I was able to completely avoid it. I just made sure to eat a couple pickles every day, salt everything as much as I liked and I typically had a few sips of pickle juice daily too. Plus I ate other salty foods. I was fully on board with bacon and was having quite a lot of it my first month. I only had broth a few times a week, but since I have always loved pickles, I preferred to use them for easy salt boosts.
I wasn't supplementing until probably about 6 weeks in with magnesium and potassium. I started having leg/foot cramps. I think I had been slacking off on my salt at that point.
You can add the supplements at any time, but it's not absolutely necessary. I only take the magnesium a few times a week and I just use a salt substitute in addition to sea salt on foods for extra potassium instead of a pill.
Just be aware of the water/sodium balance. If you're drinking tons of water every day then you will need a little more sodium to keep the balance right. Be aware of how much you're losing in the bathroom. Going a lot? Then you're no doubt losing more sodium. So have some broth or pickles if you're like me.
Many people hear that you lose a lot of water and get dehydrated so they concentrate on drinking more water, thereby flushing out even more electrolytes in the process. Just drink the amount of water that is right for you and keep the salt up and you'll do fine.

mspr1nt wrote: »

Would pork crackling also work for the salt substitute if I'm making sure it slots in with calories? I already do loads of both (salting and drinking water). I'm basically like a cow with salt, I can just lick the stuff off my hand.

When we say a lot of salt - we mean like 5,000 mg of sodium a day MINIMUM during adaption.