Sodium-a-holic

sweetbn

So, I am one of those people who would weigh themselves daily, then get frustrated about it. So for the past few weeks, I have been weighing only on Fridays. This week, I gained 1.4 pounds. :sad:

The only reason I can see for this (as I have been VERY good about extra exercise and watching my calories) is my ridiculous sodium intake. I mean, WOW. :noway:

The purpose of my post is to:
1. Hopefully someone will reassure me that that 1.4 could easily be sodium/water retention and also maybe some water retention from muscle soreness. (I weighed 138.4 this morning) And maybe a little more than 1.4 pounds so I did lose weight last week (I worked so hard!!)
2. I NEED TO REDUCE MY SODIUM! This is especially difficult for me as I am extremely busy and don't know how to cook anyway so I reach for frozen food, canned food, etc. Then, when I do cook (such as the tyson chicken on my salads) I season it with salt/seasonings!! And I can't eat it plain because then it is boring and I just won't eat it. I need to know what I can do to still have quick easy food that is lower in salt... I mean even when I cook in the crockpot and save it I use sodium broths. Ideas? Also, the majority of the time I cook for one due to my fiance travelling and it is sooo much easier to just reach for a frozen boca burger and nuke it then cook up some lean meat... I also am very cheap when it comes to food and would rather pay less for a similar product with less sodium if you could keep that in mind.
3. I don't know if it is affecting my health as I am young and my blood pressure/HR is really low (my resting HR is 47 and my blood pressure is probably 98/60 ish I think from my last exam...)

PS It is only 9 AM here so ignore my choices for today... they are estimates since I am thinking I will be drinking alchohol later. Any feedback is much appreciated!! (Also if you are wondering why some days I eat .05 slices of bread it is because I go to Whole Foods nearly daily and sample everything and try to keep track of those calories too).

EDIT: Just also wanted to mention I add salt to everything so my sodium is higher than reported... I guess stopping that would be a good start but I just LOVE salt on everything.

trickyfoxster710

I am having the same problem and would love to see responses to this!

mooz

My sodium levels were really high - with new meds I ended up gaining 10lbs of water in 2 weeks! I ditched the salt cold turkey! I dont buy ready-made meals so I cook everything myself but I would use salt to season my food.

Suggestions:

Use spice/herb blends like Mrs. Dash
Minimize the ready made meals. Maybe cut back to 1x per day until you dont use them at all anymore [Im not a fan of these at all!]
If you dont like to cook or dont have time, take 1 day out of the week to cook meat/fish for your salads/meals and freeze them in individual servings - this way you can still have the convenience of frozen foods but you control what goes in them.
This one's extreme but it works....dont buy salt. You cant use what you dont have.

And that 1.4lbs is likely water.

ashleyp35

Use Mrs. Dash for your seasonings. It has no salt, and she has some delicious flavors. I love the Spicy flavor. The gain in your weight is probably the soduim and it depends on what you ate last night. A couple of weeks ago I did an experiment where I ate out at McDonalds, weighed myself the next day and I was up a about a poound in a half. I stayed off teh scale for a week, and carefully watched my soduim intake and lost it and some.

ladytap

Definitely the suggestions about using other spices instead of salt are great...and anytime you use canned soups, broth, etc. try to find ones with less sodium..that's pretty much an option for anything canned now. "Low sodium" or "no salt added" taste just as good as the regular canned soups, but obviously they are better for you. My main suggestion is to drink TONS of water! The more water you drink, the less water your body retains. It seems counter-productive, but it's not, I promise. It also helps flush your system of all things negative. Good luck!

jdsouthernbelle

Use Mrs. Dash

OR

Wal-Mart sells No Salt - Sodium Free Salt Alternative (in a white can) tastes almost exactly like salt......I use it for cooking


Drink at least 8 cups of water to keep your body flushed.

Clew

I am SOOO with you. I was stuck a while back and didnt know why. Then I realized I was eating like 4000mg of sodium a day and when I cut it in half I lost 4 pounds in 5 days. It does make a difference ... but it's challenging!

There are some good low sodium recipe sites around. I found a great recipe for marinara sauce that had 1/10th the sodium of the jar kind. Yes, 1/10th! WOOT!

sweetbn

Maybe I just need to suck it up and start cooking. Lol

Shawna35

I am also a salt lover so I can relate. It is scary when you look at the sodium content of some foods. I would definitely cut those soups out of your diet! Their sodium content is sky high. Look at some other options for lunch that are lower in sodium and you should do much better with your daily sodium count. Fruits and veggies are always good along with a bagel thin w/non-fat cream cheese. Or how about the sandwich thins with lean lunch meat? Hope that helps.