Sodium vs Fat-free

andrederosier

Hi everyone,

First off I would like to give a tiny bit of history. I weighed 228 lbs a couple years ago and tried to eat healthier. My new diet wasn't the greatest but I added healthier items and lost over 20 lbs. For the last 4 months I hit a plateau and was stuck between 205-208 lbs. I had to switch something up and a friend was using MFP so figured give it a shot. I saw BodyMedia worked with MFP and got that too about same time. I track my food on MFP and use BodyMedia armband to track my activity and calorie deficit. I have been doing this little over 3 weeks now with a goal of 1000 calorie deficit. I am finding my sodium intake from low-calorie fat free items I was eating before was killing me on scale. The sodium is causing too much water retension and now have to find a balance. My choice is more along line of fat-free cheese at 30 calories/320mg sodium vs. low fat swiss at 80 calories/30mg of sodium.

Do I go for more calories or pack in more salt? I'm from Wisconsin and I don't think I can give up cheese entirely. This also appeared in salad dressing choices. Lean chicken I found out during tracking 3 weeks ago injected with 15% salt water for 320 mg of sodium per portion. Used calculator on Subway to find out those healthy Oven Roasted Chicken subs I opted for when I had to eat on the run had 330 mg of sodium in their 2.5 oz chicken breast.

I know a calorie is a calorie and there has been 3 or 4 times over this past 3 weeks that my calorie deficit was in the 900's and i missed my 1000 goal. I can't speak for everyone but I am finding out that my 'diet' before was too focused on calories and I lost sight of nutrients both good and bad. Before MFP I didn't realize just how much junk was in my 'healthy' fat-free choices. I am now trying to find balance in calories along with over all nutrition. I ate more vegetables but they came from a can and I didn't realize they had 400mg of sodium per serving for some peas vs 0mg frozen peas.

Through tracking I found out my previous choices were nice in the fat department and I rarely go over except on cheat occasions when i go out for a steak or something. My usual day has about 20-30g of fat still available according to MFP. So my biggest problem now is finding out how to strike the right balance of worrying about calories and fat and dealing with the increase of sodium from fat-free items. Anyone else dealing with this and any insight into solutions you found?

now_or_never13

What about switching out fat free items? You need fat in your diet. It does a lot of things for you. I would rather go over my fat and have less sodium.

andrederosier

I have been switching out the fat-free items now. Guess so much hearing fat is bad had me blinded to cutting out as much fat as possible. Never really paid attention to sodium or much else on labels until tracking on MFP recently. Now if I miss my goal by a tiny bit I think if I had that fat free item instead of a low sodium version I could have hit it. I know it is weird because hitting 950 calorie deficit should be great but I think "Dang it so close". I am still happy with it since switching over to things has gotten my sodium intake lower and I broke the 205 barrier and closing in on 100s. Yeah I have been dealing with the extra calories now and more worried about sodium. Having hard time finding items that are fat-free without more sodium the regular versions.

Docmahi

Sounds like a situation that I was in - plateau was around 210 or so for a few months, I just used low carb to break the plateau and changed up my exercise routine.

but to the question on point - I usually hit around 4500mg of sodium a day but i drink probably somewhere around a gallon and a half of water a day and I have no noticed that much bloating at all (I used to be a stickler for under 2500 daily). Also man those fat-free items scare me cause sometimes they are packed with sugar (IE fat free yogurt) - that being said I dont think all fat free products are a bad thing, a lot of them aren't packed with sugar for compensation (Fat free kraft cheddar cheese = my friend)

Personally for me I like to just do a diet change for a few weeks when I hit a plateau

I know that was kinda off point sorry :P

mumtoonegirl

I do not do fat free, to me that reads chemical hell.

marsellient

It sounds like you are starting to be a good label reader. You might want to check the ingredient list on some of those fat-free products and find out what else is in there. Personally, I'd rather spend a few calories than eat a lot of additives. Some people will tell you it doesn't matter. Staying away from processed foods will help keep the sodium lower. Restaurants are a challenge, though.

andrederosier

Thanks, you know I have never been allergic to anything so checking contents usually doesn't occur to me. I am curious now what kind of chemicals are in some of the stuff. I did look into a sodium detox and nothing seemed to agree with anything else. Had drinking water anywhere from 100 oz to 150 ozs to an oz per lb of weight. To me 205 ozs seems like a lot.