Tricky combo - low sodium and low carb

Food has always been a big experience thing for me, shopping, prep, cooking, serving and eating. Maybe cleaning up after not so much, but nobody's perfect. I like standing over a barbecue, so I tend to grill my chicken and veggies year-round... I dug out my wok in the depths of winter to avoid going outside, but I prefer the texture and flavour off the grill over stir-fry. I found a line of great salt-free spices (http://davidscondiments.com/products_list/rubs/) and use those on beef and chicken.

Funny, I just made veggie beef soup last week. I got some salt-free beef stock in my last fractional cow order, and used that.

Yesterday was beef back ribs, steak spice, low and slow... about three hours of fussing... and some chicken wings that I finished in a honey-garlic concoction that I whipped together and pretended had no carbs in it. Not that I got more than one, the kids demolished them. Also grilled zucchini, onions, red peppers and mushrooms. Veggies marinated in olive oil, garlic, splash of worcester sauce and some black pepper. There may have been a small steak in the mix somewhere, but I blinked and missed it. Steak was plain except garlic rubbed on it before grilling.

Tonight will be grilled chicken breasts, marinating now, some beef sausages (same fractional cow) with fennel and chill flakes in them, some grilled portobello mushrooms with oil/balsamic, split cherry tomatoes and low-salt Cantenaar cheese melted on them. If I get there, broccoli/cheddar bites for the kids. If not, steamed string beans.

Tomorrow will be Uighur-style spicy beef... I have to make 2-3 pounds at a time to even get close to having some myself. All bets are off when that bowl hits the table, and fork injuries are fair play. I had to eliminate the salt on this one (normally very salty) but with ginger, cumin, chill flakes, garlic and nutmeg on it, you can hardly tell. Probably steamed beans as veggies and some rice or corn for the kids.

I can provide details on ingredients and techniques, but you get the idea. My longer term problem is that even this kind of rotation will get stale, and kids in particular are fickle. They're at a "different foods can't touch each other" stage just now that is driving me up the wall.

Although I will indulge periodically, both shrimp and scallops are inherently too salty for me. Base sodium counts in the raw materials put me over my daily limits.

>> Why can't you have carbs or salt? Do you have celiac disease or high blood pressure?

Neither celiac nor high blood pressure. My situation is really too complicated to relay in this forum, but suffice it to say that I had a completely unexplained problem that made me very ill, then went away. Bonus: I dropped from 278 to 172 on a 6'1" frame in about 4 months, although I can hardly recommend hospitalization and multiple invasive procedures as a weight loss technique.

Part of managing the after-effects is low salt. The low carbs are because I am starting to put on some weight around my stomach, and on analysis, I was consuming a lot of sugars.

I was going to say make your own sauces utilizing ingredients like celery and black olives for flavor, until I realized that both of those can have quite a bit of sodium.

So trying again, how about making use of onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper. Or you could go in the spicey direction with hot peppers. Or try some indian style dishes that utilize the eastern spices.

I'd also google "no salt spice mix" and see if you can make up a batch of something you could add to any dish that you make, right at the table.

I hope you live in a big city that has organic grocery stores so that you can find meats that don't have nitrates or nitrites added. Those two are way worse when it comes to sodiums that do harm than plain old table salt. But even without the grocery store, it would be worthwhile to track down a butcher from who you can get meat without any additives.

I'd also make sure there was still enough iodine in your diet because iodized salt is the main source for folks who aren't eating a lot of seafood or seaweeds, ie. not living in Japan. There are low sodium salts on the market that are still fortified with iodine, if not available in your grocery store, definitely can be found online. Else a supplement might be your only choice. I'd research my options before buying because some have side effects.

My female instinct is to worry that you could take it too far because sodium is always going to be an essential nutrient.

I have found a source of artisinal black olives that are much lower salt than regular ones. I've found 3-4 suppliers of low-salt spices for a range of circumstances, and am not at all shy about constructing my own spicing. I tend towards spicy rather than savoury.

I buy my meat from a fractional cow service... once 20 people or so indicate they are ready, a local organic farmer does his thing and we each get a mixed basket. They also do chicken and pork.

I recognize that sodium is an essential nutrient, but too much will harm me. It's not a random or vanity choice, I have specific instructions that I am following in this matter.

I get my iodine fix in occasional sushi, a conscious huge indulgence. Local place knows my preferences, makes brown rice no salt with notice.