Sodium, Sugar count. Important?
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MonkeyCatDog
Posts: 8 Member
One week in. 2 of 7 lbs I want gone are gone. I'm starting to get into this calorie count thing. It's almost like a game; seeing if I can stay under the number. Seeing what the nutrient value of this food or that food. Sometimes I'm really surprised. So it's educational.
One thing I'm having hard time with is the sodium count and keeping under. I know it's because of the processed foods I eat. But it isn't like I eat ALL processed and I try to pick good processed foods when I do. But lets face it, your diet has to be doable in your life and schedule. I just can't cook everything from scratch and work 40 hours and do everything else. So I need to find alternatives with lower carb/calorie bread, lower sodium lunch meat or soups and adding in as much fresh produce as I can handle (gut issues sometimes make that load tricky). And what is with one cooked egg having 151g of sodium if I haven't added any?? And yogurt? Why is so much sodium in yogurt?? Don't get me started on sugar. Hey if I want a cookie or ice cream, fine, I'll live with those sugar consequences. But the sugar added into so many not sweet things annoys me.
Sometimes it feels like one of those rigged carnival games to hit ALL your targets every day. If I stay under on my calories (1st) and then my fat and carbs, I feel like I can let the other slide a bit (just a bit).
Anyone else feel the same? Thoughts??
One thing I'm having hard time with is the sodium count and keeping under. I know it's because of the processed foods I eat. But it isn't like I eat ALL processed and I try to pick good processed foods when I do. But lets face it, your diet has to be doable in your life and schedule. I just can't cook everything from scratch and work 40 hours and do everything else. So I need to find alternatives with lower carb/calorie bread, lower sodium lunch meat or soups and adding in as much fresh produce as I can handle (gut issues sometimes make that load tricky). And what is with one cooked egg having 151g of sodium if I haven't added any?? And yogurt? Why is so much sodium in yogurt?? Don't get me started on sugar. Hey if I want a cookie or ice cream, fine, I'll live with those sugar consequences. But the sugar added into so many not sweet things annoys me.
Sometimes it feels like one of those rigged carnival games to hit ALL your targets every day. If I stay under on my calories (1st) and then my fat and carbs, I feel like I can let the other slide a bit (just a bit).
Anyone else feel the same? Thoughts??
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Replies
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When I started logging and tracking my intake, these things really surprised me as well; not only as to content like sodium and sugar in food but just how many calories I was actually eating on average days. So yes, I understand.
What people are going to reply saying is that unless you have a medical reason to track/lower sodium or sugar intake to not worry about it so much. Secondly, that all that is truly necessary for weight loss is to eat at a deficit.
What I'm getting at is, you don't "need" to find alternatives. It seems like you are already finding success.
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Have you ever read I Quit sugar it's a good read .And that's a lot for an egg I eat 3-4 eggs a day and mine only have 51 mg each .And if you are eating FULL fat dairy (And that's what you should be eating not low fat or 0 fat). The sugar you are getting in most are from lactose not added Sugars.
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Yeah unless you're on a special diet don't sweat it. we don't eat any processed foods, I make everything from scratch to keep my husband's sodium down, so just by eating mostly the same stuff my sodium is usually around 1200-1300. so if it's bothering you or you think it's making you hang onto water weight...then you know where it's coming from - the processed foods.0
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I switched out sugar for fiber on my tracker. Most of the sugar I was getting from all the fruit i eat in a day, not necessarily added sugar. Fiber, for me anyway, is more important to track and make sure you are getting enough.0
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I'm not sure what you question is. You know why you are taking in extra sodium and how to change it, but feel you are too busy to do that.
So don't.
It's your life and you get to make your own rules.
I'm not sure what you're looking for here.0 -
MonkeyCatDog wrote: »One week in. 2 of 7 lbs I want gone are gone. I'm starting to get into this calorie count thing. It's almost like a game; seeing if I can stay under the number. Seeing what the nutrient value of this food or that food. Sometimes I'm really surprised. So it's educational.
One thing I'm having hard time with is the sodium count and keeping under. I know it's because of the processed foods I eat. But it isn't like I eat ALL processed and I try to pick good processed foods when I do. But lets face it, your diet has to be doable in your life and schedule. I just can't cook everything from scratch and work 40 hours and do everything else. So I need to find alternatives with lower carb/calorie bread, lower sodium lunch meat or soups and adding in as much fresh produce as I can handle (gut issues sometimes make that load tricky). And what is with one cooked egg having 151g of sodium if I haven't added any?? And yogurt? Why is so much sodium in yogurt?? Don't get me started on sugar. Hey if I want a cookie or ice cream, fine, I'll live with those sugar consequences. But the sugar added into so many not sweet things annoys me.
Sometimes it feels like one of those rigged carnival games to hit ALL your targets every day. If I stay under on my calories (1st) and then my fat and carbs, I feel like I can let the other slide a bit (just a bit).
Anyone else feel the same? Thoughts??
it's not that you can't.. you just choose not to. i work 40+ hours a week and still cook my breakfast and lunch as well as dinner. i eat some processed foods as well, but i still manage to cook a lot.0 -
worrying about sodium only comes into play once you get below 10% bodyfat (as a male) and want to look your best
just try to keep it below 2400mg0 -
Sodium is on my radar all of the time. I figured out that the more sodium I take in, the slower the weight is to come off. So I look for low sodium alternatives when I eat. For example, I've stopped eating out with low calorie options to making my lunch or getting a frozen meal. Eating out always has high sodium contents, no matter where you eat at!!! Frozen meals only give me 600 to 800 levels for each meal I eat. I am ok with that. It means that I have to look for lower sodium alternatives for my breakfast and snacks.
It's early for you, and as you log more foods, you will figure out which foods you need to avoid and ones you can eat from a sodium level.
In regards to sugar, Sugar is not a big thing for me as I eat a lot of fruit each day and that of course is high in sugar. Again, the more you log, the more you figure out what has high levels of sugar and what you need to avoid.
Good luck.0 -
MonkeyCatDog wrote: »And what is with one cooked egg having 151g of sodium if I haven't added any??
I don't worry about sodium for various reasons, but where are you getting this? Sounds like the amount for two eggs, and makes me wonder if you are using the correct entries.Don't get me started on sugar. Hey if I want a cookie or ice cream, fine, I'll live with those sugar consequences. But the sugar added into so many not sweet things annoys me.
A lot of the sugar in yogurt is lactose--intrinsic in dairy. All of it is if you buy plain yogurt, some of it is if it's sweetened (and if it's sweetened with fruit some is from the fruit too).
Anyway, I worry about calories (staying under), protein (hitting or exceeding my goal), and fiber (hitting or exceeding my goal). I used to worry about potassium until I was confident I was getting enough, I rely on not eating a lot of highly processed stuff, exercising a good amount, getting sufficient potassium, and never having an issue with blood pressure as reasons not to worry about sodium, and I watch sugar and try not to get too much from low nutrient food on average (although I include treats in moderation), but don't care if I exceed the number due to fruit or the like. On the whole I focus more on understanding what I eat and that it's largely made up of nutrient-rich foods and not the specific numbers, which are often wrong anyway because not all entries have them.
If I tended to be low on fat (or excessively high on sat fat) I'd focus on that too, but I'm not.0 -
bevmcarthur wrote: »Have you ever read I Quit sugar it's a good read .
I understand that it's up there with Ulysses.0 -
MonkeyCatDog wrote: »One week in. 2 of 7 lbs I want gone are gone. I'm starting to get into this calorie count thing. It's almost like a game; seeing if I can stay under the number. Seeing what the nutrient value of this food or that food. Sometimes I'm really surprised. So it's educational.
One thing I'm having hard time with is the sodium count and keeping under. I know it's because of the processed foods I eat. But it isn't like I eat ALL processed and I try to pick good processed foods when I do. But lets face it, your diet has to be doable in your life and schedule. I just can't cook everything from scratch and work 40 hours and do everything else. So I need to find alternatives with lower carb/calorie bread, lower sodium lunch meat or soups and adding in as much fresh produce as I can handle (gut issues sometimes make that load tricky). And what is with one cooked egg having 151g of sodium if I haven't added any?? And yogurt? Why is so much sodium in yogurt?? Don't get me started on sugar. Hey if I want a cookie or ice cream, fine, I'll live with those sugar consequences. But the sugar added into so many not sweet things annoys me.
Sometimes it feels like one of those rigged carnival games to hit ALL your targets every day. If I stay under on my calories (1st) and then my fat and carbs, I feel like I can let the other slide a bit (just a bit).
Anyone else feel the same? Thoughts??
it's not that you can't.. you just choose not to. i work 40+ hours a week and still cook my breakfast and lunch as well as dinner. i eat some processed foods as well, but i still manage to cook a lot.
This. I work 40+ hours a week, have my kids every other week, work out, and still have time to meal prep on Sunday nights. Takes me an hour or 2, but saves me time, and calories, during the week. I prep all my meals for M-F, and cook meals to order on the weekend (cooking is theraputic to me)
Do a little research, there are a lot of good meal prepping resources out there. You make it as simple or complex as you want. 0 -
?lemurcat12 wrote: »bevmcarthur wrote: »Have you ever read I Quit sugar it's a good read .
I understand that it's up there with Ulysses.
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it's not that you can't.. you just choose not to. i work 40+ hours a week and still cook my breakfast and lunch as well as dinner. i eat some processed foods as well, but i still manage to cook a lot.
I DO cook a lot. I cook every night. I make my own breakfast, I make my own lunch for me and for my SO. But I'm not going to bother making my own bread every week or roasting a chicken every week just so we having to make sandwiches out of. I already spend enough time in the kitchen. Doing everything from scratch would really make life more miserable. There does need to be a certain amount of convenience to a diet plan.0 -
Thanks for the support! I'm glad to hear that generally others are not too concerned about seeing those red negative numbers.0
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unless you have a health issue (diabetes, high blood pressure etc) then no, it doesnt matter0
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I would only be worried about Sugar if they are added sugars.
If the majority of it is coming from fruit, then you are fine and shouldn't worry. If your sugar is largely the added variety (processed foods can have a lot added) then I would suggest scaling back.0 -
Around 30% of adults are sodium sensitive and a large portion of them don't know it. This percentage increases as people age, suggesting that sodium sensitivity is an acquired disease. High blood pressure is notoriously asymptomatic which is why the medical community dubs it "the silent killer." Because of this, I'm always a little hesitant to tell people to blissfully ignore sodium levels - unless they really know they aren't sensitive to it. Even then, you could be fine now and develop it in the future so my recommendation is to pay attention to your sodium levels and don't get in the habit of eating a lot of salty foods.0
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MonkeyCatDog wrote: »
I can't figure out what you need help with. Do you have a question?
You say you know the dangers of too much sodium, but getting it in control is not convenient so you're not doing that and ask for thoughts.
My thought is, "Okay. Fine by me."0
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