Does anyone track their salt intake?

kimiec

Yesterday I got on the scale and I had lost over 3 lbs and this morning I got on the scale again and had over night gained over 2lbs. Well I was like how in the heck did I gain that much over night so I though about it and could only come up with one thing, SALT. So I went to my settings and I am now tracking my soidum intake. But I also went back to my tracked food from yesterday and what do I see my soidum was way out there I am a busy person so alot of my food is either mircowave or out of a can so its no wonder my weight was up over 2lbs in one day. I am going to try and eat less of this stuff since I know its not good for me but sometimes finding the time to cook is hard but I also know I can do it. Why do losing weight have to be so hard? Plus getting older sucks because you lose weight so darn slow. Oh well I want to be heathy and look better so time to get off my soap box and just do it.

athensguy

I am tracking my sodium intake. Any time I eat out, eat red meat, or eat a large frozen dinner (I can usually get by with a small one like a Meals for Life), I end up over my sodium goal. I have my goal set to 2300.

7funnygirl7

I just added sodium intake on my diary today and WOW!!! was I shocked to see how much I was intaking.....YIKES! No wonder I was always thirsty....LOL.

KickassAugust

I track mine too. I am surprised when I see someone trying to lose weight who doesn't!

Wow that athensguy is good looking... had to edit for that...!

boobee32

YES!! You would be surprised how much sodium is in everything, and how much you actually consume without adding additional salt. It DOES make a difference in whether you retrain.

sllm1

Yep - definitely tracking sodium. Anytime I eat out, it is too high!

SassyCalyGirl

yes I track my sodium-protein-fat and fiber.

AnneGenevieveS

I don't care about salt at all!!

calories and a moderation in all things

ValHallaGirl

I track mine, It helps a lot. ^.^

Purple_Orchid_87

i track mine - my diary is open )

warnerl1

I track my sodium because I have kidney stones and that is one of my big causes. My boyfriend graduated with a Personal Training degree and in his classes they teach that sodium is the number one thing that people eat too much of. It is in everything and it is almost impossible to be under your goal consistently everyday. A good way to counter balance that is to obviously drink more water. I believe that the daily amount of water that we are supposed to drink keeps increasing because of how much salt we eat. Unfortunately I love salt lol Probably a big reason I started getting kidney stones in the first place!

Annaflower

Sodium is evil! :devil:

Has to be tracked it makes a massive difference to water retention.

Loves418

I track mine because I notice when I go high first my blood pressure goes up and second I gain a lot of weight that is all bloating. I try very hard to stay under and drink a lot of water.

ensoleille

Make extra portions of food and freeze them then you can just reheat them in the microwave when you don't have much time.

Teksavvy

I track salt to be healthy, not to lose weight. I need that "reminder" that prepared foods often are filling up my body with salt, even if it doesn't taste "salty". On those days I make sure to drink more than the 8 suggested glasses of water a day and try to refrain from having the items in the first place.

viclee1

what about if you continously eat a fair amount of salt, would you be less affected by the fluctation? you should still see loss no?

tvl0308

I track mine, cause if i don't, I am in big trouble to gain. I was surprised when i put in celery and that has sodium in it. I try to stay away from the canned stuff and the frozen meals. They have a lot of sodium in them. I use frozen veggies or fresh.

alise_lmx

I track mine as well. It was shocking to me how much I ate. I had NO idea. My blood pressure is just a little higher than normal, so I am trying to nip that in the bud before it becomes a problem, so I try to stay under 1500mg of sodium instead of the regular 2500, and OMG that was so hard at first! I really thought it was impossible. I gave up about a million times.

My advice would be to slowly start replacing canned/processed food with fresh. It's not always possible, but if you start with one thing at a time, it won't be as overwhelming. I used to use a lot of canned vegetables in recipes, now I pretty much always use fresh except for canned beans (which I buy low sodium). I just try to eat mainly fresh stuff, stay around the perimeter of the grocery store and all that boring stuff

It's hard but you can do it! baby steps...

BarbWhite09

I always track my sodium intake.

milaxx

I've had issues in the past with swollen feet & ankles. Since I joined MFP & changed my eating habits this hasn't been an issue, still I am borderline for high blood pressure so after speaking with my doctor I manually changed mine to 2200. I agree losing weight when you are over 40 is challenging. The best advice I can offer anyone is to plan.

Today I will go shopping and tomorrow evening is food prep. I'm ovo-lacto vegetarian so for me this means I boil half a dozen eggs, cut up fruit and veg for grab and go eating. make a pot of beans and a pot of whatever grain I will use. During the week I just mix and match to make quick easy meals in under 15 mins. No microwave or heavily processed food for me. My meat eating friends do a similar thing but also cook up a batch of ground chuck and/or bake or roast chicken/turkey. When you make it yourself, you control the additives and sodium.

beskimoosh

I track mine constantly, even if I'm having a little bit of a cheat day! I don't react well to high sodium, makes me bloat and retain water like mad, then I get down because I feel horrible!

MMarvelous

Yes I track my sodium intake. Any frozen meals or canned foods are HIGH in sodium!!!!!!! Some canned food items you can rinse under water to remove some of the salt. Others you are stuck w/ all the salt. I would recommend taking one day a week and cooking 3-4 meals. I do this and it makes my week go better. I will make meatloaf, a soup w/ chicken breast, baked fish and baked chicken. Saves me time and I only have to clean my kitchen once a week LOL

delilah47

I track my sodium. I have lowered my daily limit twice in an effort to get to <2000mg. I used to put salt on, literally, everything! Now when I look at labels and see how much sodium processed foods have, I cook nearly all of my meals. Sometimes, I do have an entree for lunch or dinner, but not nearly as much as I used to. I think big business is trying to kill us off. When our governement can tell people when and where they can smoke or drink and put "sin tax" on things THEY feel are not good for us, maybe they should direct some attention on the processed foods we eat. Of course, the more salt a company puts in their products, the better they taste to us, so it's our fault as well. It's really bad when they put so much salt in something they have to add a bunch of sugar to tame it down making it double jeopardy. :huh:

TrailRunner61

I track mine because I have high blood pressure. When I first saw the Dr. she said to not have more than 1500 per day and now that is recommended for everyone. It used to be 2500, I think.
The worst offenders in the grocery store are canned food. Soup is crazy high in sodium. So are most pizzas, pizza sauce, soy sauce, salsas, frozen packaged foods and snacks. I pretty much have to avoid all of the center aisles in the grocery store unless I buy low sodium canned vegetables. I prefer fresh or frozen if I can use them instead.
Restaurant food is insane. Even the so-called healthy, under 550 calories meals at Applebees have nearly 3,000!!!! I try to make sure that I check menus before I leave, or use my iphone to pick something healthier. MFP's database has a lot of restaurant foods.
Also, make sure that if you do go over on sodium, drink a lot of extra water that day and the following. It helps to flush it out quicker.
Check labels! Good luck to you and remember if you screw up and have too much one day, you will do better next time.

DterMined2012

I track my sodium and it is ridiculous!! I just can't help it...I eat a lot of processed foods and they are loaded in sodium!! I try not to exceed an additional 1000 mgs per day but that is difficult too. I do drink lots of water to flush it out...old adage is where water goes salt follows...I just do the best I can. Good luck to you!

Tbowman30

Hello!! I first started my life change eating mostly weight watchers foods but counting calories.... one day i finally looked at the sodium on a can of progresso soup...it was out of this world!!!!! whole can only 140 calories but 1720mg of sodium......i instantly stopped eating it!! sodium does hold alot of water weight on you. since ive been watching my sodium and counting calories ive noticed a big difference!!!!!!

NoAdditives

Yep. Sugar too.

vjrose

I track mine, doc has me on 1500 so MFP has been a godsend.

Tonnina

I'm tracking my sodium. I have it set to 2000 because I was hypertensive once and I never want to be again!

DterMined2012

I've had issues in the past with swollen feet & ankles. Since I joined MFP & changed my eating habits this hasn't been an issue, still I am borderline for high blood pressure so after speaking with my doctor I manually changed mine to 2200. I agree losing weight when you are over 40 is challenging. The best advice I can offer anyone is to plan.

Today I will go shopping and tomorrow evening is food prep. I'm ovo-lacto vegetarian so for me this means I boil half a dozen eggs, cut up fruit and veg for grab and go eating. make a pot of beans and a pot of whatever grain I will use. During the week I just mix and match to make quick easy meals in under 15 mins. No microwave or heavily processed food for me. My meat eating friends do a similar thing but also cook up a batch of ground chuck and/or bake or roast chicken/turkey. When you make it yourself, you control the additives and sodium.

lot of work but I am gonna try to do this as well...thanks for the post

snookumss

Since I started focusing on sodium levels, my weight has stopped bouncing around like it used to