Does anyone track their salt intake?

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  • ampa916
    ampa916 Posts: 189 Member
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    I track my sodium intake because I have higher blood pressure, I try to get lower sodium everything that is available.
  • Stacyanne324
    Stacyanne324 Posts: 780 Member
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    I have it as something I track but I haven't really changed my diet to this point to bring it down. It definitely opened my eyes to the amount I consume though.
  • bllowry
    bllowry Posts: 239 Member
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    I track it as I was diabetic and had high blood pressure. I do use small amounts to cook some things, but mostly I use the herbs I keep growing on my windowsill. I also make my own stocks and broths and buy very little prepared foods to cut down on the amount we eat.
  • loki3981
    loki3981 Posts: 249 Member
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    I track sodium, fat, protein, fiber, and carbs. Sodium had been killing me before I started really looking at it. We try to not purchase anything with sodium over 400g a serving. It helps immensely.
  • tania2287
    tania2287 Posts: 236 Member
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    I track my salt and sugar...I have always tracked the salt in the food that l eat and have not gone over..Sugar too is a big one as to much sugar will make you put on fat. So l watch the sugar intake too.
  • velvetkat
    velvetkat Posts: 454 Member
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    I track my sodium and try to keep my intake below 1000mg a day. I am usually pretty dang close... I dont eat processed foods as we cook all our own meals. The sodium in things is outrageous and you dont need it. I was borderline high blood pressure but i really like that I no longer have any water weight gain from eating so much sodium and I dont have ankles or fingers that are swelled up.. I feel so much better.

    I wanted to make a casserole with mushroom soup but didnt want to use the canned soup because of the sodium so I found a recipe to make homemade.. tastes so much better anyway and wasnt that much work!
  • fearlessbetz
    fearlessbetz Posts: 97 Member
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    Alright, I had high blood pressure last time I was at the doctor (49 lbs. ago) and he told me to watch my sodium! The nutritionist asked me to try to keep it around 2000 mg. per day. Pretty hard sometimes, but it keeps me looking for no salt added, or low sodium lines of prepared or canned items. I'm looking forward to showing my progress and hopefully a lower blood pressure.
  • bellevie23
    bellevie23 Posts: 208 Member
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    Yep, i track it, prob the one thing I focus on the most. I eat whatever I want in moderation, however focusing on sodium has helped me tweak what is really not worth it and how often I should eat it compared to foods I enjoy that are low in sodium.
  • 25sherry
    25sherry Posts: 59 Member
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    You are definitely right about the weight coming off slower the older we get. I'm 45 and every ounce I can get off feels like a victory. I have always loved sweets AND salt. I don't monitor my sodium, but just concentrate on fat and calories. I've been on the site for 10 days and lost nearly 2 pounds so far, thanks to support and encouragement from everyone!
  • maf66
    maf66 Posts: 211 Member
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    I don't track salt, but I do fiber and sugar. On the other hand I don't eat any processes/packaged foods and the only canned goods in the house are tomatoes and beans. Occasionally I will use iodized sea salt, but not on many things.

    You do have me curious though, as to how much natural sodium is in foods, might try tracking just to see!
  • MelissaL582
    MelissaL582 Posts: 1,422 Member
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    Sodium plays a big role and it's a pain to watch. Drinking lots of water and veggies like cucumbers will help it also. What you can also do is cook meals big and freeze the leftovers, this way you aren't stuck buying processed foods that's high in sodium. With you also watching your sodium now, your grocery time will double. Lol! Good luck to you!
  • wisebadger53
    wisebadger53 Posts: 382 Member
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    I lowered my goal for sodium to 1500 mg/day. It seems pretty low, but if you are really paying attention it is not hard to stay below that. At least when I go over now I know to make up for it the next day. Good luck - this is one that takes some work!
  • FitLink
    FitLink Posts: 1,317 Member
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    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.

    There might be some merit to tracking sodium if you had signs that you had some problems with retention, but as a general rule, I don't sweat sodium. The reason I don't weight daily, and certainly not before bed and as soon as I get up is that weight fluctuates. If I weigh on my way to the restroom, and again after I pee, there is always at least a pound difference. If I weighed daily and graphed it, the graph would trend downward, but would jump up and down daily.

    Maybe try to think in terms of just health. Weight loss may be slow, but health improvement comes LONG before you reach your goal. It's not about the endpoint, it's about the journey.
  • FitLink
    FitLink Posts: 1,317 Member
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    I lowered my goal for sodium to 1500 mg/day. It seems pretty low, but if you are really paying attention it is not hard to stay below that. At least when I go over now I know to make up for it the next day. Good luck - this is one that takes some work!

    Off topic, I know, but is that you on the bike? Awesome! I'd wet my pants if I leaned that far over that close to the shoulder! And awesome shot! Who took the picture?
  • JBsCrazyGirl
    JBsCrazyGirl Posts: 337
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    I am convinced :)
    starting to track my sodium today!
    Good Luck to you! :)
  • kaetra
    kaetra Posts: 442 Member
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    I'm having a hard time digesting that "they" are saying 1500 per day should be the normal now. I'm wondering who "they" is - hehe, not that I don't believe it, it just seems pretty extreme to me. 1500 would be very limiting to anyone's diet - especially in America. Not impossible, of course, but it sure would majorly reduce a TON of foods dang near right out of the average diet. Potentially things like dairy, bread, meat and even celery!

    The Cleveland Clinic still recommends people with heart conditions keep their sodium under 2000 and that more severe heart conditions should aim for 1500 or less per day. That I can understand.

    I personally follow the 2500 guideline because my doctor told me that 2500 a day is absolutely fine. It's already pretty easy to go over 2500, so I don't make things any harder on myself or more variety-limited than they need to be.
  • chicpeach
    chicpeach Posts: 302 Member
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    As soon as I figured out how to change the settings on my food diary, I began to monitor my sodium and it was an eye opener. Even raw, whole, natural foods contain sodium. Went to the mayo clinic sight and they recommend that if you're over 50 and/or have high blood pressure, you limit you sodium to 1500 a day - which is 1000 less than what MFP gives you. I changed my daily allowance to 1500 and it is ridiculously hard to stick to it. Basically, there's no room from preprocessed anything beyond my morning cereal.

    The advantage tho, is that by lowering my sodium intake and drinking lots of water this week, I cleared the sodium back up in my system. I noticed a decided reduction in bloat and can't wait for Monday - my weigh in day. I expect I will see a happy number on the scale.
  • alyson820
    alyson820 Posts: 448 Member
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    I'm just starting to. I'm on a high sodium diet and need to eat around 4000 mg a day, but now that I'm tracking it, I see that I'm usually eating about 800-1000mg. So bring on the salt pills... and water retention :(
  • SoozeE512
    SoozeE512 Posts: 439 Member
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    I check my salt every now and again, it says not to get more than 2,500 for me but I try to keep it under 2,000 as often as possible. Canned foods and frozen meals are definitely the worst. If you're eating canned veggies, switch to fresh and when you have time, chop them up and keep them chopped up in containers so they'll be easy to grab at when you don't have time. Most veggies don't need much preparation, you could even stick those in the microwave if you want but at least they won't be loaded with added salts if you've bought them fresh.

    Also, cut down on toppings like salad dressing and spaghetti sauce - those are loaded with salt too and the servings sizes are usually really small (2 tbsps). Even for those I try to cut down to 1 tbsp when I can.

    Meats are usually loaded with salt too but that's pretty unavoidable unless you're a vegetarian so then you just have to be careful with portion sizes. For a quick meat fix, I like Applegate Farms Chicken Patties. The number for sodium in 1 patty is 210 but at least it's already portioned out and it's microwavable.

    In about 5 minutes, you could microwave and cut up 1 chicken patty and toss it over a couple of cups of some fresh chopped lettuce and a few cherry tomatoes, put a tbsp or two of olive oil over it, and you have a low sodium meal!

    But if you still find that you're going over in your salts for the entire day, drink more than just the recommended 8 cups of water a day to try to flush some of the extra salts out!
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    I'm having a hard time digesting that "they" are saying 1500 per day should be the normal now. I'm wondering who "they" is - hehe, not that I don't believe it, it just seems pretty extreme to me. 1500 would be very limiting to anyone's diet - especially in America. ......

    How about Health Canada: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/sodium/index-eng.php

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