SO hard to stay under sodium!

fivefootfitness

I love salt, but even on days where I actively avoid processed foods I still find it hard to stay under 2500 milligrams. I'm a college kid, but I eat mostly fresh when I can. It seems most of my sodium comes from what little bread I eat in the day, and then here and there with other little things. I want to teach myself how to eat lower sodium now, since blood pressure problems run in my family, and my formerly perfect bp has been elevated a lot recently (mostly from anxiety, I think. but still.) I figure, learn now, and I won't regret it later. How do you do it?

I've started doing a once weekly fasting window on a day where I only work out lightly or not at all, just to even things out in my full-week nutrition (as in, a time to make up for excess sodium or sugar, etc). It's also just nice to get back in touch with my hunger cues if I've been stress eating. Would this help at all?

kyta32

I prepare my own food, and almost never go over sodium. This changes if I eat out - one restaurant meal can take me over. I use rice and pasta instead of bread for my starches, maybe that's the difference? If you check nutritional labels you may be able to find a lower-sodium bread.

If your Dr. has advised you to lower sodium, she/he may be able to give you some hints on how to accomplish this, or refer you to a nutritionist. If you have no health reasons to lower sodium, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Extra sodium can cause water retention, that can mask fat loss, but aside from the scale, you may not see much of a difference by going lower-sodium. Good luck