Dad-gum sodium!

nancypants1

My name is Nancypants, and over 40 years I have put on 50 pounds. I had a lapband Aug, 2009, and I am just now using this "tool" appropriately. My sister put me to a weight challenge using MFP, and it has motivated me. I have lost 12# since April 18. Whoope! My big gripe is the sodium in prepared foods. I have since learned to read labels, and to drink lots of water. I need more ideas for dinner prep esp with fish. I would appreciate simple recipes for preparing fish. Thank you.

arcticlynx1

Try a simple marinade (with salmon, trout, etc...) for at least 30 minutes, then barbecue on a grill. Awesome. Keep an eye on what sort of marinade it is. Make sure for fish it doesn't have tons of salt in it.

Also a good one is canned salmon, light mayo, relish, onion, pepper, and then just put on one of those "thins" type breads. Just don't go overboard on the mayo.

p.s. It blows my mind how much salt is in things. I go way over every day. Today I went past my salt limit on breakfast. Many things have a ridiculous amount of salt in them that you wouldn't expect.

nancypants1

Thanks for the ideas. I have decided to prepare most of our foods thereby having control over portions and salt intake. We do not care to eat out maybe 1 or 2 times a month. Just too expensive, and portions usually huge.

arcticlynx1

That is why I love having a propane BBQ grill in the summer. You can cook a whole meal in 10 minutes with little fuss. Even if it is just roasting a portabello mushroom or some corn.

I started tracking what I ate the summer before last and was floored for what i was eating, but found a way to essentially keep eating similarly in essence. I started the summer coming home from work and eating 2 cheese burgers, a side, and a drink. The points from that bread, cheese, and that fatty beef were atrocious.

By summers end I was doing the same thing, eating 2 burgers (some with cheese), a side, and a drink. I just changed what those consisted of. I ate lean turkey burgers, on those "thins" type bread, quite often with flavor from something other than cheese (or smaller amounts of healthier cheese), with a side of veggies. It totally changed all the amounts of calories, fat, sodium, etc...

The surprising bit was that tracking what I was eating made me change what I was eating to something healthier, but ironically it was tastier, cheaper, and homemade.