OH MY GOD.

rachelboddy
rachelboddy Posts: 115 Member
edited September 27 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm hitting 4,000mg of sodium a day!! HELP! No wonder I feel bloated all the time! Any good food suggestions low in calories but filling??
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Replies

  • jaimejean478
    jaimejean478 Posts: 152 Member
    Are you eating a lot of canned foods & frozen meals? Those are what make my sodium skyrocket! I try to limit to 1 of those servings per day.
  • rachelboddy
    rachelboddy Posts: 115 Member
    I eat canned tuna sometimes, but today I didn't. I ate turkey deli meat and fat free cheese which seems to have the highest amount of sodium I guess. I eat frozen tilapia too. Is that bad?
  • RDH0513
    RDH0513 Posts: 245 Member
    natural foods.... don't eat the processed stuff. I don't mean you have to eat organic stuff, but if you just eat clean, health foods like chicken, eggs, oats, brown rice, fruits, drink LOTS of water, and sodium won't be an issue. I never go over on sodium by eating like that.
  • christine24t
    christine24t Posts: 6,063 Member
    I peeked at your food diary and saw you're eating a lot of meat which is high in sodium. I'm guessing you're buying pre-packaged meats. Maybe try buying meat from the deli counter to reduce your sodium.
  • Walt75
    Walt75 Posts: 182 Member
    It's all the processed foods and the Kraft singles!! Nice tatts BTW!
  • Cookie22684
    Cookie22684 Posts: 585 Member
    Cut out the deli meat, it is so high in sodium for only 2 or 3 slices, you are suppose to have 2,500 mg, i try to stay under 1,000, i to was eating deli meat and processed cheese and saw that i was not losing weight due to the sodium so i cut it out of my diet, you can try to find a deli meat with low sodium, i still eat deli meat but on occasion, hope this helps :smile:
  • janicekaygilbert
    janicekaygilbert Posts: 1
    sea salt is better for you and it is larger to see how much salt you are really using.:flowerforyou:
  • artickb22
    artickb22 Posts: 411 Member
    I used to always go over on my sodium and I did today because I indulged in Sonic for lunch but I really started watching my sodium intake about a month ago and I normally find it very easy to only eat 1/2 to 3/4 my reccomended daily. I realized ALOT of mine came from extreme amounts of Dt. Coke which I finally gave up!
  • rachelboddy
    rachelboddy Posts: 115 Member
    What kind of sandwiches would be better for me? Those are the easiest for me to bring and eat at work....
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
    Don't panic! One step at a time... If your other numbers are on target, that's great. You can start paying better attention to the labels and try to find alternatives to stuff that you buy that is high in sodium. I see you had some soy sauce the other day, which is a sodium bomb. You could potentially get low sodium soy sauce next time you go shopping, or eliminate it altogether.

    Just be mindful of the labels of the food you buy, and make small changes. After a while, you will have some staple brands that you buy over and over.
  • rachelboddy
    rachelboddy Posts: 115 Member
    It's all the processed foods and the Kraft singles!! Nice tatts BTW!

    Haha thanks! I'll eliminate those cheese singles, and try different lunch meat?
  • Jena_72
    Jena_72 Posts: 1,057
    just start tracking it and you should see it begin to go down. Awareness is the first step! It is all part of the learning process. Now that your aware you will notice yourself paying much closer attention to those labels. I literally put stuff back on the shelf because of the high sodium content no matter what the "other" stuff says! Another way I learned of ideas was really just checking out your friends diarys and getting ideas from the ones you see with a good sodium number. "DIET" food is usually high in sodium! Frozen Veggies are a fast quick way to add to your meals and NO sodium!
    Good Luck!
  • nicothepotato
    nicothepotato Posts: 306 Member
    Don't eat so much deli meat! You can eat meat but cold cuts are full of crap. Cut back on your cheese intake too. I've read studies that said you only should have about 1 serving of cheese per day.
  • Jena_72
    Jena_72 Posts: 1,057
    hahah Taso & I were just typing away at the same time! Great minds think alike! :bigsmile:
  • jaimejean478
    jaimejean478 Posts: 152 Member
    It's all the processed foods and the Kraft singles!! Nice tatts BTW!

    Haha thanks! I'll eliminate those cheese singles, and try different lunch meat?

    I have bought ower sodium lunch meat before. It's about half the sodium as regular.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    Definitely your packaged foods and the cottage cheese. Baking your own turkey or buying from a deli counter might help you drop it a little. I love cheese but I noticed I had to stop eating as much because of the sodium. I liked to take a salad to work. I got a divided container to keep the dressing in and cooked some chicken on Sunday to shred into my salad.
  • rachelboddy
    rachelboddy Posts: 115 Member
    just start tracking it and you should see it begin to go down. Awareness is the first step! It is all part of the learning process. Now that your aware you will notice yourself paying much closer attention to those labels. I literally put stuff back on the shelf because of the high sodium content no matter what the "other" stuff says! Another way I learned of ideas was really just checking out your friends diarys and getting ideas from the ones you see with a good sodium number. "DIET" food is usually high in sodium! Frozen Veggies are a fast quick way to add to your meals and NO sodium!
    Good Luck!

    Thank you!
  • jljennbunny
    jljennbunny Posts: 21
    I don't think much about sodium. BUT I know for the most part I am under most of the time. For one, I never use salt when I cook, unless baking. I rarely put it on my food afterward either. I do not eat lunch meat, but I do eat cheese. Most peeps are right about the prepackaged food....try to stay away from it.
  • eeeekie
    eeeekie Posts: 1,011 Member
    Cottage cheese is a HUGE culprit of Sodium. I was eating a cup of it a day but that's not even the serving size. It's half a cup so if you cut that in half you'll drop your sodium a little. Cheese & Lunch meat are also HUGE culprits of sodium. Try baking your own turkey and slicing it...you'll reduce the sodium. If you cant (like myself) I cut the serving size in half (buy the stuff at the deli where they slice it in front of you) and only use reduce sodium cheese 1 slice. I TRY to use 1/2 tbps of mayo but sometimes I need more. Bread is a HUGE naughty player also (my favorite!) so I've tried now eating the bagel thins as my bread for my sandwich and they are pretty good and half the sodium than 2 slices of bread.

    You're eating a lot of "light" "reduced fat" "low fat" stuff and those items tend to have WAY more sodium. If you can afford the calories I'd go for the normal stuff.

    Up your water. I used to go over my sodium by 2000+. I've been under for weeks now (couple bad days here and there) I watch sodium more than I watch calories because you can always gain calories by exercise.

    Add more veggies/fresh fruit.
  • crashta
    crashta Posts: 72
    I personally don't take sandwiches to work as I prefer them toasted. When I do make them at home I usually make tuna or BLTs. If you have a microwave at work, frozen dinners are another option. I buy the "Blue Menu" ones from Super Store (I live in Canada), the Blue Menu was launched during the 2010 Olymipics as healthy convienient foods. Lean Cusine ones are decent too. Both are low in fat and sodium and are usually about 300 calories which is decent for a lunch meal. Good luck!
  • TS65
    TS65 Posts: 1,024 Member
    What kind of sandwiches would be better for me? Those are the easiest for me to bring and eat at work....

    Try baking a few chicken breasts or a turkey breast and then shred the meat. You can use that for your sandwiches - much less sodium and better tasting anyway. :o)
  • FryingPanda
    FryingPanda Posts: 99 Member
    Also keep an eye on low fat stuff. Those foods tend to remove fat and replace it with salt.
  • rachelboddy
    rachelboddy Posts: 115 Member
    Cottage cheese is a HUGE culprit of Sodium. I was eating a cup of it a day but that's not even the serving size. It's half a cup so if you cut that in half you'll drop your sodium a little. Cheese & Lunch meat are also HUGE culprits of sodium. Try baking your own turkey and slicing it...you'll reduce the sodium. If you cant (like myself) I cut the serving size in half and only use reduce sodium cheese 1 slice. I TRY to use 1/2 tbps of mayo but sometimes I need more. Bread is a HUGE naughty player also (my favorite!) so I've tried now eating the bagel thins as my bread for my sandwich and they are pretty good and half the sodium than 2 slices of bread.

    You're eating a lot of "light" "reduced fat" "low fat" stuff and those items tend to have WAY more sodium. If you can afford the calories I'd go for the normal stuff.

    Up your water. I used to go over my sodium by 2000+. I've been under for weeks now (couple bad days here and there) I watch sodium more than I watch calories because you can always gain calories by exercise.

    Add more veggies/fresh fruit.

    Amazing I really appreciate your help!
  • crashta
    crashta Posts: 72
    Ditto on the cottage cheese comment. Sooo much sodium in regular cottage cheese. I've switched to dry cottage cheese, WAY less sodium! And it seems to stay fresh longer too.
  • eeeekie
    eeeekie Posts: 1,011 Member
    Also keep an eye on low fat stuff. Those foods tend to remove fat and replace it with salt.

    It's a NASTY trick isn't it!

    This site has opened my eyes to so much when it comes to "low fat" "low calorie" "fat free" stuff.
  • christine24t
    christine24t Posts: 6,063 Member
    Try baking your own turkey and slicing it...you'll reduce the sodium.

    Yes so much better tasting that regular lunch meat!
  • eeeekie
    eeeekie Posts: 1,011 Member
    Cottage cheese is a HUGE culprit of Sodium. I was eating a cup of it a day but that's not even the serving size. It's half a cup so if you cut that in half you'll drop your sodium a little. Cheese & Lunch meat are also HUGE culprits of sodium. Try baking your own turkey and slicing it...you'll reduce the sodium. If you cant (like myself) I cut the serving size in half and only use reduce sodium cheese 1 slice. I TRY to use 1/2 tbps of mayo but sometimes I need more. Bread is a HUGE naughty player also (my favorite!) so I've tried now eating the bagel thins as my bread for my sandwich and they are pretty good and half the sodium than 2 slices of bread.

    You're eating a lot of "light" "reduced fat" "low fat" stuff and those items tend to have WAY more sodium. If you can afford the calories I'd go for the normal stuff.

    Up your water. I used to go over my sodium by 2000+. I've been under for weeks now (couple bad days here and there) I watch sodium more than I watch calories because you can always gain calories by exercise.

    Add more veggies/fresh fruit.

    Amazing I really appreciate your help!

    You're welcome :)
  • sarahsmom1
    sarahsmom1 Posts: 1,501 Member
    I'm hitting 4,000mg of sodium a day!! HELP! No wonder I feel bloated all the time! Any good food suggestions low in calories but filling??
    you can eliminate a 1000 just by nut having 4 pieces of cheese use avocado instead of cheese and miracle whip that will save you thousands and find a different brand of turkey its low in calories but amazingly high in sodium
  • rachelboddy
    rachelboddy Posts: 115 Member
    thank you all! I'm definitely going to incorporate these changes and get some better food prep for work.
  • sweet_lotus
    sweet_lotus Posts: 194 Member
    What kind of sandwiches would be better for me? Those are the easiest for me to bring and eat at work....

    Nut butter is low sodium, if you get the organic kind. Generally (but not always!) anything you buy in the "natural foods" part of the grocery will have less sodium. I eat a lot of almond butter and it has 0 sodium.

    If you have the time, make some sandwich fillings - chicken salad, egg salad, tofu salad, etc. Then you can control the salt content and throw in lots of vegetables, too. Or make a sandwich with leftovers from dinner :)

    Or, if you really like your deli meats, tell them to give you the low sodium kind!

    Yogurt is a great substitute for cottage cheese and has a lot less sodium. Nuts (unsalted) are good too.

    Good luck!
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