Cut back on your sodium...It worked!!

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tville23682
tville23682 Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
I know, we all know, sodium is BAD for us when in excess. Well I was getting SOOO frustrated with my weight loss. Here is some history:

I started working out consistently (4-5 days a week) 40-50 minutes at a time and watching calories about 2 months ago. I am 5'6" and was 135 lbs. Yes, a healthy BMI but I really want to get back to 125-127 where I was pre pregnancy. I had only lost 1-2 lbs in 8 weeks after doing everything right :(

My calories were always where they needed to be (even NET calories at least 1200/day) Everything was where it needed to be and I could NOT drop the weight. WELL, I started going back over my food diary and the only thing consistently over was my sodium. I read on Jillian Michaels website to drop your sodium to 1500 mg/day and up your water.

I did exactly this and increased my water to 10 glasses/day. I did this for 2 days and weighed in this morning. I dropped down to 130.4 lbs in 2 days (almost 4 lbs). It was ALL water weight I was carrying even though I had been drinking my water consistently the sodium was keeping it in my body!!!

SOOOOOO...long story short, if you want to drop those last 4-5 lbs, try cutting your sodium back to 1500mg/day and up your water intake. IT WORKS!!!

Replies

  • merB89
    merB89 Posts: 122
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    hmmm very interesting! Thanks for sharing!
  • LadyT02182011
    LadyT02182011 Posts: 113
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    I try to stress to people as well that it's all in the sodium as well as calories, etc. The SODIUM is the silent culprit, which people just don't pay attention to. I try to maintain 1500mg per day as well. Some days I may go over a little but it's always under the recommended daily limit (not even trying to do the allotted 2500mg). I actually have grown accustomed to eating my food without all of the added sodium and find that when or if I eat out (very rare), the food is extremely salty. Great post and great accomplishment!
  • Walt75
    Walt75 Posts: 182 Member
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    This is very true!! I used to actually swell up from all the sodium in my diet and when I cut it I literally "unbloated". Incidentally, sodium is not the same as table salt. What I would do is buy unsalted and sprinkle a little table salt or "no salt" if need be.
  • peggyalex
    peggyalex Posts: 174 Member
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    Im going to try this! Thanks!
  • bellawomenswellness
    bellawomenswellness Posts: 99 Member
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    I agree 100%!!! So many individuals on the site are frustrated, because they are not seeing results on the scale. Many are working out like divas, and completely confused why the scale is not budging! The body can fluctuate 2-5 lbs in one day due to water retention. MFP seems to increase your sodium RDA's when you build in exercise calories, however I firmly believe individuals should stick to 1200-1500 mg per day. Try to cut out all the processed foods which are typically loaded with sodium as a preservative.
  • PNCTink
    PNCTink Posts: 232 Member
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    That's great! I had heard about the RDA of sodium being reduced to 1500mg/day at the beginning of the year so I did it. I guess it was just for folks 51 and older, but why not for younger folks too? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41318009/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/
  • crjugrl
    crjugrl Posts: 172
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    Great tip, thank you :flowerforyou:
  • kdao
    kdao Posts: 265
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    So true! It works like a charm!
  • FabiolaEnvy♥
    FabiolaEnvy♥ Posts: 730
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    great tip. :)

    ill be digging into that later.
  • seniorfaye
    seniorfaye Posts: 295 Member
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    I think I might need to change mine to 1500 also, since the dr. wants me to be on low sodium anyway. Can we change that in our settings?
  • dannylou81
    dannylou81 Posts: 10
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    I havent found anywhere to change that in the settings but if you find it please post!
  • elledoll
    elledoll Posts: 31 Member
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    Click on the my "home tab" then click on "Goals" click "change goals" and then Custom.From there you can lower your sodium intake to whatever you would like.
  • kje2011
    kje2011 Posts: 502 Member
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    Click on the my "home tab" then click on "Goals" click "change goals" and then Custom.From there you can lower your sodium intake to whatever you would like.
    [/quote
    Changed my sodium goal--THANK YOU for the tip:smile: ]

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