What the hell am I supposed to eat??
Options
Replies
-
Protein, fresh raw veggies. Fresh grilled fish like salmon. Chicken, pork chops (lean). LOTS OF WAYS to cut sugar & sodium0
-
I don't know if this was said already, but one reason that your sodium could be so high is because of the light dressings. Typically anything that is "light" is loaded with sodium in order to keep the flavor close to the full fat counter part. While I am a nurse, I don't consider myself an expert. However, when I was seeing a nutritionist, it was recommended to me that if I had to have something to go with the full fat version, but just limit how much I ingest because the sodium if out of control on most "light" products.0
-
I just had a question similar to this because my daily limits have me only eating 24g of sugar a day!! That's less than the amount of sugar in one apple!! But I talked it over with some other members on the site and realized the sugar is supposed to be added sugar, not the good sugar from fruits. Eat as many fruits as you want!! And I've always heard sodium is something that you want to really watch out for when you're down to the last 5 lbs you have to lose. Then keeping sodium low helps you lose it!0
-
I haven't been able to read everything that everyone else wrote, but I read most of your responses, OP. I would say because of your PCOS to focus on staying low on sugar rather than low on sodium, though it is still very important for weight loss and for vascular health to stay low in sodium. I believe you wrote that you only eat meat once a day, so adding more lean protein would be my biggest suggestion to you. Grilled chicken with salt free dry rubs are always very good. I make turkey meatballs with just 93/7 ground turkey and a bunch of herbs, baked, weekly, and it is delicious! As for yogurt, others have mentioned that greek yogurt has more protein, but I would also comment that you want to go a non-flavored route, to lower sugar. If plain yogurt or plain greek yogurt isn't appealing to you, try sweetening with stevia. As far as processed foods, I know you said you cook a lot, no fast food, etc, but you did mention granola bars and a couple other items that are technically processed. Those could be other areas to eliminate some sodium. For breakfast maybe try steel cut oats and with dinner have rice or quinoa (love me some quinoa!).
I hope this is helpful, and I hope you were able to get some ideas out of this thread!0 -
I only buy basic ingredients, nothing pre-packaged, nothing in tins. I eat a lot of vegetable stir fries, salads but with just a teaspoon of olive or walnut oil and some pomegranate seeds for sweetness. Sometimes with a tablespoon of humous too (bought or home made). Greek yoghurt with fruit, home made soups and stews with beans for protein. If you don't buy anything processed you'll be amazed how low your salt intake is. I have to add it to things.0
-
I *so* needed this thread. I've logged my meals a couple of times this week. Sodium is not a problem for me, but I was WAY, WAY, WAY over in sugar. And I've been reading so much about clean eating that I got inside my head and got discouraged and started wondering what the point of working out was if my eating was all wrong. Fun thoughts like that. The helpful replies have relieved my mind greatly. I don't need to micromanage every single thing that goes in my mouth. I just need to make good choices most of the time and tweak where needed.0
-
I second MistyMtnMan on the protein bars and shakes! They really help me when I need to add in good calories/protein. Plus, they fill me up (especially a shake after I exercise in the evening)
ETA: another fellow PCOSer here too
protein bars are full of crap unless you're making your own.
stick with protein shakes.
Not true, not for all of them any way. Pure Protein bars are excellent and unless you don't like Splenda, everything else in them are fine. I've done a lot of reading, labels that is, and these are the best I've found.
http://www.pureprotein.net/vf/labels/F015011-AE.pdf
290 calories
6 g saturated fat
30g carbs
350 mg of sodium
and these are the best around? i'll pass thanks.....
Ok that's ONE of like 6 kinds they make. I pick the ones that are better. The Chocolate Peanut Butter ones have:
200 cals
3g saturated fat
16 carbs
200mg sodium
not to mention
only 2g sugar
20g protein
And the Chocolate Chip Cookie ones are even less
I don't buy the kind you mentioned. Obviously there are always more than one option. If you can find a bar with that high of protein and low sugar and calories be my guest. I haven't been able to yet. They are usually way too high in fat, sugar and/or calories.
Plus, you said protein bars are full of crap which my original point is that these are not. Even still if you had the one you mentioned after a hard workout that's really not that bad. I mean a banana has 27g of carbs and if you are eating clean all day and working out regularly, it really shouldn't make much of a difference.
i just grabbed the first one off the list from their site.
you're going to compare a banana to a processed protein bar? give me a break
and yes they are still full of crap. they also have less than one gram of fibre in them. there are way better options out there than protein bars. if you need the protein have a scoop of protein powder and a cup of fruit or vegetables.0 -
Whoa, slow down!!! Think small steps, one thing at a time. When I started, I was over whelmed,,so, First I started logging food, tracking calories and staying on course with that. Along with this, I did a little exercise, Just 20 minutes a day, 3x week on treadmill. I lost weight. Then, after I got the hang of this, I started focusing on the sugars and sodium. Yes, processed foods are the worst. So, I started trying to make better choices towards fresh foods. Trust me, if will all fall into place for you. I started slowly, and broke it down into steps. For me, it worked, with a steady weight loss. And, I made sure that I did not deny myself
any foods--less cravings that way, If I was invited to a party, I watched my portions and allowed myself 1/2 slice of cake.
Take a deep breath, step back, and make this all about you and what works for you. Best of luck!! I know you will be successful!0 -
True, but I'd rather eat that than some of the others on the market and that's probably why it's not marketed as a meal replacement. The added bonus is if you are craving something sweet, it will hit the spot with minimal damage.Larabar isn't really a protein bar though with only 4-6 grams of protein
Since you run a daycare, there are things you can incorporate into your diet that work well for daycare snack. Cheese cubes, string cheese, using greek yogurt as a dip for apples or veg like celery & carrots. A spoonful of natural almond butter or peanut butter works as long as you make sure you get the kind made with just nuts.
There are also no bake protein bar recipes out there that use chopped nuts and fruit. Depending on your age range that could be a fun daycare activity & snack rolled into one. I have a degree in Child Development so I could help you brainstorm a few more things.0 -
Are you a vegetarian, because eyou didn’t list a single meat or dair product. These will add calories and a re good for you.
Dairy is high in sugar though. I love yogurt, but it's high in sugar
And I do eat meat, usually at dinner, and usually only 4 ounces at a time, I am really not a big fan of eating meat, but I do eat meat once a day.
I eat PLAIN, NONFAT Greek yogurt EVERYDAY... Sometimes even a few times a day. It has NO sugar, TONS of protein and it's amazingly delicious. I put Splenda in it and a teaspoon of natural peanut butter and it's amazing.
I would stop focusing on the sodium intake and just focus on calorie intake or carb/sugar intake. Stop obsessing.. stop crying and just do it. If you don't want to do it, then don't!!0 -
this topic has been very helpful for me. I am not yet going over my sodium but i get afraid to even let it get to 2500. not tracking sugar as all my sugar comes from the fresh fruits. does massive water intake balance out the sodium (dumb question I know :-)
Ive been drinking on average 150 ounces of water a day.0 -
I think it is unfair to assume that because I said I was over on sodium that I eat fast food every day or plain junk in a box. You would be surprised to see how much sodium is in "good" things. Our family doesn't even eat fast food, my husband has Crohn's and we avoid greasy food completely because it makes him very sick. Also because of this we avoid a lot of processed stuff as well. I cook every day, we don't eat out a lot (it's expensive and b/c of my husband's diet restrictions we have to be mindful of the greasy foods) It's just frustrating to try to be conscious and deal with the jigsaw puzzle of sodium vs. sugar vs. calories.
Do you buy canned soup? That;s processed. I am a vegetarian and thought I was doing good buying Morning Star and Boca products as my protein. Nope, it's just as processed as any other food in a box. Now I cook my own beans and make my own. I don't get the sodium from canned beans or from a store bought veggie burger. No one is accusing just putting some advice out there.
I am different from others in that I do try to stay withing my sodium and sugar levels. Most days I am successful. Just take it one day at a time and use the help you can get on the forums.0 -
I think it is unfair to assume that because I said I was over on sodium that I eat fast food every day or plain junk in a box. You would be surprised to see how much sodium is in "good" things. Our family doesn't even eat fast food, my husband has Crohn's and we avoid greasy food completely because it makes him very sick. Also because of this we avoid a lot of processed stuff as well. I cook every day, we don't eat out a lot (it's expensive and b/c of my husband's diet restrictions we have to be mindful of the greasy foods) It's just frustrating to try to be conscious and deal with the jigsaw puzzle of sodium vs. sugar vs. calories.
My calorie intake is high b/c my weight is higher therefore my caloric need is higher.
I'm no expert, but some of the diet/goal weight research I've done advises that you should calculate the maintenance calories required for your GOAL weight, not your current weight. If you are only eating the calories required to sustain your ideal weight (before exercise), your body will burn off the excess through diet/exercise much easier. As for consciously eating back your exercise calories, I know I'll get slammed for this, but why would you do that if you are trying to lose weight? Your body won't go into starvation mode unless you are truly starving, and if you are eating healthy foods you aren't starving yourself. I think the real issue with metabolism (in your case) is the PCOS, are you on any meds for this? You are insulin resistant, correct? Diabetes meds/diabetic diet really will help stabilize your metabolism/hormones, and once that is under control you should see results. My best friend has suffered from undiagnosed PCOS for years, and once she received the proper treatment and followed a diabetic diet, she felt so much better, had so much more energy and her excess weight just melted off almost effortlessly.
Back to the original question about sodium...has your doctor put you on a restricted sodium diet? If not, then don't worry about the numbers so much if you are eating mostly healthy unprocessed foods. I think in your case the sugars would be more of a concern? You need to find a good nutritionist to work with, someone familiar with PCOS. Hang in there, you are obviously trying if you are on this site:) Keep at it, find some support, and you can do this!0 -
I can't do this counting crap anymore!!!!! I'm going insane!!! I don't know what the hell to eat.
MFP has my calorie goal at 2010 calories per day and I'm already having trouble reaching that goal every day because I am trying to be conscious about what I eat, and eating healthier foods makes it harder to eat so many calories.
I am trying to eat 6 smaller meals every day.
My problem is that that I cannot manage to keep my sodium and sugar down (sodium more than sugar, if I go over on sugar it's usually by just a few grams), it's like a freaking jigsaw puzzle. I think it's absurd that I cannot have an orange and a salad for lunch - a total of 200 calories - and it put me way over on sodium and sugar!!! That's ridiculous! That's not even a BIG salad, we're talking like 1/2 a cup of lettuce and 2 tablespoons of LIGHT dressing. That's barely enough food for my 3-year-old, yet it's like 450mg sodium. I was going to eat tuna today for lunch, but at 550mg sodium!??! I thought tuna was good for you!
I try to eat good things like oatmeal and special K cereal or raisin bran, and fruit and peanut butter, and whole grain or pumpernickel bread, and light yogurt... and it's ridiculous how far over on my sodium I always am YET I will still have a thousand calories or so left over every day. I am going freaking crazy trying to deal with this jigsaw puzzle - I don't have TIME for this every freaking day! I cannot sit and input each hypothetical meal and try to piece together reaching my calorie goal while maintaining a lower sodium level. It's like a part-time job... overly time consuming. I REALIZE that processed foods are higher in sodium, totally get that. However, I do not farm in my backyard, I have 3 kids, and we don't live on a steady diet of raw vegetables.
How to you even begin to have a common sense diet, reach what feels like an obscene amount of calories every day (and eating back exercise calories?!? Some days I have to eat 2400 for the day, that's a LOT, I'm going crazy) and still maintain lower sodium???
And before I get hit with judgmental comments, I realize that I weigh a lot, but this is mostly due to my not eating enough combined with PCOS and a bad hormonal imbalance, so I'm working from several disadvantages that I'm trying to overcome. My biggest issue of all was not eating enough. I wasn't eating all day... no breakfast or lunch... I'd have something around 2 o'clock-ish, then eat dinner, and sometimes have a snack late at night and that was it. I'm trying to re-train myself to eat 6 smaller meals every day starting when I first get up and it's been hard to make myself eat when I don't "feel" like it.
I have read a lot of posts on here, and it's no carbs, low sugar, low sodium, low calories... what the hell do you eat??? Everything is loaded with all kinds of crap, even things that are supposed to be good for you... full of sugar, sodium, HFCS, dyes, etc. etc. etc. I am not going to successfully live on a raw vegetable diet, that I can promise. So what is more important - meeting my calorie goal? Keeping sodium low - which means not achieving my calorie goal every day... ?? I dunno.... but the amount of thought that I have to put into this is worse than being obsessed and compulsively overeating.
My first week or so I lost 8 pounds and I haven't lost a damn thing since. I was up 1.5 lbs from YESTERDAY when I weighed this morning, so I am feeling severely defeated and irritated.
Anyone have any common sense advice for me???
I sent you a PM.
If you are trying to eat clean and natural, don't worry about meeting a calorie goal. Please respond to my PM if you would like more help.
A fellow PCOS'r here with great successes...........
What Grokette said. I sent you a pm/friend request. Friend me if you want more advice. Former PCOS sufferer. Proud Primal Momma.0 -
Worry about calories and macronutrients first. As you learn what foods are better for you, the sugar and sodium will follow (though not very often in today's world). I don't even have Sugar or Sodium as what I'm tracking. Sometimes less information is better.0
-
One thing that I noticed from skimming the first post was that you use lite dressing. Sometimes prepackaged dressings, especially those that are "light"/"lite" have a ton of sodium and sugar to make up for the fat that was cut. Fat, salt, and sugar add flavor; those dressings sacrifice the first for the sake of the latter two.
Try dressing salads with olive oil and vinegar. You can even blend the two together (with a whisk) with some mustard (just read the label to make sure that there isn't a lot of salt added to this, too). It will up your calories, add unsaturated fats, and reduce sodium and sugar.
I hope this helps and I'm sorry that you're so frustrated. This community is built for support and I'm glad you posted about it instead of quitting.
Good luck!0 -
At the beginning of my journey I only focused on my calories and that's my advice to you. This is a journey not a short trip and you should take it one step, one day, one minute at a time. As you get used to keeping your calories up, you'll eventually spot the things that will raise your sodium and sugar levels (fast foods, etc.).
Don't be so hard on yourself, breathe! You can do this! Good luck!0 -
Are you a vegetarian, because eyou didn’t list a single meat or dair product. These will add calories and a re good for you.
Dairy is high in sugar though. I love yogurt, but it's high in sugar And I do eat meat, usually at dinner, and usually only 4 ounces at a time, I am really not a big fan of eating meat, but I do eat meat once a day.
Eat protein at every meal, or most. If you are only eating protein (and I can't tell if you are) once a day then this might be a big factor. Raw fruits and vegetables are really great and low in calories as you know.
But as another person said you can certainly read the product lable at the store and find the lower sodium option when you go shopping. Pick up tomato sauce cans and there is a huge difference. Same with packaged foods. Same with salad dressings. Check out which foods you are eating that are the culprits and try to find better options for them especially. Eating out is always always always way high in sodium. So are ready made foods. Cooking at home from basic stuff is better almost every time. It takes a while to put recipe's into the database, but it is a good thing for the next time.
I put nuts on my salad and enjoy nuts often. I have roasted turkey that I roasted myself and cut up into portion sizes and froze for convenience because deli meats are obnoxious in sodium. I put that in my salad. So are individual frozen chicken breasts. They inject them. Spend a lot of time bringing home foods low in sodium. Every product has a better option if you start looking and taking note one by one. I have a KitchenAide mixer and got the grinder attachment and i'm grinding my own chuck roast into hamburger. It's better... A lot of little things add up.0 -
I think the main thing is to reach your calorie goal. Sodium is the second thing. To offset the sodium, try drinking tons of water and buy the lower sodium option of foods if available. I think sodium mainly affects weight loss when its down to the stubborn last pounds. Not at the beginning. So at first I would meet the calorie goal and after eating like that for a while you can try and make adjustments to lower your sodium... you could always buy that 'salt substitute' with no sodium if you're a big salt fan. I haven't actually tried that though so I don't know if it is any good. just remember, meet the calorie goal and drink tons of water to avoid bloat that's caused from sodium.0
-
I get frustrated with all the counting too. I personally don't worry about my sodium and what not, I just
stay under my calories and watch my fat intake. I can't worry about every little thing, I'd drive myself
nuts!! I too have PCOS so I know what you mean, we're already at a disadvantage..... :frown: Just
hang in there and do the best you can!!! Don't beat yourself up over things like that...... and try to stay
positive!! 0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392.1K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.9K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.4K Fitness and Exercise
- 403 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions