Soup du ....Salt?

I love soup.  Mmm soup.  Especially in the winter.  It's a wonderful comfort food, easy meal, or pick me up.  Yes, I definitely love soup.


I don't, however, love salt.  In fact, the only time I ever put salt on anything is when I'm in a Mexican restaurant eating chips and salsa.  It's really not very healthy for you and it tends to make you bloated.  Therefore, I tend to use it as sparingly as possible.  


You can imagine my surprise, then, when I stepped on the scale this morning after living on soup for a week, to see I'd gained 3 pounds.  I was stunned!  The soup was delicious - a box of roasted red pepper soup mixed with squash and green onions and ground turkey and garbanzo beans.  And it was healthy! . . . or so I thought.  Turns out, even though I created my own "soup du jour", with some wholesome and healthy add-ons, I had unknowingly also created a version of my own worst nightmare:  a sodium time bomb just waiting to explode on my scale.  Now, I'm far from perfect, and there were definitely M&Ms and chocolate bits in my diet this week too, but there was also a lot of running. I am sincerely trying to be healthier.  Yet, this morning, my scale became my enemy.


So, I looked for some answers.  As it so happens, I discovered that soup contains sodium, and not just normal amounts of sodium, but high quantities of sodium.  Sometimes it can be as bad as 40% or higher in just one serving!  Tricky little canned/ boxed bastards!!  Even though I was bummed and upset, I refused to let this minor setback win, so I'm turning it into a learning opportunity.  The strategy?  Next time, dilute it with water and/or add more veggies.  Less straight soup.  Less sodium.  Less weight gained.  Overall, one happier girl.  


Now. . . I just need to find a spoon.