You can avoid many hidden sources of sodium by cooking your own meals from fresh, unprocessed ingredients. When you cook, try replacing salt with other flavorful seasonings, like black pepper or garlic. Eating more potassium-rich foods, like bananas, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes, can also help you flush excess salt out of your body.
Try replacing high-carb foods in your diet with fruits and vegetables that are high in fiber, like berries, beans, and leafy greens. Going on a very low or no-carb diet for more than a few months can be bad for your health. Talk to your doctor about safe ways to adjust your carbohydrate intake. [4] X Research source
You exercise a lot You’re in a hot environment You’re pregnant or nursing You’re sick, especially if you have vomiting or diarrhea You’re on a high-fiber or high-protein diet
Low-sodium soups or broths are also good options.
High-intensity workouts, like circuit training, are a great way to get rid of excess fluid and sodium. Just make sure to drink plenty of water during workouts. If you get dehydrated, you’ll end up retaining more water!
Common treatments for fluid retention include magnesium supplements and diuretics (“water pills”). If you gain more than 2 pounds (0. 91 kg) in a day or 4 pounds (1. 8 kg) in a week, call your doctor right away. Other signs of excess water retention can include swelling in your hands or feet, shortness of breath, coughing, nausea, and feeling full after eating only a small amount. [9] X Trustworthy Source Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School’s Educational Site for the Public Go to source
Eating such a small number of calories each day is unhealthy for most people, and won’t help you keep the weight off in the long term. Most doctors don’t recommend very low calorie diets (under 800 calories a day) unless you need to lose weight quickly for medical reasons (e. g. , if you are preparing for a surgery or trying to manage a medical condition, such as diabetes). [12] X Trustworthy Source National Health Service (UK) Public healthcare system of the UK Go to source
You can find calorie information for pre-packaged foods on the package, and calorie counts are also available on many restaurant menus. You can also use a website like this one to find the calorie contents of most foods: https://ndb. nal. usda. gov/data-documentation. html. If you eat 3,600 calories a day, you would need to cut 2,100 calories per day to achieve a 1,500-calorie daily diet. However, be aware that this is not enough for you to lose a full 1 pound (0. 45 kg) of fat per day. In order to lose 1 pound (0. 45 kg) of fat in a day, you’d need to eliminate 3,500 calories from your daily diet. For most people, this isn’t possible to do safely unless you’re already eating an extremely high-calorie diet (about 5,000 calories a day).
The number of calories you can burn with exercise depends on a lot of factors, like your current weight. For example, if you weigh 185 pounds (84 kg), you can burn about 1000 calories by playing basketball for 2 hours. If you weigh 155 pounds (70 kg), you’d have to play for closer to 2. 5 hours. [16] X Research source To find out how many calories you can burn with common forms of exercise, use a chart like the one available here: https://www. calculator. net/calorie-calculator. html. Keep in mind that if you’re consuming very few calories, you may not have the energy to safely do a lot of exercise.
Keep in mind that you are likely to lose water weight and muscle mass as well as fat while on a very calorie-restricted diet.