Diet Advice! HELP

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conkle23
conkle23 Posts: 171 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I am on this Low Sodium, and High Protein diet

I am really having a hard time to find food/snacks or lunches that are low in sodium and really easy to make or grab quick. Because working in a office environment it so easy to buy soda and fast food but I need to find things I can have that are low calorie and low in sodium but still worth eating for tastability. If I could get some pointers and or advice that would be GREAT! Thanks Guys and Gals.
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  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
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    Feel free to view my diary.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
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    Low sodium pretty much rules out processed, prepared, or convenient foods.

    Is there a particular reason why you need to limit sodium? A low sodium and high protein diet isn't necessary to lose weight.
  • joyB1973
    joyB1973 Posts: 6 Member
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    Are you wanting to make food and bring it to the office ? What I have done for my lunches at work is grilled chicken breast (skinless) and hard boiled egg . Not sure what your food tastes are. Right now I am trying to avoid gluten and high sodium / high calories so I make a bunch of chicken for the week and throw it on a salad or eat it with a hard boiled egg and some carrots and maybe a Greek yogurt and that's all I have for my morning lunches at work.
  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
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    amyrebeccah wrote: »
    OK, looked at your diary and here are some swaps you can make.

    String cheese-->greek yogurt, swiss cheese, or goat cheese
    Lunchmeat-->precook some chicken or turkey cutlets. Portion out and place in baggie
    canned tuna--> they sell low-sodium varieties of this, shop the labels.
    cold cereals--> shop the varieties, Kashi, shredded wheat (even the frosted).
    Hamburger helper/chipotle--> make your own

    +1

    Small changes are the best way!! Much easier to tweak your diet than it is to overhaul the whole thing.
  • sheermomentum
    sheermomentum Posts: 827 Member
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    Low-sodium is going to be difficult if you don't want to cook. They do sell lower sodium turkey breast and roast beef cold cuts, and some lower sodium cheeses, but I could not tell you just how much lower they are; you could look on manufacturers sites such as butterball and boar's head. Nuts are basically fat and protein and low in sodium IF they are unsalted, but you also specify low-calorie, so you'd have to determine what kind of portion would fit into your plans. Hummus is not terribly high in sodium. Its hard to say more without a better understanding of your targets, but, in all honesty, for maximum deliciousness paired with control over the sodium, I highly recommend figuring out what you can cook ahead of time (like over the weekend) and package up for the rest of the week. Here's some starter ideas: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/healthy_low_sodium_recipes
  • conkle23
    conkle23 Posts: 171 Member
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    @beemerphile1 I am not sure why you said that this is not a weight loss diet. I am curiouse why you think this. Cause my professional trainer does say this is an ideal diet. Can you by chance explain yourself?
  • conkle23
    conkle23 Posts: 171 Member
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    @amyrebeccah I have been swapping that too. I do not eat bread or sandwhich meat now. And do eat boneless chicken breast. I am going to not eating string cheese anymore once it is gone. And I have now been eating fit low fat greek yogurt.
  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
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    conkle23 wrote: »
    @beemerphile1 I am not sure why you said that this is not a weight loss diet. I am curiouse why you think this. Cause my professional trainer does say this is an ideal diet. Can you by chance explain yourself?

    This wasn't directed at me. However, the point is that it's not necessary for weight loss. Will it work? Sure-if you're in a calorie deficit any diet will work. Is it necessary? No.

    Your PT prescribed this diet? What kind of workouts are you doing? Unless medically necessary-I would stay away from low sodium diets if you're breaking a sweat every day.
  • conkle23
    conkle23 Posts: 171 Member
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    High sodium is one of the numbers 4th riss for death in men. High sodium is also a cause of Heart disease and so forth. With wanting to lose weight it goes hand in hand to wanting to be healthy. I want to lose the weight and become as healthy as possible. With staying in all my macro and micro nutrients. Proteins, Carbs, Fats, Fibers & Sodium, which hitting all those numbers I usually fall close to what I need to be around in calories.
  • conkle23
    conkle23 Posts: 171 Member
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    @amyrebeccah and correct higher sodium makes you reatain a lot of more water weight, which is also detrimental to losing weight.
  • Pinnacle_IAO
    Pinnacle_IAO Posts: 608 Member
    edited August 2015
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    conkle23 wrote: »
    So I am on this Low Sodium, and High Protein diet

    I am really having a hard time to find food/snacks or lunches that are low in sodium and really easy to make or grab quick. Because working in a office environment it so easy to buy soda and fast food but I need to find things I can have that are low calorie and low in sodium but still worth eating for tastability. If I could get some pointers and or advice that would be GREAT! Thanks Guys and Gals.
    You need to prepare and cook your own foods and limit yourself to those meals. That's just it. :/

    It's actually quite simple but so very hard.

    It's just so easy and cheap to load our bodies with garbage over loaded with salt, sugar and fat while stripped of most nutrition. That's the typical western diet today. We've processed and demineralized our foods, then wonder why our collective health is falling.
    Take charge of your life and your health by deciding to be different.

    Good Luck Brother!

  • conkle23
    conkle23 Posts: 171 Member
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    @Pinnacle_IAO Thanks man I appreciate it! Ya, i hear you! just needing that push in the right direction always help you know?
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Sodium is not important for all of us. It is only important to certain groups and to certain people who have certain medical issues.

    Sodium is in all cheese and most things from the grocery store including protein bars. You could cook some meals from home on the weekend and otherwise keep your week day menus the same because they are ok. The lower sodium from Saturday and Sunday will help bring down your average over the week. Keep doing what you are doing to keep your calorie numbers down.
    Calories are the entire ball game when it comes to losing weight.
    Also, you can pretty much ignore all food advice from your trainer. Seriously.
  • sheermomentum
    sheermomentum Posts: 827 Member
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    conkle23 wrote: »
    @amyrebeccah and correct higher sodium makes you reatain a lot of more water weight, which is also detrimental to losing weight.

    I'm sorry, but this is not quite accurate. Losing water weight is not really desirable unless you are already retaining a whole lot more water than a typical person (as you would if you had edema or some inflammatory disease). Your scale may tell you that you are a couple pounds lighter if you lose the water, but that doesn't mean you've lost any actual body fat. You won't look any thinner or feel any better, and you may be ridding yourself of water that your body actually could use to support your metabolism. When you said you were on a low-sodium diet, I did assume that your doctor had recommended it for health reasons, and that was a mistake on my part. If you don't have high blood pressure or other health problems now, and your doctor has not specifically recommended that you reduce sodium intake below the recommended "normal" amounts, then probably what you are shooting for is not a "low sodium" diet per se, but just lowering the amount of sodium that you get if your diet consists of mainly highly processed and convenience foods. The solution is simple in theory but may be a pain in the butt for you: read labels, and cook more from scratch. There are absolutely no convenience or take-out foods that are not high in sodium.

  • ki4eld
    ki4eld Posts: 1,215 Member
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    I gotta say... when I want advice on how to sculpt my thighs, I don't go to a nutritionist. When I want diet advice, I don't go to my trainer. They have specialties for a reason.

    If you haven't had a full blood panel to see your nutrition profile, then you might be cutting yourself short on the diet. You may be cutting where you don't need to cut or not making cuts where it's going to matter most. My husband did a "great diet" recommended to him by a trainer and it did nothing for him except make him tired. When he went to the nutritionist and got a blood panel done, the "great diet" decimated a few vital nutrients. It took him months to build back to feeling good with good numbers, yet did nothing at all to help him lose weight or even sculpt.
  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
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    conkle23 wrote: »
    High sodium is one of the numbers 4th riss for death in men. High sodium is also a cause of Heart disease and so forth. With wanting to lose weight it goes hand in hand to wanting to be healthy. I want to lose the weight and become as healthy as possible. With staying in all my macro and micro nutrients. Proteins, Carbs, Fats, Fibers & Sodium, which hitting all those numbers I usually fall close to what I need to be around in calories.

    If you're sweating every day and staying well hydrated, watch your sodium. You don't want to go too low. Often, a recommended snack post-run (by dietitians, not trainers) include pretzels or another salty item. Google electrolytes an read up on it.

    It's not usually a bad thing to cut sodium down. Often, this means you're paying more attention to your diet, and making more food yourself. No one is arguing that point. Not to mention-if you have high blood pressure or renal failure-it's a necessity. However, assuming no pre-existing conditions, sodium can be an important part of your diet.

    Water weight has zero to do with weight loss. Water fluctuates for many reasons. The goal in weight loss is to lose fat.
  • conkle23
    conkle23 Posts: 171 Member
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    All I was meaning is that I am trying to cut Sodium to stay healthy, and also I was always told and have researched that high amount of sodium also retains a lot of water, which also adds numbers to the scale which I stopped weighing my self as much , and I also wanted to stay as close possible to my true weight number.
  • conkle23
    conkle23 Posts: 171 Member
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    So ... if your all telling me not to watch my sodium I wont lol, it makes it much more harder to track that.
  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
    edited August 2015
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    conkle23 wrote: »
    So ... if your all telling me not to watch my sodium I wont lol, it makes it much more harder to track that.

    In my humble opinion-just be sensible. Don't eat ONLY high sodium food. If a doctor tells you to watch it-then you absolutely should. BUT if you're barely going over the recommended amount, eating an overall healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise-I wouldn't sweat it. Worry about the big things first :-)
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
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    conkle23 wrote: »
    So ... if your all telling me not to watch my sodium I wont lol, it makes it much more harder to track that.

    Sodium and electrolytes are needed particularly if you are doing hard sweaty workouts.

    Avoiding excessive sodium is a good thing but it can come later. If your primary focus is to lose weight, don't make it more complicated than it needs to be.

    You lose weight by consuming less calories than your body burns. Reducing sodium is a general health issue. Losing weight is hard enough all by itself, I would recommend that you concentrate right now on calories.

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