Salt is in absolutely everything!! I started tracking my salt intake (among other things, carbs and protein and such) to see where I stood since I've been stuck at the same weight for weeks. My sodium level is ridiculous! And that is always my craving - I'm not a sweet eater unless I make it myself. I eat mostly whole foods (especially now!) and cook all of my own meals. Any great tips on eating less sodium? I feel like it's in absolutely everything! (And maybe if I cut down it will get me to 159 at least.)

Any great low salt cooking tips? Snack ideas with no sodium? Tips on how to be less addicted?

I avoid canned soups, prepackaged sandwich meat and fast food. If I want to be lean and mean for an occasion, I usually eat things like asparagus, spinach, bananas, steel cut oats, berries, cottage cheese, lower fat cheese. I mean, you have to have salt in your diet, and if you are a hard core athlete, it's important to make sure you get enough. My father used to have to take salt tablets when he was bucking hay. But I just make sure I get my salt in healthier foods and try to avoid too many prepackaged items, especially those tasty little Hostess Snack Cakes and Quaker granola bars.

Yes, you are doing the right thing to stick to mostly whole foods. You can also up your water to help out. Yes, you are right. It seems to be in everything@!

Do you cook your meals from scratch, or use packaged stuff? If you're eating mostly whole foods and cooking from scratch, you probably way ahead of the game... and an occasionally salty snack shouldn't hurt. At least you're enjoying that salty taste, it's not "sneaking" into your diet like processed foods like deli meats, fast foods, etc.

Another question: What is the limit of sodium a (reasonably healthy) adult should be consuming per day?

I'm asking because eating canned soup at work for my lunch saves me a lot of calories, time, and money!

I try to pick lower sodium alternatives if I can- but I don't stress to much about sodium My mind only lets me focus on one thing mainly and that's the cals If i can find a way to make it lower carb and sodium i do. but i don't stress if i cant

for example I get low sodium soy sauce.. I love it on my rice and even the low sodium is fairly high in salt but i pick the lower sodium to at least be lower.. same thing with ketchup i get the no salt added ketchup, i find the lowest sodium canned soups I can which has been the campbells healthy heart low sodium light soups..

a lot of low carb things are naturally low cal too like I eat low carb bread and tortillas for wraps, I eat a lot of south beach brand things like their cottage cheese cups, and some of their frozen dinners...

I find if you eat right in general your sodium should be about right anyways... some days I go way over and have like 3000+ grams of sodium but most day about If I just eat " healthy" I'm at about 1000-1300

the great thing about water weight from sodium is it's not actual "fat weight" you can easily get rid of by drinking extra water or sweating it out through excercise...

beware laughing cow cheese has 250mg of soduim for just one wedge..only 35 calories but 250mg of sodium!!

yeah i don't watch my sodium intake... my head would explode..

good luck pris

Thanks guys! You asked how much sodium you 'should' have in your diet. The Daily Allowance has changed, but you're not supposed to go over 2,300 milligrams. You only 'need' 500 milligrams. (Or at least, according to the research I found.)
I think it's the deli turkey from my lunchtime sandwiches, and unfortunately, my addiction to Laughing Cow cheese. And I'm not willing to give up the LC - there's at least two a day in my diet according to my food journal. That and the no calorie chili paste I add to almost everything. And I'm not giving that up either.
I do cook all my own meals, and even in my chicken broth that I make, there's a good amount of salt. I guess I have to cut back in my cooking. Since apparently I'm not willing to cut back other places!!

Thanks for the advice guys. Maybe I'll just drink more water and forget about it. Hehehehe.

And congrats Corazonas! I got excited about your explosion before, but now you really have hit goal! Way to go, that is amazing.

I never worried about sodium before but now I can actually TELL when i have had too much the previous day. *scrambles for water bottle*

What I use is Morton Salt Substitute- for salt free diets.

There is 0 sodium in it 0 everything besides Potassium is 610 mg 17%

I like my salt and this works for me, specially on some steamed veggies.