Too little sodium?

Sparx_81

Hi all,
Looking for some help with my diet! I've recently been having issues with weight loss despite being eating at a deficit and increasing my activity levels! Someone suggested that maybe my sodium levels were high and to drink more water. But, I looked at my sodium intake and it's very low... Did a little reading and wondering if my levels are too low and I'm retaining water after exercise due to this? Should I be doing anything to increase my sodium intake during exercise? I'm generally running for 40-50 mins a day weekdays and spinning class for 45 mins, rowing for 15 and running for 20 mins on sat and Sundays.

MobyCarp

[rant mode]

Standard health advice online says things like "eat less sodium." This is typically based on how much sodium the average sedentary American consumes, and it's totally worthless advice for people who aren't the average sedentary American.

In particular, long distance runners are more likely to need to supplement sodium than to cut down sodium in the diet. But the "sodium is bad" meme is so prevalent than runners' supplements, in-run nutrition, and in-run sports drinks don't market the sodium; instead, they say they have "electrolytes." The biggest electrolyte is sodium (followed by postassium and magnesium).

[/rant mode]

If you're running 40-50 minutes 4 or more times per week, excess sodium is unlikely to by a problem for you. I would not make any particular effort to avoid it, though eating a diet with less processed food will cut down sodium considerably compared to the average American diet.

Too little sodium is likely to show up first with cramps. That might not happen if you don't run more than 50 minutes at a time, but cramps while or after running are a warning sign to watch your hydration and electrolyte levels.

You'll notice that I haven't said anything about weight in connection with sodium. Sodium bouncing around can affect how much water you retain, as can storing and depleting glycogen. (Gross simplification: Eat carbs = store glycogen, run hard = deplete glycogen) But that's a fluctuation thing, not a long term weight gain or loss thing. For long term weight loss, you eat at a deficit . . . which might not be what MFP calls a deficit.

What MFP calls maintenance is based on some broad averages. If you happen to fall close to the average, it will work reasonably well for you. If you don't, you will either gain or lose weight while eating at MFP maintenance, depending on which direction you vary from the average. Then MFP adds back calories for exercise; but almost all measurements of calories burned by exercise are overstated.

So, what to do? Track what you eat. If you eat a consistent number of calories, and your weight trends sideways (possibly going up and down a few pounds from day to day for water gain and loss), then you're eating at maintenance. If you want to lose weight, eat a few calories less. If you want to gain weight, eat a few calories more. The bottom line is, your body's reaction to what you eat and how much you exercise is more accurate than MFP's calculation of where your maintenance level of eating should be or how many calories MFP claims you burned through exercise.

FWIW, I've been making my weight trend sideways for about 6 years. I ignore what MFP says I should eat, and put in a goal number of calories based on what I know I need to eat to maintain. Then I adjust that number up or down if the scale shows a trend down or up, and I add in calories for running based on an estimate that is far lower than what Garmin claims I burn by running. It works for me, but you will need to find what works for you. One size does not necessarily fit all.

Sparx_81

Thanks for that @MobyCarp

Makes perfect sense! I have always found that what a machine tells me I burn and what I actually burn are 2 very different things so I never "eat back" my calories from exercise. My main reason for tracking my food is just to really see where the extra calories come from, becoming very apparent that I snack too much! so I'm trying to change what I snack on and cut back on the snacking...

My biggest concern is that I am not eating enough sodium! I've never been big on processed foods at all and my parents used to find me strange as I never add salt to things! But with the MFP tracker I'm coming in about 500-600 but saying my target is 1762mg?! I know the function of it from a biochemistry point of view but I've never really tackled it from the exercise point of view before!!!

I don't generally get cramps but muscles do definitely feel fatigued for longer so wondering if this has anything to do with it? Or is it just an age thing?! Or am I just getting paranoid over nothing?!

MobyCarp

I think you're just getting paranoid over numbers that may not be accurate. I've found that the tracked numbers are OK for the macronutrients, but people don't always put in the micronutrients accurately, or at all. So you could have stuff in your tracker that has the right calories, carbs, fat, and protein, but doesn't have the right sodium.

Sodium is water-soluble, so any deficiency should show up in short term effects. No cramps is a good sign for sodium and potassium. Muscle fatigue could be lots of things; top of the list for a runner would be lactic acid buildup and/or glycogen depletion for short term fatigue; hard training relative to your conditioning, inadequate rest, and/or inadequate protein for longer term fatigue. Sodium would be pretty far down the list as an explanatory factor. First thing that springs to mind for chronic muscle fatigue is overtraining, though real medical issues are also possible.

Sparx_81

Thank you @MobyCarp ! I did think I was being paranoid but wanted to make sure! You're a breath of fresh air compared to the amount of times I get told to "drink more water" (I drink plenty!) I might actually try to introduce some electrolyte supplement at the weekend, as I sweat a lot at spinning! but I think my main problem is rest! My sleep has been awful the last few years and the medical consensus is that I suffer with toddlers!
Thanks a mill for the answers! Mind at rest now!

MobyCarp

Electrolyte supplement won't hurt and might help. I drink Nuun (minimal calories, but they come from sorbitol which could be an issue for a few people. Then again, I *know* I have issues managing cramps at the marathon distance. I can get through a half pretty well without paying much attention to electrolytes.

Rest is the most under-appreciated part of training, and yes, it's hard to manage rest when you have toddlers! If you're trying to run or spin every day, the first thing to try is one day a week of no running, no spinning, no rowing. Walk a couple miles and keep up with the toddlers, and that will be enough for an active rest day. Overtraining tends to sneak up on you, and you don't realize how beat up you are until you take some time off and it gets better.