Do you watch your sodium?

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Jennwith2ns
Jennwith2ns Posts: 296 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am tracking it just to see how much I consume.. too much! I am 1,000 over for the daily amount today. And 500 of that is from one little container of dill pickles.. yikes! I thought they were good because they have no calories or carbs or anything.. but 500 mg of sodium is so not worth it!

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  • Christie422
    Christie422 Posts: 120 Member
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    I try to be very careful with the sodium. I've always been one to retain water, if I eat too much sodium the next day I wake up and my fingers look like sausages! I really try to not add any salt in my cooking, instead I use a lot of no salt seasonings. If you like pickles, I think they are pretty easy to make...you could just cut way back on the salt. I make my own taco and chili seasonings too, very simple and I can control the amount of sodium.
  • pbenison
    pbenison Posts: 102
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    I honestly thought I was doing a good thing by drinking diet soda. I have since found out how much sodium they have and cut them out completely. The same thing with processed foods. I love those Tyson steak fingers and was eating a serving (only 2) at a time, but was floored when I saw the sodium. I feel your pickle pain...I was going to add a pickle spear with my tuna on wheat this week until I saw the sodium. It is really a challenge not to go over. Those canned foods are bad too. I am committed now to using as much frozen and fresh vegtables as I can. I also am going to make frequent stops at my local farmer's market.

    Good luck in 2010!
  • barbiecat
    barbiecat Posts: 16,984 Member
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    :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: Thanks to MFP I learned a lot about watching and controlling sodium.......I no longer drink diet soda and I eliminated canned, packaged, and processed foods. The only time I go over 1500 mg of sodium is from an occasional meal out at an Asian restaurant.

    sodium in moderation is essential but not in the amounts most people consume.
  • BroiledNotFried
    BroiledNotFried Posts: 446 Member
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    I watch my iodized salt intake, to make sure I am getting enough when I reduce my calories.

    See, as soon as I diet, I cut out the pretzels, chips, french fries, don't eat out much, etc. I prepare as much as I can from scratch. I even limit my bread to one or two slices a day of whole wheat.

    Because I am in my 40's and my friends seem to have "hypothyroid", I know that iodine deficiency can be a cause of hypothyroid. Low thyroid = sluggish, hair falls out, can't lose weight, less calories, low metabolism, etc. I also know that iodine must be replenished. Your body does not store it.

    That being said, I LOVE pickles and olives. I really don't eat pickles on a diet. Unless, I put a pickle chip on a hamburger/soyburder. But, I do put 4 olives in my salad. Then, life is good.

    If I wasn't on a diet, I actually love to drink the pickle juice. And, I can eat a whole jar of olives in one sitting. Green or black, it don't discriminate.

    What I really like is that "tang" of the pickle. So, I learned to replace the "pickle fix" with a glass of club soda/Pelligrino/or water splashed with either 100% pure cranberry OR grapefruit juice.

    Have you checked your blood pressure? Too much salt can cause it to rise. And, if you are exercising..you really don't want this.
  • C21x
    C21x Posts: 22 Member
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    The scary part is fast food and or eating out...I track mine and usually I do good unless I go out and then bam in one meal I will have 1. 5 times the daily amount. Try eating more potassium then sodium not easy to do. But much better for you
  • Hopey1994
    Hopey1994 Posts: 307
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    pickles= yuck! Sorry, I hate those things.

    Anyway, I don't track my sodium, but I definitely watch closely to the amounts that I consume. I try not to eat many processed foods, and those tend to be high in sodium. So cutting out that food type really helps in salt consumption. Have you ever tried Mrs. Dash seasonings? They're all salt free and are SO good!!
  • Iceprincessk25
    Iceprincessk25 Posts: 1,888 Member
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    I'm always over on my sodium! It's amazing how much salt is in everything!

    We used to make our hockey players drink pickle juice when they were cramping in the middle of a game. :tongue:

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