Pimpz and playaz…i have tracked nutritional data everyday for almost a year…looking at the numbers and charts, i find that sodium is the key “make or break” factor between ultra rip, rip, and the rest. Even when bulking and staying within 8-10% bf, you can look pretty shredded provided you keep that sodium down, or at least vary it day by day. I calculate sodium intake on a perecentage basis (not mg’s) and have noticed the following:
1)while excess sodium can make abs look shittily sometimes, they also add sweet pump
2) it takes an average of 2 days for reduced sodium intake to show its “rip” benefits.
3) if you stay between 75-100% (RDA numbers). you should still keep that moderate rip…
SO, how do you watch sodium, do you?.
any comments?
Peace up in this hizzou.
Vain
PS: Happy valentine’s day T-Vixen
Yeh I think you are right on this one man. I happen to have a heavy load of sodium in my diet. Given my weight, I’m probably about 10% bodyfat (130 lbs) but I look about 150. I was given a new drug called trileptal which is used for epilepsy. It supposedly knocks you out a bit and lowers serum sodium in your body. After 2-3 days on it I looked thinner (looked about 140) and probably lost about 2 lbs water weight from all the pissing. But I also think your muscles retain sodium and water so odds are, the less sodium, the less muscle mass you have but odds are the less muscle you have, the quicker you’ll burn fat, well, give or take you give your thyroid time to catch up after you reduce your sodium intake…If you want to reduce sodium naturally, you can always drink a lot more water and have more potassium in your diet. Peace.
Its only a problem for people who are salt sensitive; about 25% of the population. I’m not saying that the sodium doesn’t effect the rest of the people at all, but not nearly to the degree that it will a salt sensitive person. So my recommendations: if you seem to be really sensitive, than you might want to consider monitoring your intake, if not, don’t worry about it. What do i do? Bulking; i dont watch it. Cutting; i don’t watch it. Pre-photo shoot, i watch it to get the extra edge, but thats about it. Seasonings and spices like garlic salt, seasoned salt, etc. just make food taste alot better, and if your not overly sensitive, then you shouldn’t stress yourself out about it. You got enough to worry about with carbs, protein, fat, and calories. As far as the foods to eat precontest or pre photoshoot, just drink distilled water, stay away from the salt shaker (use a salt substitute like potasium chloride, postasium actually helps offset sodium reduction by keeping your cells hydrated), use fresh vegetables instead of canned ones, and read all labels. Good luck. Joel
Most individuals respond only to change
in sodium intake, not the absolute amount.
In other words, while dropping from say
3 grams to 1 gram while show an effect,
a maintained 3 g/day intake will be equivalent
in terms of water retention to the 1 g/day
intake… but you’ll do better as an athlete
on the higher level. Basically, most should
not concern themselves with reducing sodium
on an everyday basis. There’s nothing wrong
with 2-4 grams per day, or even more probably.
There are Japanese fishermen who consume
30 g/day, from salted fish, with no adverse
effect on blood pressure… just as an illustration of how high sodium intake can get. Blood sodium levels remain essentially constant
regardless of intake.