be lying.  I do feel though that's it is possible for me to learn to reduce my salt intake and try to help  my daughter learn to control her intake while she is still  young. 

After our first coaching conversation, it became clear that Susan was really beating herself up whenever she readched for the salt. Make no mistake -- she still reached for it -- but it was an incredibly negative experience, for herself, and now for her daughter. It was a real source of stress.

Susan doesn't salt her food while cooking (not even the pasta water); instead she salts each bite when she eats. I asked her to measure her salt at dinner and guess what? She had only had 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt. That's 12% of her RDA of salt. At one meal. Which is fine! Susan's salt may be just what she needs! After all, our bodies need salt, and with all that salt-denial...let's just say wouldn't it be a happy discovery to find out that Susan is giving her body exactly what it needs?

Salt may be America's favorite seasoning, but it's in the nutrition hot seat. Now that we've gotten past the low-carb era and the frenzy over fat, all eyes are on the amount of sodium we consume.  

Our bodies need sodium, that's for sure.  We're just getting too much:  about 1-1/2 times more sodium per day than the 2,300mg alloted by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  

That's why the October habit is to eat less salt. We know, that's a challenge. Few Americans -- just one in 10 -- limit daily sodium intake to these recommended levels (which is just a mere teaspoon of salt).

We asked our readers if they thought they were eating less than 2,300mg of sodium.  Here's what they said:

59% Probably not

36% I think so, or at least I'm trying

5% I have no clue

If you're using lots of prepackaged food and frequently eat out, it will be mighty tough to hit the sodium target.  Nearly 80 percent of the sodium we consume is added to a food before you open a package or order from a menu.

So our March habit of preparing 3 more meals per week at home will serve you well when it comes to slashing sodium.  

Once you start cooking more, there are some simple things you can do to reduce sodium without sacrificing flavor.

Pick a smarter salt.  Go for the large-crystal salts, like kosher salt and sea salt.  Per teaspoon, they contain almost 25% less sodium than table salt.

Save the salt for the table.  Instead of salting when you're cooking, wait to salt at the table.  Fill up a decorative salt cellar with kosher, sea salt or an interesting flavored salt to use as a finishing salt. You'll get a more immediate flavor impact, so you'll likely use less.

Dial up other flavors.  Counterbalance the lack of salt by focusing on a completely different flavor profile.  Try acidity, sweetness or heat as a substitute for saltiness.  You'll be amazed at what a squirt of lemon juice or a splash of balsamic vinegar can do to vegetables.  Try glazing a chicken breast with sweet apricot preserves or sprinkling smoked paprika on grilled meats.

What are your tricks for eating less salt?  Tell us what's working for you!

Image courtesy of Happy Krissy on flickr