I'm within calorie goal each day, but losing weight very slowly...

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BatCatRhino
BatCatRhino Posts: 15 Member
edited June 2015 in Food and Nutrition
So I'm a pretty fussy eater, which makes being on with a healthier lifestyle that much harder. I've been losing weight for a little under a month now, but it's going very, very slowly (as in less than 1/3rd of a pound per week). My calorie goal is 2,060 per day. I normally eat around the 1,700 - 1800 area (which should be around 1+ pound per week).

The only thing I KNOW I'm doing badly is with my Sodium intake. My goal for Sodium is 2,300 per day... I have 4,200 - 4300 per day. Every other goal is being met.

So my question is, would that be slowing down my weight loss at all? And would anyone be able to explain to me what/why sodium/salt does this?

Thank you! Have a nice day. =)
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Replies

  • Justthisgirl1994
    Justthisgirl1994 Posts: 226 Member
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    Sodium holds onto water. So it could be water weight, but it's been a month so you're probs underestimating your calories/overestimating exercise. You should be seeing better results. If you're supposed to be losing 1 lb/week, and are not, then you need to be more careful with weighing and logging food. Everything you eat matters. Even if it only has 10 calories you should log it. You'd be surprised how quickly it can add up!
  • pinkperil
    pinkperil Posts: 5,072 Member
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    With such a high sodium intake ensure you are drinking plenty of water to flush it out of your system otherwise, as Justthisgirl says you'll retain the fluids. Drink enough to keep the flow moving out!
  • BatCatRhino
    BatCatRhino Posts: 15 Member
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    Justthisgirl1994 wrote: »
    Sodium holds onto water. So it could be water weight, but it's been a month so you're probs underestimating your calories/overestimating exercise. You should be seeing better results. If you're supposed to be losing 1 lb/week, and are not, then you need to be more careful with weighing and logging food. Everything you eat matters. Even if it only has 10 calories you should log it. You'd be surprised how quickly it can add up!

    I know for sure that I'm accurate with what I log. I have OCD, so I more than triple check each day, and I log everything, even chewing gum! ;)
  • PHStevenson
    PHStevenson Posts: 52 Member
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    I have a problem with my Sodium intake too. Its sometimes almost double the recommended value. But I try to drink 100oz or more of water a day so that when I work out It gets rid of some of the water weight that the sodium holds on to.
  • BatCatRhino
    BatCatRhino Posts: 15 Member
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    pinkperil wrote: »
    With such a high sodium intake ensure you are drinking plenty of water to flush it out of your system otherwise, as Justthisgirl says you'll retain the fluids. Drink enough to keep the flow moving out!

    I'll be sure to start drinking more water for sure, and I'll try dropping my sodium intake too. Cheers. =)
  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
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    If you're actually stuck, you'll need to do one of three things

    1. Eat less
    2. Exercise more
    3. Increase non activity exercise time
  • BatCatRhino
    BatCatRhino Posts: 15 Member
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    PHStevenson wrote: »
    I have a problem with my Sodium intake too. Its sometimes almost double the recommended value. But I try to drink 100oz or more of water a day so that when I work out It gets rid of some of the water weight that the sodium holds on to.

    I eat a lot of 'just warm up' foods because I'm busy and really can't cook to save a life. Which is fine, but they often have a ton of rubbish in them too (which I take into account throughout the day. I just can't seem to beat the sodium).

  • Justthisgirl1994
    Justthisgirl1994 Posts: 226 Member
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    BatCatRhino wrote: »
    Justthisgirl1994 wrote: »
    Sodium holds onto water. So it could be water weight, but it's been a month so you're probs underestimating your calories/overestimating exercise. You should be seeing better results. If you're supposed to be losing 1 lb/week, and are not, then you need to be more careful with weighing and logging food. Everything you eat matters. Even if it only has 10 calories you should log it. You'd be surprised how quickly it can add up!

    I know for sure that I'm accurate with what I log. I have OCD, so I more than triple check each day, and I log everything, even chewing gum! ;)

    Okay well then lower your calorie limit by about 300/day!
  • PHStevenson
    PHStevenson Posts: 52 Member
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    I was having a conversation the other day and If sodium is the only thing that I am over on then I am 100% ok with that because of all the water I drink. I stay under on everything else, except protein sometimes when I workout. But i have never gone over even half of what my fat gram goal is. So i am not going to "beat myself up" over a little extra sodium. :)
  • BatCatRhino
    BatCatRhino Posts: 15 Member
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    galgenstrick wrote: »
    If you're actually stuck, you'll need to do one of three things

    1. Eat less
    2. Exercise more
    3. Increase non activity exercise time

    I shall be exercising more for sure. What do you mean by number 3, though? Do more during the time I'm normally inactive?
  • BatCatRhino
    BatCatRhino Posts: 15 Member
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    PHStevenson wrote: »
    I was having a conversation the other day and If sodium is the only thing that I am over on then I am 100% ok with that because of all the water I drink. I stay under on everything else, except protein sometimes when I workout. But i have never gone over even half of what my fat gram goal is. So i am not going to "beat myself up" over a little extra sodium. :)

    And you shouldn't! It just isn't working for me at the moment one way or another. But I'll sort that thanks to the help here!

  • PHStevenson
    PHStevenson Posts: 52 Member
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    BatCatRhino wrote: »
    PHStevenson wrote: »
    I was having a conversation the other day and If sodium is the only thing that I am over on then I am 100% ok with that because of all the water I drink. I stay under on everything else, except protein sometimes when I workout. But i have never gone over even half of what my fat gram goal is. So i am not going to "beat myself up" over a little extra sodium. :)

    And you shouldn't! It just isn't working for me at the moment one way or another. But I'll sort that thanks to the help here!

    Good luck! I am dreading the plateau because I know everyone comes to one :) I will be saving some of these answers for that day
  • BatCatRhino
    BatCatRhino Posts: 15 Member
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    Justthisgirl1994 wrote: »
    BatCatRhino wrote: »
    Justthisgirl1994 wrote: »
    Sodium holds onto water. So it could be water weight, but it's been a month so you're probs underestimating your calories/overestimating exercise. You should be seeing better results. If you're supposed to be losing 1 lb/week, and are not, then you need to be more careful with weighing and logging food. Everything you eat matters. Even if it only has 10 calories you should log it. You'd be surprised how quickly it can add up!

    I know for sure that I'm accurate with what I log. I have OCD, so I more than triple check each day, and I log everything, even chewing gum! ;)

    Okay well then lower your calorie limit by about 300/day!

    I'll try doing this and drinking more water, too. Thanks for the help!
  • BatCatRhino
    BatCatRhino Posts: 15 Member
    edited June 2015
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    PHStevenson wrote: »
    BatCatRhino wrote: »
    PHStevenson wrote: »
    I was having a conversation the other day and If sodium is the only thing that I am over on then I am 100% ok with that because of all the water I drink. I stay under on everything else, except protein sometimes when I workout. But i have never gone over even half of what my fat gram goal is. So i am not going to "beat myself up" over a little extra sodium. :)

    And you shouldn't! It just isn't working for me at the moment one way or another. But I'll sort that thanks to the help here!

    Good luck! I am dreading the plateau because I know everyone comes to one :) I will be saving some of these answers for that day

    Thank you! And yeah, it sucks, but it won't be stopping me from getting where I want to be. I've bookmarked the thread in-case I need to try something else. =)
  • Abby2205
    Abby2205 Posts: 253 Member
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    Remember that MFP's calories burned estimation is just an average for a person of your height, weight and age. You personally could be on the low side of average, so you could be extremely accurate in logging calories and exercise, and still not achieve the weight loss predicted for you. If your logging is as accurate as it's going to get, then the only solution is to reduce calories and/or increase exercise (and mutter bitterly about the unfairness of it all, if it helps).
  • BatCatRhino
    BatCatRhino Posts: 15 Member
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    Abby2205 wrote: »
    Remember that MFP's calories burned estimation is just an average for a person of your height, weight and age. You personally could be on the low side of average, so you could be extremely accurate in logging calories and exercise, and still not achieve the weight loss predicted for you. If your logging is as accurate as it's going to get, then the only solution is to reduce calories and/or increase exercise (and mutter bitterly about the unfairness of it all, if it helps).

    Aahaha. Done and done! But really, I'm fine with it. I knew there was going to be some challenges with it all. I'm cutting 100-200 calories and doing more walking each day. =)
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Are you weighing your food on a food scale? If not, you could be eating more (calories) than you think.
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
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    Also keep in mind that MFP overestimate calories burned for exercise, so if you're counting on that to log, you're better off finding what it says, then manually enter about half. Either that, or get some kind of fitness tracker with a heart rate monitor. That's going to be a lot more accurate.
  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
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    Justthisgirl1994 wrote: »
    BatCatRhino wrote: »
    Justthisgirl1994 wrote: »
    Sodium holds onto water. So it could be water weight, but it's been a month so you're probs underestimating your calories/overestimating exercise. You should be seeing better results. If you're supposed to be losing 1 lb/week, and are not, then you need to be more careful with weighing and logging food. Everything you eat matters. Even if it only has 10 calories you should log it. You'd be surprised how quickly it can add up!

    I know for sure that I'm accurate with what I log. I have OCD, so I more than triple check each day, and I log everything, even chewing gum! ;)

    Okay well then lower your calorie limit by about 300/day!

    You're telling a 22yo MALE to drop to 1400-1500 cals/day without asking for any stats.
    Such as height, weight, activity level.

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