Does anyone have suggestions for a good low sodium diet?

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Hi I am a 44 year old female who has just quit smoking and had a hosterectomy. I also have been diagnosed with high blood pressure and cholesterol. I have gained a lot of weight recently and due to my surgery I was just released from my dr. To excersising. Does anyone have any suggestions on low sodium diets and best excercise that isn't that strenuous but works?

[Barb135]

If you eat a good diet and get enough exercise, you don't need a weight loss supplement.  Most people who use supplements, end up gaining back whatever weight they lose, as soon as they stop the supplement.

[brianna1807]

hi lapse, hope you'll be fine now, I think walking for a few minutes is good for you at the moment and you can extend it gradually as you get healthier, it will certainly help you losing weight and manageing your cholesterol level but there is a supplement as well for weight loss, beyond weight management tea, it's just a brand of tea with a good taste, just tke it half an hour before you take your meal. It will certainly help you

[Barb135]

I, too, have to watch my sodium intake, due to severe edema and hypertension... I mostly eat a regular diet of fresh food, and I simply leave the salt out of most recipes.  After you get used to it, you don't miss it... If I do use a dash of salt at the table, I use Himalayan sea salt, which, though it's more expensive, I've been told doesn't have as much sodium as table salt.  When I buy things like canned tomatoes/sauce, or things like beef/chicken broth, I buy the no salt added/low sodium varieties.  Mostly, though, I make my own beef/chicken broths as they're much better and I control the ingredients.

If you've gained a lot of weight for no reason, I'd have to ask if you've had your thyroid levels tested recently.  Your thyroid controls your metabolism, heart rate, body temperature and other body functions.  Weight gain, high cholesterol and high blood pressure are often symptoms of hypothyroidism (low thyroid function)...

Yoga is an excellent low impact exercise.  At one time, I was doing about 30 minutes of yoga/day and I lost quite a bit of weight; when I stopped doing it, I gained about 20 lbs in a relatively short period... I do have hypothyroidism and my thyroid hormone levels are "in range", but I'm not sure they're optimal.

While yoga looks difficult and you may not be able to exactly follow the instructor at first, it's easy to catch onto.  You can either join a yoga studio or get yoga dvd's and learn it in the privacy of your home, which is what I did.  

Walking is also very good exercise; a brisk 30 minute walk every day is very good for you.  What's best is interval walking... that's walking slowly or at a regular pace for a couple of minutes, then speeding up to a power walk for 30 seconds, then slowing down to a regular walk for 2 minutes.  Doing this for 10-15 minutes is about the equivalent of a regular 30 minute walk.

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Thank you  I will take all of your input into consideration. I will try the yoga and walking and everything else you recommended   Thanks again