Too Much Sodium?

Rynay

I am currently supposed to be eating approximately 1200 calories / day (to lose 2 pounds a week) and I try to stay close to that, but I always go over the suggested sodium intake by the time I get to 1200 calories. I try to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, but I still go over. Is this something I should try to reduce or are the calories what I mainly need to focus on? If it is important not to go over the sodium, can anyone give me any advice on foods / recipes that have low sodium? I have already switched from canned soups to homemade and that reduced the sodium some, but not enough. Any advice would be greatly appreciated? Thanks in advance.

MBrothers22

First off, you only have 40ish more pounds to lose so you should move your goal from 2 pounds to 1.5 or 1 lb per week. 1200 calories is unnecessary.

As far as sodium, look at my diary and sodium intake. I've lost almost 30 pounds in just under 60 days. I do drink water but not much more than I normally would. IMO sodium does not matter as long as you drink a reasonable amount of water.

brandysdoodles

I have the same issue, but it is mainly if I do something pre made and high protein, like beef jerky or lean cuisine. I just started, so I am trying to figure out portion sizes before I start making my own meals again. Good luck to you!

PinkPanther318

Hi

Send me a message I can give you some ideas. I have to watch my sodium also.

Aaron_K123

Unless your doctor has diagnosed you with habitual high blood pressure and instructed you to follow a low sodium diet its not really something you have to worry about.

It will cause you to retain more water and it will increase your blood pressure but unless you are eating 4x the recommended sodium daily or you already have very high blood pressure its not going to cause you any real problems.

What might cause you problems is attempting to lose weight too quickly however so as an above poster said unless you are more than 40 pounds overweight your plan seems overly aggressive.

A 1200 calorie diet is not something that is long term maintainable and you are inviting going through a cycle of crash dieting and rebounding like a yo-yo.

raggiemom

For the most part, I can stay under my calorie and macro goals. When I do go over on sodium, it's usually because I ate smoked meat of some kind, too much cheese or ate out! Try to avoid bacon, cold cuts, sausage and cheese, or only eat half a portion sizes. Buy unsalted butter, or reduced salt margarine. A lot of products, even soup, are now available in reduced sodium versions. Check the nutrition labels on everything you buy til you know which ones contain the levels of salt, fat, and sugars that work for you. Just a few ideas for you to consider.

anna11033

question for you: where does your sodium come from ?

if you only cook at your place and eat whatever you cook i have a hard time believing you're going over the limit. best advice i can give you is exactly this - cook at home and eat real food and don't buy prepackaged stuff. I know its hard but I think its worth it. I care about calories but between the calories and the sodium I care more about the sodium. personally. high sodium intake is associated with a bunch of diseases (like high blood pressure, strokes, etc) and for me this is far more important than 200-300 extra calories a day. if you think the calories are more important then focus on them but make sure you know what a high sodium diet does to you

p.s i hope you know that the recommended sodium intake/day is 1300mg. I know the prepackaged food usually sets it to 2000 (or 2300, can't remember exactly now) but thats actually the upper limit and it is already too much.

ellen2277

Best to eat fresh veggies not packaged or canned. I try to eat a fresh salad every day. I stay pretty much in my doctor's recommended sodium for me. I have controlled high blood pressure. Hoping that when I lost 45 lbs I can get off the meds.

Aaron_K123

The OP is 18 years old and overweight. Do you really think she needs to be focusing on her sodium intake?

In my opinion you don't need to micromanage that much especially at your age. Just make some small changes to your lifestyle in terms of how you approach food and exercise. These drastic changes you are making coupled with obsessing over the details like your sodium intake is just going to make you burn-out quickly.

Substitute a few higher calorie things for lower calorie things and take time in the mornings to go for a 45 minute walk. That's really enough. At 18 hugely calorically restricted diets and obsessing over food is not a place you want to be.

LloydJensen

There are more and more products coming out with reduced or no added sodium. Green Giant has a canned corn with no added sodium. Hunt's has a few no salt added products. Becel has a no salt margarine. There are several more, you just have to look for them. I used Google, searched for no salt added and selected images. Using these products in my cooking I can easily keep my sodium under 1500 mg/day.

Wtn_Gurl

its pretty easy to stay low sodium just by -

not eating at restaurants
not eating canned soup, packaged frozen entrees (check the label - you will be surprised);
and adding extra salt to your food
seafood like lobster has more salt maybe because its from the ocean which is salt water (just a guess).

but really, I even ate at Subway which is supposed to be healthy but if you check the nutrition about it, some of that is very high sodium.

so with just a few changes in your food choices, you can eliminate a lot of sodium.

oh yeah, spices too can have added salt, or msg which retains water in you.

I think canned soup and restaurant soup may be one of the highest sodium even though it doesn't taste salty.

try eliminating those and see what effect it has on you after a week or two.

nataliemlyman93

My sodium is usually about 1500 under the recommended intake for me on a 1200 calorie diet. The more natural the food less sodium, at least thats what I have noticed. I eat a lot of of fruits and veggies too- all fresh. To add more filling things to my diet I have a lot of brown rice and baked yams which barely have any sodium. To make the brown rice I just mix in chopped up fresh garlic and fresh veggies that way it has flavor without adding sodium and I just put cinnamon on a baked yam. I also eat a lot of oatmeal and brown rice pasta (only containing brown rice). That all is really low in sodium. I find when I am eating like this within in a few days my weight drops about 3-4 pounds because my body is letting go of all the water it was holding onto. A lot of times I am more picky about my sodium intake compared to my calorie or fat intake.

lisabinco

I feel so much better when I keep my sodium intake at or below 1500 mg/day so for me that works. It keeps me off high blood pressure medications, my primary goal, and has been the key to keeping my blood pressure at a more healthy level. One thing you will notice, if you decide to reduce your sodium intake, is that your taste buds will change and you will prefer to taste the actual food instead of the salt taste for many foods. You will find you can actually taste your food again. A real plus, in my opinion.

xxghost

Unless your doctor has diagnosed you with habitual high blood pressure and instructed you to follow a low sodium diet its not really something you have to worry about.

It will cause you to retain more water and it will increase your blood pressure but unless you are eating 4x the recommended sodium daily or you already have very high blood pressure its not going to cause you any real problems.

Yup, he's right. If I have something that is high in sodium (chips, Subway, etc), I just hold off a bit to weigh myself. I know that I'm going to be up. I also drink loads of water to help flush everything out.