Calories vs. sodium

PurdyMommy

how do you all get in all your calories without over going your sodium?

PurdyMommy

how do you all get in all your calories without over going your sodium?

Hannah_Banana

I don't eat packaged food, it tends to be VERY high in sodium. Try making all your meals fresh. A can of cut green beans has almost your entire daily allotment of sodium, but fresh green beans has 0! I'm not sure if you eat a lot of packaged food, but that is normally the only way I can go over on sodium.

Also, try Ms. Dash salt free seasonings. They are delicious and also have 0 sodium! If that fails, do you have a Trader Joe's nearby? If you MUST have packaged food because your life is busy (believe me, I understand) or you are a bad cook, they have some really good, preservative free stuff that is fairly low in sodium. :flowerforyou:

MyaPapaya75

how do you all get in all your calories without over going your sodium?

I try very hard not to eat pre packaged foods..nothing canned, no crackers or soda..its hard at first but once you get the hang of it its ok

awestfall

No processed foods.Fresh Fresh Fresh Food is the way to go!! Once you try it you won't want processed or prepackaged foods anymore!!

awestfall

No processed foods.Fresh Fresh Fresh Food is the way to go!! Once you try it you won't want processed or prepackaged foods anymore!!

singfree

Attention: Step away from the processed foods.... that is all.

Seriously, If I did not prepare my own meals, sodium would be through the roof! I believe this is the only way to be successful with sodium intake. Also, this could be a major reason people do not see a loss on the scale. So frustrating.

AliceLMS

Check the labels of all your seasonings if you cook from scratch. The first ingredient in Taco seasoning,(even that bought at the local "healthy" coop store) is salt. The same kick can be had with fresh picante, with no salt added.

If you can or freeze vegetables and fruits at home you can controll the ingredients.

laurabelle25

Just thought I'd chime it a little.

I brought a roast beef sandwich for lunch today (I hardly ever have a sliced meat sandwich, but we had nothing else in the fridge) and thought that it would be mildly healthy.....WRONG! There is 550mg of SODIUM per 2 slices!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:noway:

That is freakin' ridiculous! So check everything before putting it in your mouth!

ivykivy

The sodium is not so bad as long as you pair with an equal or greater amount of potassium. Try eating high sodium foods with high potassium foods like sweet potatoes, bananas.

PurdyMommy

We live on a tight budget so I dont get to eat all the fresh foods I woudl like, I do buy low sodium canned foods but....everything has so much salt in it? I do not add any extra salt or seasoning to my food unless it is mrs.dash. I mean my dressing to my turkey sausages and eggs and EVERYTHING has it in it?
How does someone on a tight budget avoid the sodium? lol

pipinana

I hear you! I also have a very tight budget! What I did is cut out about half of the processed foods I would normally eat. I don't go over board on my fresh stuff.... I just get the basics, salad in a bag, tomatoes, cucs, mushrooms, avocado - that's my lunches (I'll put tuna, turkey or chx to spice it up), then I buy an apple for every day and some sort of other fruit.... I get the campbells healthy request soups... It's hard, but you can make it work. I spend about $40 every two weeks on my veggies/fruit. You'll be surprised though, the fresh, not processed stuff fills you up so much faster, you may end up not purchasing as much anyway when you switch over to fresh...

Did you know that you can add sodium to your food journal? I did that, and was really amazed at how much sodium I was eating. It took me a couple days to get used to staying under my 2500 g, but I finally did it.... I try to double up my water on days I go over sodium.

I have chronic lymphidema - my legs swell... Since I started lowering my sodium, my legs/feet have gone down so much! Lowering you sodium is SO good for you, so I hope you can make it work! :flowerforyou: good luck!

PurdyMommy

Wel i do buy salad stuff weekly and i but potatos, carrots and sweet potatos but I sti;ll eat alot of sodium. I do have it on my food journal thats hwo I know I eat to much but everything has so much!

pettmybunny

If you're buying canned vegetables, I've read that if you rinse them before heating, it will take an additional 40% of the sodium out of it... Maybe want to google it?

keiko

Watch for sales on frozen vegetables and stock up. They have less sodium than canned.

jtintx

Well, I'm well over 2,400 mg of sodium most days. I do eat prepackaged foods and that won't change in the near future. But, since I exercise quite a bit and sweat A LOT, and I do mean A LOT, is sodim really an issue?

jtintx

:yawn: I really am curious about this...

pipinana

:yawn: I really am curious about this...

Mmmmmm, I'm not sure if you're working out so much. How much over 2400 are you going everyday? I know I'm (5'1", 169) supposed to consume 2500/day. I went online and found some sites you may want to check out.... Hope it helps, and sorry I couldn't be more help!

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sodium/NU00284

http://www.ask.com/bar?q=can+you+eat+too+much+sodium+if+you+work+out?&page=1&qsrc=0&ab=1&u=http://weighactiveandhealthy.blogspot.com/2009/02/are-you-eating-too-much-sodium.html

http://www.ask.com/bar?q=sodium+and+working+out&page=1&qsrc=2417&ab=2&u=http://caloriecount.about.com/sodium-ft105466

http://caloriecount.about.com/sodium-exercise-ft102162

jtintx

Thanks for the links. The food I take in usually has anywhere from 3500 to 4000 mg. And I salt some of my food on top of that. I guess I don't need to be concerned as long as my BP stays normal.