Whats more important Calorie or Sodium Count?

krystonite

Learning this food *kitten* is a process in and of itself. I've had to go through so many adjustments based on new information, reading labels, and finding out the science of my OWN body. After 6 months, I have finally hit on the numbers that I need to maintain my weight, feel good, have lots of energy, etc. I think sodium is very important to be honest. I would try cutting out processed foods and deli meat. A good alternative is maybe some grilled chicken breast strips, cut up and thrown in with some Fage non-fat yoghurt. Or even a can of tuna with the yoghurt and dice up some celery. Try to get into the habit of cooking for yourself and reading labels. Measure your food and stay within the range of all numbers if even just to retrain your mind. You have to undo years of learned bad food behavior. It's hard in the beginning, but it gets easier. A nice little rule of thumb and baseline: lots of veggies, fruits, lean meat and lots of water. You'll do fine. You made the choice to start this journey, didn't you? That's miles ahead of a lot of other people.

lablovr108

Wow, some people can be so harsh.

You've had a great start, and I agree with some of the other posters - baby steps. If you try to change everything at once, you may get too discouraged.

I would agree that calories are most important, but I try to watch my sodium also. Too much sodium can lead to water retention and high blood pressure. If you work out and sweat a lot, then you do need more sodium so it's all about finding the right balance for you.

It doesn't look like you are eating too many fruits and vegetables. Perhaps try adding or replacing one or two a day to start. For example, I noticed that you like to eat pickles with lunch. I love pickles but they are high in sodium. I now eat carrot sticks or red peppers with my lunch. They give me the same crunch but are low in calories and sodium. A large salad with grilled chicken and a low calorie dressing is another lunch option.

If you enjoy your egg sandwiches for breakfast, maybe try making your own on a whole wheat english muffin? Add some veggies to the scrambled egg or a piece of fruit as a side.

And if you do consume too much sodium (many of us do at times), then just drink some extra water and try to have less the next day.

Good luck!!

heykatieben

Calorie count. High sodium can be fixed by drinking water the next day and eating lower-sodium foods, but over on calories, and you have to work it off with exercise.

Tiffa0909

Calories , but sodium helps you retain water.

It seems like your lunch and breakfast are your biggest issue , you probably are in hurry and don't have time to make better choices. Try preparing and taking lunch to work and I'm pretty sure you will soon improve your sodium intake.

dlyeates

I agree with cutting down on eating out (that's my problem too when it comes to sodium!!!).

Some alternatives.......Lower sodium frozen meals. I like the ones from Traders Joes. Still have 700-800 mg of Sodium but better than some eating out.
Make soup or chili to bring to work.
Have a couple of pieces of bread and bring a grilled chicken breast. I like to top with hot sauce or use condiment of your choice.
Bring a salad with cut up chicken for lunch and use lower calorie dressing. I LOVE Bolthouse Farms yogurt based dressings....low cal and natural ingredients.
Make double dinner and bring some.

We eat a lot of ground turkey, pork roast, pork chops, chicken, homemade veggie chili, etc. Feel free to check out my diary and ask questions or friend me. I'm not great with the sodium but I'm not double either!!!

And if you know it will be a high sodium day because you are eating out try to drink 1.5 to 2 times your normal water intake to help flush it out!!!

halphord

Wow...sorry some people are responding is such douche bag ways....sodium content is a killer. I have days when my sodium is higher, so on those days I really try to increase my water intake as well....

Processed foods are always going to be higher in sodium. So try to cut your eating out as much as you can.

Some suggestions for breakfast would be greek yogurt with fruit, toast with natural peanut butter (but watch the amount), scrambled eggs loaded with veggies in a tortilla (wheat is better)

Lunch...make your own sandwiches or wraps to cut the sodium. Doesn't take a lot of time and you'll be glad you did it! Soups can be made from scratch pretty easily (google recipes). Best idea is to make a big pot on a day off of work and then divide it into portion sizes. Soup freezes well, so stick your individual servings in the freezer. Take out the night before you want to take it with you for lunch and microwave at work.

Dinner is a rough one for a lot of us...I like to do salads, or chicken breast, or homemade pizzas....

Good luck to you! The more research you do, the more you will learn about healthy eating and you'll find lots of great ideas out there.

And...ignore the crappy responses. Why they want to be on this site is beyond me. Most people come here looking for support, not to be attacked!

_VoV

For weight loss, calories are the thing you want to watch. I try to make my calorie count match my sodium count, e.g. 1200 calories; 1200 mg sodium. I do this because I think it is better for me. Of course, others would disagree, but that's okay. We all do what we think is best.

Eating low-sodium is tough if you eat out a lot, or eat prepared foods. I would say if you have the option, balance things out at home whenever you can. Fresh fruits and veggies, hot cereals, etc. have low-sodium.

I eat a few vegetarian faux 'meats' that have a lot of sodium almost everyday, but since most of the rest of my diet is low-sodium, I generally keep within the balanced range I'm shooting for.

Richellebeatle

Not really sure what I can do to change my diet any further or if I should just stick with whats been working so far.

Really? You can't figure out what you could do to cut your sodium? You eat Dunkin Donuts, Olive Garden, high-sodium turkey-and-cheese wraps, and canned soup every single day.

Wow guys really? This is why my food diary is private...way to cut someone down!!! Shame Shame

Agreed!!! Seriously people, rude comments need not apply! What's wrong with you. I thought the point of this site was for SUPPORT! If you want some POSITIVE support add me.

TourThePast

Calorie count. High sodium can be fixed by drinking water the next day and eating lower-sodium foods, but over on calories, and you have to work it off with exercise.

You say "exercise" like it's a bad thing! :bigsmile:

Eating too many calories and working it off with exercise is far better for you than eating the right amount of calories!

fteale

Ok, I have had a look at your diary. The people who have said you need to start cooking your own food are right, if a little untactful. First of all, well done for doing this, it's a big step in the right direction. And congratulations on the weight already lost. You have a good deficit going, which with the amount you want to lose is fine.

Can you afford to go on a beginner's cookery course? I think that might be the first step. If you are able to cook your own food from scratch, you have a lot more control over your diet, which in turn gives you more control over your life. I think cooking is an under-rated but extremely important life skill. Just a couple of boiled eggs or a vegetable omelette for breakfast would bring your sodium down. It might put your cholesterol over, but I think at this point that's perhaps not the most important thing.

I understand you are probably out at lunch and may have to eat out, Processed meats always have a lot of sodium in, them, so maybe steer clear of them for now? Add a salad to your lunch for fibre and vitamins. It will also fill you up for very few calories. Just don't add creamy dressings or croutons! If you must have a dressing, just a bit of olive oil and lemon or a vinaigrette.

Soup is the easiest thing in the world to make, you don't need to buy them in a can. Do you have a supermarket nearby that sells fresh soup in cartons? Even that is considerably healthier than anything tinned.

You can do this.

karenhs2

Yes, calories are way more important to weight loss. Eventually making better food choices will help you in so many ways. Processed food or eating out is always really high in sodium even when you make the best possible choice.

Baby steps like several have said. Don't overwhelm yourself all at one time. Find a substitution for one food and go from there. The high sodium on its own won't stop you from losing weight so don't lose sight of the main goal.

I have a suggestion if you are not into cooking, find a friend or family member who is and enlist their help. For example, they could help you find a healthy soup recipe you like and make up a large batch. Nearly any kind of soup freezes well. Having a low calorie soup is one of my go to tricks for not being hungry and getting in enough fiber and veggies. I love a vegetable beef that I make with tomato juice. Now, it still has sodium in it but much less than canned.

Whatever recipe they use, here is how you use it in MFP:

Premeasure the pot that they are using. You can take measuring cups of water to pour in and figure out how much the pot holds at various levels.

Write down everything as they are adding it. Measure in cups or by weight. Estimate the final total volume.
Input the recipe into the Recipes tab under Food. You find each ingredient just like a regular food. Just do the best you can as always.

Once you have all the ingredients in, then figure the servings. I use a 6 quart pot and it is full of soup. So I know that there are about 24 cups of soup. I like 2 cup servings so I input 12 servings for the pot of soup and voila! I can easily log the soup when I eat it.

formersec

Sodium intake is important for reasons other than weight. Excess sodium can cause or contribute to high blood pressure which can over time damage your heart and/or kidneys, among other things. Many people have high blood pressure, but don't know if. Often there are NI symptoms and victims don't find out they have it until it's too late.

Adding salt to food is a major contributor. There are herbs and spices you can use in place of salt. For example, Mrs. Dash majesty various seasoning blends to use with different foods. These seasonings have no salt added. Also, I place of garlic salt if onion sale, you cab use garlic powder or onion powder. These have no salt.

Get rid of the packaged, processed and most canned foods (except those that say low sodium or noi salt added on the label). Cut back on eating out. Keep frozen meals to a minimum. An occasional meal out is ok, but eating 2 or 3 meals out per day will bring you way over the recommended sodium limit. Preparing your own meals nor only allow you to control calories, fat sodium and the other things, but it saves you money too.

By the way, I know the damage too much sodium can do. I had a cardiac arrest in 2008 and my kidneys were damaged. Get a handle on your sodium, calories and the rest now and you may avoid what happened to me.

gazz777

The science behind nutrition is a very good read - I just need to read more.

What I have learned so far (and I am proof of the science).....

Calories = Energy

Breathing, Eating, Sleeping, Walking, Running, etc. all 'burn' calories.

Sodium, Sugars, Protein, Fats, etc. all decide what the body does with the calories. There are different sugars, fats, etc. too

March last year, I stopped the sugary habits and walked a bit more (total only up to about 20 miles per week) and lost 1-2 pound per week (over most of last year I shed over 70 pounds, even when unable to walk). I never concerned myself with food choices for most of that - if I did that would have been important as far as other health aspects.

That said, fat stores up in the body and used up when the body does work (any kind of work, breathing, running, etc) - that work = energy = calories. A calorie deficit is what is responsible for fat loss.

Lose too much fat and your body will 'burn' it's own muscle for energy (I read that).

Others have commented on Sodium, so I wont other than to say not enough sodium is a bad thing ... I read it flushes from the body with water - too much or not enough water disturbs the sodium balance.

Back to sugars ... if nothing else, they make you crave unhealthy food choices. Diet soda's are low in calories but high in 'sugar impersonators' - hence you don't get enough calories (energy). If you have a sweet tooth, fruit is a better substitute.

To answer your question in summary ... CALORIE COUNT IS KING for weight (fat) loss.

monst76

Thank you everyone that was very helpful. I really never have been a cooker of healthy food before, my wife works late and most night's I'm running to soccer, baseball or tutoring with the kids. I liked the idea of cooking a big pot of soup on Sunday for the week and will probably do that for the week coming up. Thanks everyone for the support and good suggesting you guys are help to save my life, so thank you.

trhops

2 weeks ago I went to clean eating and watching my sodium. I wasn't losing and cut out the processed and the first week I was down 3.2 pounds, but the 2nd week up 2 ozs. Before I started the clean eating I was eating alot of processed foods and just didnt realize it was bad. I thought I was good watching calories, but this site has taught me alot in last 2 weeks. Although my last week was disappointing I know I was good and kept out alot of processed (had protein bars/shakes).

You are doing good. You have made the commitment to make a change in your life and that is incredible! Keep it up!

junyr

Not really sure what I can do to change my diet any further or if I should just stick with whats been working so far.

Really? You can't figure out what you could do to cut your sodium? You eat Dunkin Donuts, Olive Garden, high-sodium turkey-and-cheese wraps, and canned soup every single day.

I eat junk food almost daily, i lost over 100lbs, so what's your point?!?!?!

Sodium isn't bad, it's just misunderstood. Remember when Fat, and carbs were bad?

Sodium helps maintain electrolyte balance in the body, it's very beneficial and important. I do consume higher levels of sodium on purpose for this reason.

Your body only NEEDS 500mg of sodium a day to maintain correct body function...

jen0731

I have found that sparkpeople.com has some really great articles to educate yourself. Me personally have to watch my sodium intake and calories. Definitely change one thing at a time so you aren't so overwhelmed. It's hard for me to stick with something when I feel like everything changes all at once. Good luck!

StatutoryGrape

I watch both, since I tend to retain water very easily and I have a family history of high blood pressure and other heart problems. But I don't stress if I go over on sodium some days--I just drink a ton of water to flush it out and try harder the next day. I always stay under on calories, though.

rochelly_belly

Calories are more important by far! Just make sure to drink lots of water to flush that sodium. You are doing great. You have started making small changes that have made a big difference for you. Just keep going one step at a time. Try cutting out a trip for fast food once a day at first and then go from there. Try making your own yummy breakfast sandwhich at home. Ignore the haters and the criticism. If what is working for you is working for you then keep on going! Good luck.

This!!! A small change here and there and you will be eating more balanced in no time. You are doing great, keep it up.

scubahsteve69

Really? You can't figure out what you could do to cut your sodium? You eat Dunkin Donuts, Olive Garden, high-sodium turkey-and-cheese wraps, and canned soup every single day.


Fine:

Instead of going to Dunkin Donuts every day, try eating some cereal or scrambled eggs.

Instead of eating canned soup every day, try making some from scratch.

Instead of eating processed food, try cooking.

Hmmm...for responses such as yours ElizabethRoad, you must be perfect. Other than the rudeness, insensitivity, lack of grace or refinement, ill mannered, discourteous & overall lack of good manners, that is.

Monst - Obviously calorie deficits are important for weight loss, but keep an eye on the sodium as well. Given your desire to cut the pounds and start exercising, there is already going to be strains on the heart. High sodium is a factor in high BP, so now that you're putting strain on the heart with exercise, a BP count isn't good. Please, have your BP checked before getting too rowdy with working out.