Oh c'mon... Sodium too?

rayfromtx

I just posted this as a comment on a friends page but it has been bothering me lately so I figured it might be a good topic to discuss in the greater community.

"I went shopping last night and looked at the sodium on everything I considered buying. I wasn't surprised by what was salty but I was at just how salty those things were. A ham steak was my whole daily allowance. If I really try to go low sodium, it might limit my shopping too much. I think I'm going to compromise and limit it sometimes, else my whole strategy of eating lots of great tasting food while staying under my calorie goal may not work out. I'm not sure this works for me when the food choices are limited that much. No sweets, limited fats, limited carbs, limited dairy, limited cholesterol, and limited processed foods is about the right amount of challenge for now. Limited sodium in the rest of what I eat is tough. I have limited my sodium for some time but the numbers we are supposed to aim for are really low relative to what is available in the food world. If I didn't cook, I don't know how this could possibly work."

I know this is considered to be pretty important, but what do y'all do to try to make this work out in your daily regime?

FunkBunny

I think, now this is just me and I'm no nutritionist, but unless you have serious blood pressure issues, you can go over the daily limit of sodium by a bit as long as you hit the water hard and flush your system out. Is too much salt bad for you, yup. And unless you make every meal from scratch, you will have a hard time limiting it with the amount that is in processed foods.
But I think, all in all, if you watch everything else and try to stick to fresh foods as much as possible, you'll be fine as long as you hit the water hard.
IMHO, of course.

funkyspunky871

I don't. I gave up tracking sodium months ago. I was getting so obsessed over sodium and sugars, I started restricting my calories. My family became concerned that I was actually developing an eating disorder, and while I couldn't just give up MFP, I did give up tracking everything but fat and calories. I immediately felt better; all my stress was gone. I've still been losing perfectly fine since then. 2 pounds a week, sometimes even more (God knows why, lol. All I can ask for is 2!)

I'm pretty sure I go over sodium by.... well, let's say a thousand or more milligrams per day. No problem. I KNOW I go over on sugars a lot. I double it every single day, sometimes almost triple it, because I'm not afraid to eat a serving of ice cream (as long as it fits in my calorie goal) or an apple anymore.

Scorpiomom222

When I cook, I use olive oil for less sodium. Alot of butter and margarine has salt in it. I also shop for fresh meats, not deli meats. I'll buy a whole chicken, boil it and shred it for sandwiches. Also, just a little added caution for sodium AND calories, instead of using two pieces of bread on a sandwich, I use one slice, and I put just as many ingredients on the sandwich as I normally would and fold it like a taco.

But, for me, sodium intake is just as important, if not more important than calories. It couples with cholesterol and hardens your arteries and increases your risk of heart attach or stroke. Also, if you are trying to lose weight, it's best to keep sodium as low as possible, so you retain less water. I used to LOVE my top ramen with the full packet of flavor. Truth was, the full packet had 1200 for sodium. WAKE UP CALL!!!!

tacticalhippie

I try to keep it down.
When I was obese and losing weight, it never made a difference. NOW, if I eat too much ham (what I used to eat every morning for breakfast or Canadian Bacon as a snack) I retain water (and gain) like crazy. I drink about 100oz of water a day.

It was a good kick in the butt to give up my ham.

jodie_t

I've never tracked sodium. Surely it would only make a temporary difference anyway - ie if you stopped all of it in your diet you'd lose the water in 2-3 days.

Scorpiomom222

I try to keep it down.
When I was obese and losing weight, it never made a difference. NOW, if I eat too much ham (what I used to eat every morning for breakfast or Canadian Bacon as a snack) I retain water (and gain) like crazy. I drink about 100oz of water a day.

It was a good kick in the butt to give up my ham.

That is how I am. If I eat ham or something else salty, I feel all swollen and round.