Controlling sodium intake - traveling for business

kALcyoum
kALcyoum Posts: 8 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi,

Does anyone know good tips/tricks for how to control sodium intake while traveling for business? Traveling for business makes me eat out for basically all my meals, and even if I'm going with the "healthy" options at restaurants, I typically find that my sodium intake for the day is out of control. My calories, fats and carbs are carefully monitored and almost always below the daily limit, but when it comes to sodium, it's always around 200%.

A typical day for me consists of a breakfast sandwich (egg whites, spinach, turkey), fruits, salad for lunch and a dinner meal, but often the dinner itself is enough to drive the sodium level high. I can't just eat salad with no dressing or dressing on the side every time either, as I often go out to dinner with my team and do not have full control over where I can go for meals.

That being said, are there other heavy business travelers out there who have experienced the same thing, and if so, does anyone know a good way to control my sodium intake while eating out 3 times a day, 3-4 days a week?

Thanks!

P.S. my food log is not up to date as I recently began to track my diet again. I had given up on logging my diet last year because I was exercising and losing a good amount of weight while getting in shape and seeing the high level of sodium intake discouraged me. I'm back on track with the new year and now that my weight loss plateaued, I'm focusing on eating healthier and just generally getting in shape.

Replies

  • DonnaJones7
    DonnaJones7 Posts: 99 Member
    I also travel full time and find the same thing. Wish I had great answers.
    For dinner, I always ask for No Salt. I am NOT confident that I always get NO salt, but I hope that they at least don't put as much on.
    I also try to stick with meat and veggies or fish and veggies and just skip the potatoes and rice altogether. Most places will give you an extra vegetable instead.

    I'd love some other travel ideas if you've got 'em.

    Thanks!
  • kALcyoum
    kALcyoum Posts: 8 Member
    Thank you for the response Donna! I may have to try some of those options out.

    The most difficult part for me is that even if I'm getting a salad for lunch (often times at fast food restaurants), they salt the chicken out of their minds. A grilled chicken salad can be anywhere from 200-350 calories depending on the dressing, but can be around 700 mg of salt.

    Changing the sides to steamed/grilled vegetable option will certainly help though I find that the main course itself is often the issue. I will definitely have to see if I can get them to at least reduce the amount of salt they put into the meal.

    I'm thinking about abandoning breakfast sandwiches/bagels altogether and see if I can just start off the day with fruits/yogurt instead (which then just drives up the sugar intake, but I have to find the balance somewhere :smile: and I rarely eat sweets outside of fruits).

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