Oh, goodness. I've been asking questions like it's my job lately, but I'm starting to realize that there is more to healthy eating than just calories in, calories out. My question is on sodium intake. I did a calculator thing that said that at my height, weight, and caloric intake, I should be consuming 2400 mg or less of Sodium per day. I eat A LOT more than that, and I'm trying to get a handle on it and read all the labels before I go and put something in my mouth. That said, I know that lots of sodium causes fluid retention, which is something I just cannot handle as I'm already a tad obsessive about the scale. I know I can drink plenty of water to flush it out, as long as I don't drink too much, but how much water would it take to make up for, say, 500 mg of excess sodium? Is that even possible, or should I just chalk it up to learning sometimes and be more careful the next day? Thanks!

I don't even know how to answer that.

I just drink water, and let it all go away at its own time. I have a hard time keep the sodium down if I eat out or eat already made things like frozen food. Really it boils down to cooking the food myself so I can control the salt in it.

A.

If you are very concerned about it, your best bet would be to see your doctor or a nutritionist. In general, though, as long as you drink enough water...is it 8 glasses/64 oz. a day recommended I think??? and you stay away from salty processed foods it shouldn't be a big deal.

Barb

Thanks for the input. My university has nutritionist services in the student health center that are covered by my tuition, so I think I'm going to go ahead and do that. The last thing I want is to be skinny, but still terribly unhealthy, as that would defeat the whole purpose of going on this journey.

If you exercise a lot (and sweat with it), you probably don't have to worry that much about sodium.

That is, as long as you don't eat too many processed foods... If health is your priority, you shouldn't be doing that anyway. Just try to focus on natural, whole foods.

Also, with that as a prerequisite, it's really not that much about sodium alone, but rather about the ratio of sodium and potassium. If you eat fresh fruits and vegetables, you should get enough potassium as well.