Salt/Sodium Disasters

"Disaster" as in a moment of confusion where outside help is greatly appreciated. I've been trying to eat at least 1200 HEALTHY calories a day (like salad, etc) but a lot of things have just way too much salt in them. I naturally like the taste of salty things, but even when I don't put any on it it's still going over the limit it has for me.

My question: What foods are good low-sodium foods?

If you make what you eat from scratch you get almost no salt, no matter the quantities. I make all my food and unless I eat cheese or maybe a slice of ham I stay around 700mgs of sodium even though I am allowed around 2500. If you are very high on sodium there are usually two reasons, You add a lot of salt to your food, or you eat a lots of packed, processed or pre-cooked stuff.
I had 1.5oz of Feta cheese the other day and it had 1700 mgs of salt alone.....:o(.

Evil kid

Great question...I struggle with this too.

"Disaster" as in a moment of confusion where outside help is greatly appreciated. I've been trying to eat at least 1200 HEALTHY calories a day (like salad, etc) but a lot of things have just way too much salt in them. I naturally like the taste of salty things, but even when I don't put any on it it's still going over the limit it has for me.

My question: What foods are good low-sodium foods?

If you're exercising regularly I wouldn't worry about it. You sweat a lot of it out and use a lot for energy. As long as you're not being inactive and eating an insane amount. It's hard to stay under the recommended amount.

"Disaster" as in a moment of confusion where outside help is greatly appreciated. I've been trying to eat at least 1200 HEALTHY calories a day (like salad, etc) but a lot of things have just way too much salt in them. I naturally like the taste of salty things, but even when I don't put any on it it's still going over the limit it has for me.

My question: What foods are good low-sodium foods?

Vegetables and fruits. Basically unprocessed whole foods are generally low in sodium. I track my sodium (and potassium) and I am sending you a friend request so that you can see what I eat to avoid excess sodium. Some days I actually go a little too low (according to MFP) but it is hard to estimate what you put on at the table from the salt shaker. I can tell when I'm a bit low because I tend to have an increased taste for salt at the table.

Just to show you how messed up processed and restaurant food can be in terms of the sodium content--I went to a national chain restaurant a few months back and I ordered what I thought was a "safe" choice--a shrimp/scallops garden salad. I should have ordered the dressing on the side but I forgot and it came dressed. I found it unpleasantly sweet and salty but I was hungry and I didn't want to hold everyone else at the table up while I waited for a new meal. When I got home, my head was throbbing and I was really hungry (and I eat lower carb so I am never hungry). I decided to look up the nutritional content on their website. I was annoyed to find that it contained about 60 calories worth of sugar (and I think it had more, judging by the taste) AND it had 1,800 mg. of sodium! I don't eat MSG because it gives me headaches and I can only assume that a lot of the sodium was in the form of MSG as my head felt like it was ready to explode. I generally try to keep my sodium intake at 1,500 mg. PER DAY (by my doc's recommendation). More than a whole day's worth of sodium in one meal!

If its processed it will have to much sodium. Tuna and chicken are preserved with salt so you need to be careful with any meats.

any veggies, peas, broccili, fruit, yogurt (make some smoothies), Find thing labeled with low sodium. Light string cheese, almonds, low sodium tuna,

I'll post more as I think of them

I used to buy canned chicken to put in my salads, but now as far as chicken goes, I just buy whole chickens, bake them, and shred the whole thing. Cuts down the sodium wayyyyyy down. It's cheaper that way anyway.