I cant seem to get my sodium under the reccomended amount. I bloat like crazy

chrissoares77
chrissoares77 Posts: 24 Member
edited November 8 in Food and Nutrition
Even when I don't use the salt shaker I am still always over on Sodium. I need to eat about 2,700 calories to lose fat while gaining muscle. I can't seem to eat that much while staying under on sodium. I am always really under on sugar but sodium is killing me.
I don't really eat canned or food with preservatives and when I do they are relatively low on sodium.

Replies

  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,286 Member
    I stay under 1200 mg a day, by making everything. Everything is from scratch here so I can control it. So, no cans or or boxes or bags. It's really hard other wise.....look over your diet and figure out what the culprit is, usually there's one or two main ones, and figure out how to replace it or make it more sodium friendly.
  • Swiftlet66
    Swiftlet66 Posts: 729 Member
    Cook for yourself with fresh ingredients and control the amount of salt you use. That's the no. 1 way to reduce sodium. If you eat out often at restaurants, or get takeouts, or regularly buy/eat premade canned/boxed foods, then your sodium intake will most likely be high.
  • chrissoares77
    chrissoares77 Posts: 24 Member
    Each of my meals is about 400-500mg of sodium and that's me making them. The biggest culprits are my meats but they provide my essential proteins along with beans and such.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Look at your diary, look at what is high in sodium, and find something to replace them... if it really bothers you that much. Unless you have high blood pressure or other health issues though, it's typically not an issue to be a bit over (and for the record, you can't lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, just throwing it out there).
  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,371 Member
    edited December 2014
    Your food diary for the last couple of days indicates its more than just the meats. You may not be eating canned foods or foods with preservatives but you are eating a lot of processed foods, and these by their nature are high in sodium.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    Is there a reason you're trying to stay under on sodium? It's not essential for fat loss.
  • YesIAm17
    YesIAm17 Posts: 817 Member
    I've been way over sodium lately, but ham, TG foods, etc... sooo... but typically, like others have said, there is 1 or 2 things in my diary pushing the sodium higher than it needs to be that can be easily replaced.

    For example I like to have eggs for breakfast/lunch, but they have a fair bit of sodium so if I was worried about it I'd have greek yogurt instead to get that protein without the sodium.

    Another example I like to have cottage cheese with salsa over it and tortilla chips. The whole thing is high in sodium but I can minimize it with low sodium chips.

    Long story short there has to be something you can change out for something else.

    Also... who told you that you could lose fat and build muscle at the same time? It's kind of like walking in opposite directions at the same time, not really possible.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    Reading nutrition labels and compare sodium. You can get low sodium tuna packed in water (not as tasty as salty in oil though) and lower sodium breads. Switch out Kraft cheese for another brand lower in sodium or Swiss (lowest sodium cheese afaik). Try cutting down the PB and Pop-Tarts in half. It sucks. It really does. I miss cheddar cheese and eating both Pop-Tarts. Not sure how you feel about pasta, but that's great low to no sodium if you watch the sauce you use.
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    I just looked at your diary. All the answers are right there.

    I was doing pretty good on sodium when I was sticking to mostly whole foods. My sodium went up a little when I switched to store bought for my daily salads, but it wasn't too bad. Now that I've switched to precooked chicken (I eat about 1/2 lb per day), my sodium is way over. I think I'm just going to live with it though. Prepping 8 pounds of chicken that cooks down to 4 or 4 1/2 pounds to eat through the week just takes too much time.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Problem is that your meats are processed or canned. Buy some fresh meat or fish.
  • feralX
    feralX Posts: 334 Member
    Why all the concern with sodium (assuming you have no pre-existing health issues)? If you're training hard and frequently you will be sweating a lot. Unless you're a lump on a couch your body needs sodium. Keep your water intake high, eat plenty of vegetables for potassium, you'll be fine. My sodium is routinely over 5000mg/day. If I'm cutting and training 2x/day that could go as high as 10,000mg to compensate for losses. I get checked up by the doc routinely, only time he ever had an issue was when I cut my sodium to try to get it down closer to the recommended range. He commented that he sees more patients with problems due to low sodium than high. Just my experience, not recommending you take your intake that high.

    Poptarts for breakfast? Seriously...lol
  • GingerbreadCandy
    GingerbreadCandy Posts: 403 Member
    Actually I have to ask – how precise is the sodium counter in MyFitnessPal? Because I get the weirdest readings, such as no sodium for dried meats like ham and then sodium in the thousands for some bread...
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