Looking for Suggestions - in a little state of panic!!
angelacasey736
Posts: 249 Member
Ok - so i have been on MFP for 5 weeks and have lost 14 lbs - not too shabby I dont think. I came to the revelation today that i have been consuming waaaayyy too much sodium - thanks to this site and perusing it. I know it is compliments of the processed foods i have been eating but i work full time and have two young children so i am looking for anyone to give me some revisions to my current eating. I have opened up my diary but please be gentle :-) I have been working my butt off with absolutely NO cheating and dont want to fail at this. All help is GREATLY appreciated.
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Replies
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drink a butt-ton of water. youre doing great.0
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Do you have a crock pot? You can make a ton of delicious home made food in crock pots while you are at work! That way when you come home everything is done or you can cook it overnight while you sleep, put it in the fridge and then reheat later that day! We usually use ours to do a beef stew and its probably my favorite thing we eat with the meat being so tender and all the carrots, potatoes and onions are so yummy.0
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Time management is key...I love the slow cooker because you don't have to be there, and you can make tons of food and freeze it. Sunday is a good day to bake a pile of chicken breasts to freeze individually. Also "hungrygirl.com" has great suggestions. I know it's hard to keep away from the "handy" food, but you can do it! You're doing awesome already.0
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A couple of suggestions I could make just from looking at your diary from today is swap out the pickles for something else that's crunchy, and grill a ton of chicken breast or some other kind of meat/meat substitute that you enjoy whenever you cook and freeze whatever is leftover. That will save you a ton of sodium on lunch. Both of those things use salt for preservatives so there's just a ton in them.0
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Are you retaining water? Is your blood pressure too high? If not, then it's probably not nearly the issue that people seem to want to think it is. It actually has more to do with your ratio of potassium to sodium than with your simple sodium count.0
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I do - and i love it. I have to deal with tax season every year being an accountant so it is a life saver... guess i should pull it back out again :-)Do you have a crock pot? You can make a ton of delicious home made food in crock pots while you are at work! That way when you come home everything is done or you can cook it overnight while you sleep, put it in the fridge and then reheat later that day! We usually use ours to do a beef stew and its probably my favorite thing we eat with the meat being so tender and all the carrots, potatoes and onions are so yummy.
thanks!!0 -
The pickle thing was definitely a one - timer once i noticed the sodium. My initial focus was calories - but obviously there are many more aspectsA couple of suggestions I could make just from looking at your diary from today is swap out the pickles for something else that's crunchy, and grill a ton of chicken breast or some other kind of meat/meat substitute that you enjoy whenever you cook and freeze whatever is leftover. That will save you a ton of sodium on lunch. Both of those things use salt for preservatives so there's just a ton in them.
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Thank you - I will check it out.Time management is key...I love the slow cooker because you don't have to be there, and you can make tons of food and freeze it. Sunday is a good day to bake a pile of chicken breasts to freeze individually. Also "hungrygirl.com" has great suggestions. I know it's hard to keep away from the "handy" food, but you can do it! You're doing awesome already.0 -
Definitely have issues retaining water and should probably be drinking more of it - which i will be doing. My blood pressure is normally low as opposed to high. I did notice my potassium levels were very low - any suggestions how to increase?Are you retaining water? Is your blood pressure too high? If not, then it's probably not nearly the issue that people seem to want to think it is. It actually has more to do with your ratio of potassium to sodium than with your simple sodium count.
Thanks for taking the the time to respond.0 -
You are doing a great job - congrats!
I would agree that you should really work on drinking more water. That will help your body process the sodium and make you feel 100% more wonderful (or if you are drinking water already and not recording it, my apologies!).
I would also encourage you to look at ways where you can have less processed meat. Instead of deli meat on his sandwiches, my husband buys one of those roasted chickens from BJ's or Costco or whatever and just slices a little off each day to put on his sandwich. I actually don't even eat meat on my sandwiches - for me, stone ground mustard plus cheese gives me that hearty/salty taste that I used to get from meat.
I know this is contrary to how nearly all of us grew up, but you really don't need meat to make a complete meal, just protein (which you can find in lots of other lower-sodium places, like nuts, cheese, dairy, beans...). I would shoot for just one meal with meat per day (there are gazillions of delicious meatless meals out there!), and see how that helps.
But of course, you're not that far over your daily sodium, so be proud!0 -
Duly noted and thank youdrink a butt-ton of water. youre doing great. 0 -
It looks like you are doing a great job ! For lower sodium, try to stay away from processed food. Deli meats are notorious for high sodium. Consider switching to Bumblebee's Low-sodium tuna, or try ordering lower sodium alternatives at the deli counter. Breads can also have a lot of sodium ( a regular English muffin has 400mg), so check the labels.
For grab - and - go lunches, consider making your sandwiches the night before -- use lettuce to 'insulate' your bread from the filling (so it won't get soggy). Consider making larger portion of dinner, so you can bring leftovers for lunch the next day. For grab-n-go breakfast, try making oatmeal in a travel cup. Or bake up some low-sodium muffins on the weekend & freeze them - they should defrost easily/zap in microwave.0 -
You are doing a great job - congrats!
I would agree that you should really work on drinking more water. That will help your body process the sodium and make you feel 100% more wonderful (or if you are drinking water already and not recording it, my apologies!).
I would also encourage you to look at ways where you can have less processed meat. Instead of deli meat on his sandwiches, my husband buys one of those roasted chickens from BJ's or Costco or whatever and just slices a little off each day to put on his sandwich. I actually don't even eat meat on my sandwiches - for me, stone ground mustard plus cheese gives me that hearty/salty taste that I used to get from meat.
I know this is contrary to how nearly all of us grew up, but you really don't need meat to make a complete meal, just protein (which you can find in lots of other lower-sodium places, like nuts, cheese, dairy, beans...). I would shoot for just one meal with meat per day (there are gazillions of delicious meatless meals out there!), and see how that helps.
But of course, you're not that far over your daily sodium, so be proud!
Sounds great - and no apologies please! I do stick to drinking only water but i am terrible about recording that - even though i record every other thing i eat! I love the idea of the roasted chicken - def sounds better than the deli meat.
Thank you for the suggestions!0 -
I do - and i love it. I have to deal with tax season every year being an accountant so it is a life saver... guess i should pull it back out again :-)Do you have a crock pot? You can make a ton of delicious home made food in crock pots while you are at work! That way when you come home everything is done or you can cook it overnight while you sleep, put it in the fridge and then reheat later that day! We usually use ours to do a beef stew and its probably my favorite thing we eat with the meat being so tender and all the carrots, potatoes and onions are so yummy.
thanks!!
They are awesome
I've heard of some people who will take an entire weekend to cook all the food for meals for the month and then freeze it. I really want to do that because then I'd always have something to thaw and eat easily and would keep me away from junk. 0 -
Thank you!Try to stay away from processed food. Deli meats are notorious for high sodium. Consider switching to Bumblebee's Low-sodium tuna, or try ordering lower sodium alternatives at the deli counter. Breads can also have a lot of sodium ( a regular English muffin has 400mg), so check the labels.0 -
Looks to me like your highest cases of sodium are the Lean Cuisines and the lunchmeat. I would just do some more research and shopping around for 'low sodium" versions. I LOVE the Kashi frozen meals...they are so filling and much lower in sodium that Lean Cuisine. Boars Head deli meat is lower in sodium and Butterball and Swiss Lorraine offer lower sodium lunch meats as well! Hope this helps!0
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Yes it does - thank you!Looks to me like your highest cases of sodium are the Lean Cuisines and the lunchmeat. I would just do some more research and shopping around for 'low sodium" versions. I LOVE the Kashi frozen meals...they are so filling and much lower in sodium that Lean Cuisine. Boars Head deli meat is lower in sodium and Butterball and Swiss Lorraine offer lower sodium lunch meats as well! Hope this helps!0 -
First off let me say that your children are ADORABLE! You must be such a proud Mommy!
I don't have kids but work full time and am busy outside of work, and the #1 thing that's helped me lose over 50 lbs & keep it off is PLANNING. #2 would be time management as someone else mentioned.
Once you get used to it it doesn't take long to sit down every weekend & plan your meals & snacks for the week, make a shopping list & get your groceries. I mean, you have to make time to shop for the processed food too, right, so just swap that for buying healthy foods instead. I am lucky that I eat the same thing for breakfast every day, usually the same 2-3 meals for lunch and have several good dinner meals I make on a regular basis. I rarely eat processed food for meals any more and feel so much better for it.
I assume you don't want to feed your little ones much processed food, so if you plan healthy meals that the whole family will like make double or triple the recipe and freeze family or individual-size portions. Take it out of the freezer & put it in the fridge to thaw while you're at work, and when you come home from work after a hard day too tired to cook you can pop it in the oven or the microwave and voila, dinner is served! I agree with the others that a CrockPot is a lifesaver; I couldn't live without mine anymore!
You're doing great, keep up the good work!0 -
Overall, I don't think you are not doing terrible
I would suggest you find a substitute for the processed lunch meats
(these are always way too high in sodium) & try to drink more water.
maybe add more fruits/veggies as snacks rather than processed foods (something I have to work on myself)
Just look at the nutrition labels while shopping....each week try & improve on one/few things.
It's all really a work in progress.....we all struggle at one time or another......
hang in there we can do this together! :bigsmile:
I see you live in PA....what part???0 -
You are doing a great job - congrats!
I would agree that you should really work on drinking more water. That will help your body process the sodium and make you feel 100% more wonderful (or if you are drinking water already and not recording it, my apologies!).
I would also encourage you to look at ways where you can have less processed meat. Instead of deli meat on his sandwiches, my husband buys one of those roasted chickens from BJ's or Costco or whatever and just slices a little off each day to put on his sandwich. I actually don't even eat meat on my sandwiches - for me, stone ground mustard plus cheese gives me that hearty/salty taste that I used to get from meat.
I know this is contrary to how nearly all of us grew up, but you really don't need meat to make a complete meal, just protein (which you can find in lots of other lower-sodium places, like nuts, cheese, dairy, beans...). I would shoot for just one meal with meat per day (there are gazillions of delicious meatless meals out there!), and see how that helps.
But of course, you're not that far over your daily sodium, so be proud!
Sounds great - and no apologies please! I do stick to drinking only water but i am terrible about recording that - even though i record every other thing i eat! I love the idea of the roasted chicken - def sounds better than the deli meat.
Thank you for the suggestions!
Also, I love taking raw chicken breast or fish filets and putting it in some kind of homemade marinade over night (in the fridge), then all you have to do the next day is bake it! I recently did a chicken one with yellow curry, paprika, some melted peanut butter (melted so it would mix with the other ingrdients better), and greek yogurt as a base (the enzymes in yogurt help tenderize the meat) - mix all of them together in a gallon ziploc baggie (about 1/3 of the bag shoule be full), throw in the number of chicken breasts your family eats, seal it and mush the marinade around so it completely covers the breasts, and lay the whole thing on a plate overnight (in case the ziploc leaks).
The meat will be delicious and when you bake it (or grill it if you have the time/option/inclination), and you can take it out of the bag and let most of the marinade run off, so you don't even have the extra calories/sodium from the marinade. The chicken will still be super tender! If you want, you can make a dipping sauce with plain yogurt, dill, and some lemon juice (maybe even a tiny bit of sugar or mayonnaise if your kids are picky eaters and not used to the mediterranean kind of taste...) and add a tablespoon of that to the side of the plate.
Anyhow...my point is, homemade marinades are quick, easy, sort of fun, and have way less sodium (and I think make the meat more tender) than store bought ones, but still make an easy meal!0 -
Pack some cucumber slices, an orange, broccoli, watermelon cubes...etc...fruits and vegetables (raw) are fast and easy bites when pressed for time. If you substituted one or two of your 100 calorie snacks or side dishes with a fresh fruit or vegetable your sodium would go down substantially and you would also be getting better nutrition for your hard working body. Find a quick meal cookbook with healthy recipes, remember fresh is best and it doesn't have to take a long time to prepare a fresh meal-once you get into the swing of things with some good quick recipes you will find you will crave the taste of the fresh vegetables and fruits and after a while of eating fresh you will find that anything that comes in a box will taste like pure salt once you stop eating them and then try one again after a while. it's also about nutrition as well as calorie count. Put the best fuel in. :flowerforyou:0
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most of your sodium seems to come from white bread and processed pre-packaged sandwich meats. Are there less processed ones you could use? Or try switching to brown bread.0
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Ok - so i have been on MFP for 5 weeks and have lost 14 lbs - not too shabby I dont think. I came to the revelation today that i have been consuming waaaayyy too much sodium - thanks to this site and perusing it. I know it is compliments of the processed foods i have been eating but i work full time and have two young children so i am looking for anyone to give me some revisions to my current eating. I have opened up my diary but please be gentle :-) I have been working my butt off with absolutely NO cheating and dont want to fail at this. All help is GREATLY appreciated.
Sodium is a funny thing. Some people have a hard time with it - water retention, bloating, high BP. Others it seems not to affect at all. It sounds like it's not affecting you much if you've lost 14 lbs in 5 wks (great job, btw!!). Also if you sweat a lot while exercising you are losing sodium and can take a little extra. My suggestion would be to substitute homemade foods as much as possible (make a little extra dinner and bring leftovers for lunch) and look for low sodium pre-pkgd foods when you go that route. But most of all don't sweat it too much unless it starts affecting your health or weight loss.0 -
Start by saying your children are so cute.
On sunday grill tons of boneless chicken breast and instead of eating processed lunch meats you can have fresh grilled meat for sandwiches, salads or dinners. You can even freeze serving sizes in plastic bags and pull them out when you need them. Low sodium cheese is another good idea. Fresh fruits and Veggies are always good. Greenway roasted red pepper dressing is low sodium or you can make your own dressing with evoo and lemon or vinegar and some herbs, for dipping. My grandson loves dippie with his veggies. Look for lower sodium breads. IF you buy anything canned, look for sodium free. It take getting use to but you will. Frozen veggies without the sauces. Stay away from gravy and sauces! You are right about the processed foods. As long as you don't cook it you can't control it.0 -
I was always big on salt - put it on just about everything! Funny you mention things out of a box tasting like pure salt - i have actually started to notice that - the scary thing....i used to add salt to those meals too!! Thanks for the suggestions - i will be implementing on my next grocery runPack some cucumber slices, an orange, broccoli, watermelon cubes...etc...fruits and vegetables (raw) are fast and easy bites when pressed for time. If you substituted one or two of your 100 calorie snacks or side dishes with a fresh fruit or vegetable your sodium would go down substantially and you would also be getting better nutrition for your hard working body. Find a quick meal cookbook with healthy recipes, remember fresh is best and it doesn't have to take a long time to prepare a fresh meal-once you get into the swing of things with some good quick recipes you will find you will crave the taste of the fresh vegetables and fruits and after a while of eating fresh you will find that anything that comes in a box will taste like pure salt once you stop eating them and then try one again after a while. it's also about nutrition as well as calorie count. Put the best fuel in. :flowerforyou: 0 -
Pack some cucumber slices, an orange, broccoli, watermelon cubes...etc...fruits and vegetables (raw) are fast and easy bites when pressed for time. If you substituted one or two of your 100 calorie snacks or side dishes with a fresh fruit or vegetable your sodium would go down substantially and you would also be getting better nutrition for your hard working body. Find a quick meal cookbook with healthy recipes, remember fresh is best and it doesn't have to take a long time to prepare a fresh meal-once you get into the swing of things with some good quick recipes you will find you will crave the taste of the fresh vegetables and fruits and after a while of eating fresh you will find that anything that comes in a box will taste like pure salt once you stop eating them and then try one again after a while. it's also about nutrition as well as calorie count. Put the best fuel in. :flowerforyou:
That's a beautiful way to think about it: "put the best fuel in". I love your overall healthy and loving attitude towards yourself and I'm going to use that line if you don't mind!!!0 -
Awww - thank you....they are what keep me going! And thanks for the suggestions - they are duly notedFirst off let me say that your children are ADORABLE! You must be such a proud Mommy!
I don't have kids but work full time and am busy outside of work, and the #1 thing that's helped me lose over 50 lbs & keep it off is PLANNING. #2 would be time management as someone else mentioned.
Once you get used to it it doesn't take long to sit down every weekend & plan your meals & snacks for the week, make a shopping list & get your groceries. I mean, you have to make time to shop for the processed food too, right, so just swap that for buying healthy foods instead. I am lucky that I eat the same thing for breakfast every day, usually the same 2-3 meals for lunch and have several good dinner meals I make on a regular basis. I rarely eat processed food for meals any more and feel so much better for it.
I assume you don't want to feed your little ones much processed food, so if you plan healthy meals that the whole family will like make double or triple the recipe and freeze family or individual-size portions. Take it out of the freezer & put it in the fridge to thaw while you're at work, and when you come home from work after a hard day too tired to cook you can pop it in the oven or the microwave and voila, dinner is served! I agree with the others that a CrockPot is a lifesaver; I couldn't live without mine anymore!
You're doing great, keep up the good work!0 -
Thank you - and thank you....these are a big help!Start by saying your children are so cute.
On sunday grill tons of boneless chicken breast and instead of eating processed lunch meats you can have fresh grilled meat for sandwiches, salads or dinners. You can even freeze serving sizes in plastic bags and pull them out when you need them. Low sodium cheese is another good idea. Fresh fruits and Veggies are always good. Greenway roasted red pepper dressing is low sodium or you can make your own dressing with evoo and lemon or vinegar and some herbs, for dipping. My grandson loves dippie with his veggies. Look for lower sodium breads. IF you buy anything canned, look for sodium free. It take getting use to but you will. Frozen veggies without the sauces. Stay away from gravy and sauces! You are right about the processed foods. As long as you don't cook it you can't control it.0 -
Thanks - I am right outside Philadelphia.Overall, I don't think you are not doing terrible
I would suggest you find a substitute for the processed lunch meats
(these are always way too high in sodium) & try to drink more water.
maybe add more fruits/veggies as snacks rather than processed foods (something I have to work on myself)
Just look at the nutrition labels while shopping....each week try & improve on one/few things.
It's all really a work in progress.....we all struggle at one time or another......
hang in there we can do this together! :bigsmile:
I see you live in PA....what part???0 -
Over the weekend I ate chips like there was no tomorrow, and 'gained' 2 pounds over night. For the next two days I drank more water than I usually do, and 'lost' the 2 pounds.
I did a little searching on this site, and came across a blog entry by Jitteryspork that was very informative.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Jitteryspork/view/stop-retaining-water-by-drinking-more-1093280
This discussion has been closed.
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