Need some education/tips on how to reduce sodium intake

TimothyPhoenix

On February 3rd I weighed 308 pounds. Month one I lost 20 pounds, month two 15 pounds, and month three 13 pounds. I am about to finish up month four when I weigh in tomorrow and I am shaping to only lose about 6 or 7 pounds this month. I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep losing weight and such a rapid pace and that my body would adjust. I also realize I am still losing weight, getting healthier, reducing stress, etc. Most importantly I realize that in just four months I have gone from 308 pounds to around 250 pounds. That being said, I am working so damn hard right now and the lower weight loss numbers are getting me down.

I did a lot of reading this week on plateaus and asked for some advice as well. So I learned that I have NOT hit a plateau as that is when you cant lose any weight at all for about 2-4 weeks or more. That being said, I am examining everything possible to try to tighten things up and at least lose 3 pounds per week / 12 pounds per month. Pretty much everything I read about about plateaus and breaking through pointed towards lowering sodium intake.

I have tracked my sodium intake the last two days and I was astonished how easily I surpass the 2,500 mg mark that MFP has set for me. I simply do not have the time, money, or skills to prepare fresh foods more than maybe once a day. I am only eating healthy choice/lean cuisine/smart one meals once a day typically. However, I find it damn near impossible to make healtheir choices with calories and fat, without getting high amounts of sodium. For example, I go with kraft singles 2% cheese over fresh deli sliced cheese because it's about half the calories and fat, but the sodium is way high. I eat morning star farms burger and chik patties over real hamburger meat and chicken patties for the same reason, and again I get high amounts of sodium from them. I do eat a fresh salad almost every single day but that is only one meal.

So, a few questions:

Could too much sodium intake be causing me to lose less weight or appear to be losing less weight by retaining water, eventhough I only weight myself ever 1-2 weeks?

Besides causing a person to retain water, what negative impacts do too much sodium have on the body? Does it directly cause fat/weight gain like fat grams, calories, and carbs?

If anyone else has encoutnered something similar, or has good tips to limit sodium intake without spending a billion dollars at the store and/or taking a ton of time to prepare fresh foods all of the time, please share your tips with me.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for any feedback, tips, etc.

Boss_Man_J

I had to limit my sodium due to blood pressure issues. The best thing I can tell you is sodium is in pretty much everything that is processed. Fresh fruit and veggies are your best bet.

bradphil87

Yes sodium can't "mask" your weightloss by adding water weight and bloating you. My biggest tip I can give you (as someone who tries to control their sodium too because I want to get my blood pressure down.) is to treat it just like cals. To me it is just as important! Because I am borderline hipertenstive. Processed foods have an outrageous amount of it! The only advise I really would give you is to eat cleaner. Opt for more Whole foods whenever possible. I love shipping at the farmers market and getting great fresh foods

Pandorian

You already know your answer as you put it in your post yourself... skip the prepared foods... lean cuisines and the like are "haha marketing" sure they're "great" pre-portioned meals but WHAM goes your sodium level from most of that stuff.

You don't have time to cook all the time but what about taking a couple hours one day a week? Boil a dozen eggs for the week... make a big batch of pasta at home, put the oven on to bake some chicken breasts, bake / fry some other meat while the oven is on... like put your chicken on for 30 minutes... fish can go in for the last 10 minutes for a lot of it and be ready... steam the pasta then you don't have to drain the water from it and can steam some veggies / shrimp using the same water..

When I'm at home I enjoy cooking ahead, 2 dozen lasagna cupcakes... they freeze great (recipe I use is from the recipe forum here) and if Lean cuisine can freeze pasta for 6 months so can I for a week or two at a time.

If you get pre-made convenient, ready to eat portions you're going to get a lot of salt... maybe look for a different brand of cheese to cut back on the salt?

TrainingWithTonya

From a weight loss perspective, I wouldn't worry as much about sodium because it is only going to effect water weight and not fat weight. The scale may not move as fast because of retaining some water, but it isn't going to effect your actual body fat losses. However, excessive sodium can cause issues with high blood pressure and increase the risk of stroke and heart disease. If you are already hypertensive or have a high family history of high blood pressure, stroke, or heart disease, then I'd focus on cutting sodium. If you have problems with low blood pressure, then sodium can actually be beneficial for helping get the blood pressure up to normal to prevent passing out.

If you decide you need to cut your sodium, the best recommendation I can give is to look at the mg of sodium on the package and compare it to the calories. Anything with sodium mg greater then calories per serving, avoid. If you eat most of your foods with sodium mg lower then calories per serving, then you will get your sodium intake down to recommended levels.

Oh, and the recommended level of 2500 mg is for the average person. Someone with heart disease, stroke history, high blood pressure, etc. is actually limited to 1500 mg. The minimum intake should be 500 mg, though, because sodium is also required for muscle contraction (including heart muscle contractions--you know so it will beat) so you can't go completely sodium free.

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16 years Certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor
9 years Certified Sports Nutritionist
Bachelors in Exercise Physiology with a Minor in Nutritional Science
ACSM Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist
NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

TrailRunner61

I have high blood pressure myself and my Dr said not to have over 1500mg per day. I've found that the only way I can do that is to basically prepare ALL of my meals. Anything that's labeled 'diet' is usually packed with sodium. Even Applebees 'under 500 calorie' dinners have up to 3,000 mg per serving! Most frozen dinners are the same way.

_whatsherface

Sodium is good and bad for your body. I've done a lot of research on this myself because for awhile I thought I had high blood pressure. A good amount of sodium is neccesary for your body to function. When you exceed sodium intake your body absorbs your water and puts it into your blood stream to flush out the sodium. It's extremely hard to not go over your sodium intake. I think if you have HBP you need to eat 2,000g and 2500g is what they recommend. What you can do to help is up your potassium!! That's really good for you if you're taking in more sodium than you want too. Also, anything canned or pre-packaged is usually extremely high in sodium. I stay away from ANYTHING and EVERYTHING canned. I will get frozen fruit, or frozen veggies. Sandwich meat is crazy high in sodium, so I stay away from that. All you can do really if you're on a tight budget is just watch your sodium. If you notice how much sodium you were eating before you started to change your life, and then now, it's a HUGE difference, and your body will thank you. See, everybody is more concerned about calories, fat blah blah blah. Sodium is the silent killer. Just look at labels and serving sizes and make the best choice for YOU!

Pandorian

Jumping back in with the last post... I will choose full-fat versions of condiments such as miracle whip / mayo even salad dressings etc as to make it still tasty sodium can be used... such as "miracle whip reduced fat" 120mg of sodium per teaspoon... while the original full fat version is 90mg per tablespoon ... or I can have twice as much of the full fat version and get less than half the sodium... so yes "diet" foods often have lots of salt ... to make them palatable

wftiger

http://www.livestrong.com/article/440478-side-effects-of-high-sodium/

Too much sodium causes many issues whether you have HBP or not. One of the high risk groups are overweight/obese people. HBP can cause heart attack or stroke and damages many organs including kidneys and eyes.

Prepare everything yourself is the best way to cut down.

Foods to watch --
Canned anything (unless it says no salt added) -- some studies show that you can reduce sodium on canned veggies and tuna by rinsing in cold water for 2 minutes prior to using. Can't remember where I found that but you can Google to find it.
Frozen prepared meals
Fast food (or any restaurant foods)
Cheeses
Breads
Condiments (Mayo, ketchup, pickles, etc. although some are now available as reduced sodium)
Salad Dressings
Deli meats (any lunch meat)
Snack foods (chips, nuts, jerky) -- Buy only unsalted or low salted nuts
IQF meats (usually the quick freeze process involves dipping in salt solution before the freeze)
Low fat items (they either replace the fat with sugar or salt)

TimothyPhoenix

Thanks for the advice and tips everyone.

I guess I just need to bite the bullet and add sodium to list of Calories, Fat, and Carbs that I need to watch. I've got the other three down already so what's another thing to watch at this point.

Today is screwed though, two damn meals and I am already at about 2,000 for Sodium.

This whole being fat weight loss game is so frustrating. Why can't it just be easy.

wftiger

Sodium is good and bad for your body. I've done a lot of research on this myself because for awhile I thought I had high blood pressure. A good amount of sodium is neccesary for your body to function. When you exceed sodium intake your body absorbs your water and puts it into your blood stream to flush out the sodium. It's extremely hard to not go over your sodium intake. I think if you have HBP you need to eat 2,000g and 2500g is what they recommend.

NO. A good amount is NOT needed. 180 mg per day is it according to the American Heart Association. http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/publications/dietaryguidelines/2010/meeting2/commentattachments/aha-220e.pdf

Their recommendation for 1,500 is to replace the sodium lost through sweat AND to ensure a person is getting adequate nutrients from the foods that naturally have sodium. And 2,300 mg is for someone without HBP or not in a high risk group. Those with are less than 1,500 mg.

TimothyPhoenix

For lunch today I had:

*Arnold's whole wheat sandwich thin
*Morning star farms Chik Patty
*One slice of Kraft pepperjack 2% single
*One serving of miracle whip
*One serving of honey mustard
*Small amount of chopped onion

I had this and a 16 oz bottle of water which is enough food, but isn't a lot either. I eat a meal like this for lunch a few times a week because it's delicious and it's only in the 350 calorie range, 15 fat grams, carbs aren't too bad, and it's high in protein. Then I noticed today (second day I am tracking sodium) that that little *kitten* meal had 1,200 mgs of sodium. Totally blew my mind.

carld256

I feel your pain. I've always been a real salt-aholic. I no longer salt anything, and don't use salt in cooking, and I still end up with too much sodium some days. As others say, it's all about getting processed food out of your diet. I just wish I was a better cook.