I need sodium advice

mccubbinj81
mccubbinj81 Posts: 6 Member
edited December 17 in Food and Nutrition
Looking for advice from anyone that is eating between 2000 and 2700 calories and still staying below the recommended sodium levels. I don't add salt to my meals but i just can't seem to stay under 2500mg. My wife eats about half the calories i do and she is always under on sodium.
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Replies

  • mccubbinj81
    mccubbinj81 Posts: 6 Member
    Bump
  • AbsoluteNG
    AbsoluteNG Posts: 1,079 Member
    Did you go to the doctor and get some bad test results back or something?
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    I have to stay under 1500 and I can hardly do it unless I prepare every single meal. It's not easy! I hope people have some answers for you. Good luck and thanks for posting as I'd like some info too!
  • CaseRat
    CaseRat Posts: 377 Member
    I stay under, or near enough (90% of the time) eating minimum 2,100 calories a day, upto 2,600ish. Add me and have a look at my diary if ya want.

    Edit: A lot of my daily sodium comes from my big tuna lunch or deli most days, and cereal occasionally. So without that it'd be even lower...ignore those things in my diary haha ;)
  • tammyclinch
    tammyclinch Posts: 103 Member
    Check all Labels . my dietican says 1500 mg-2000 a day . I do it most days .. Check labels
  • SerenaNatasha
    SerenaNatasha Posts: 246
    Honestly, I would just take a look at what items in your diary are high in sodium and try to either cut them out of your meals or eat less. When i first started i was constantly going over so i just eliminated most of the things that were high in sodium and replaced them with a lower sodium version :)
  • sun33082
    sun33082 Posts: 416 Member
    I'm looking over your diary and your big offenders are cottage cheese, breads, and dressings/sauces. Learn how to make your own dressings/sauces. Limit the cottage cheese or find lower sodium versions. Compare breads and find lower sodium alternatives.
  • Musikelektronik
    Musikelektronik Posts: 739 Member
    As an addition to the OP's question, does it matter if you consume more than 2500 mg/day?
  • sun33082
    sun33082 Posts: 416 Member
    I notice you're going with a lot of "low fat' items. Those tend to have more sodium and sugar to make up for the flavor.
  • suindamach
    suindamach Posts: 13 Member
    I replace my processed snacks with a whole raw fruit. today i had a whole avocado as a snack. yesterday I had an entire cantaloupe (sp?) as a snack. Both delicious and low in sodium. White rice is low in sodium, i think it has like none. I also found that packaged meat has a whole lot of sodium. Like hotdogs or deli slices are high in sodium. Instead of buying deli meats, you can cook your own chicken breast seasoned to your liking and eat it on a bun instead of eating packaged deli meat. Just some small suggestions. :smile:
  • Birder150
    Birder150 Posts: 677 Member
    I eat 2000+ cals a day.
    My goal is 1500 g sodium per day and most days I'm at or under.
    I eat whole foods mostly and hardly any processed foods.
    It's the processed foods that are killer on the sodium.

    Try to incorporate more one ingredient foods in to your eating plan and you should see the sodium level drop.
  • pobski
    pobski Posts: 42 Member
    I wouldn't worry too much about the sodium unless it's a blood pressure issue or something. It might make you hold some more water, but I don't believe it will hurt you long term. It might just make your weight loss more spiky. Don't stress, keep on keepin on!
  • Beezil
    Beezil Posts: 1,677 Member
    Well, looking at your diary, your main culprits for sodium are bread products. I also saw soy sauce and refried beans in there for today - loaded with it. Try making beans yourself from dry bagged beans instead of buying canned. You don't have to cut bread out of your diet, but maybe try searching for a lower sodium version of the breads you do eat. I eat very little bread usually because of the sodium content - and typically bread has very little else to offer nutritionally. I feel like overall, it's best to get the most out of the calories you eat, so I try to make sure what I'm eating is helping me meet my nutrition goals as much as possible. Otherwise, it's really just excess that can be eliminated entirely. Indulgences are one thing, but filling up your day with empty calories is a good way to go over on sodium and fat.

    I do go over on sodium too a lot more than I'd like, but you're more than welcome to look at my diary and see some of the days where I don't go over for the food choices I make. I hope this helps, good luck!
  • BIGJIMMYU
    BIGJIMMYU Posts: 1,221 Member
    Just happened to notice in your diary- if u r accurate with it, you are not eating nearly enough raw veggies and your water intake(which will flush sodium) is much too low most days.
  • ChristyP0303
    ChristyP0303 Posts: 212 Member
    Stay away from processed foods and tada! Sodium levels stay low...
  • rhichi
    rhichi Posts: 133
    Make your own food, and that doesn't mean heating up the packaged chicken nuggets all by yourself. The vast majority of sodium gets snuck into prepared foods, meats, sauces, broths, and even sweets. Make sure you read the nutrition facts on anything that has more than 1 or 2 ingredients, to make sure you aren't ingesting hidden sodium.
  • SierraElegance
    SierraElegance Posts: 86 Member
    I don't think that's healthy to have so much sodium-- your levels are pretty high! Instead of cottage cheese, you can either do less of the full fat version (as other posters said, they add sodium to low fat foods to make them taste better), or substitute low fat plain Greek yogurt. You can use Bragg Liquid Aminos instead of soy sauce very easily to get rid of that sodium completely. I didn't realize those tortillas were so high in sodium, I would limit yourself to two small ones or one large one per day. If you can cut out a lot of that sodium, you will see your results a lot faster! And I didn't look if you log your water or not, but aim for a gallon a day to get that bad stuff out!
  • johnallen12
    johnallen12 Posts: 46 Member
    I just recently started watching my sodium levels. My cardiologist wants to to stay below 1500 mg. It's incredible how much sodium is in prepared foods. If I prepare my own meals from scratch, it's pretty easy. Lots of fruit and fresh veggies help. I've found some low sodium bread at our health food store so that will help a lot and I've switched a lot of seasonings to avoid salt. Good luck to you.
  • chrisc16
    chrisc16 Posts: 94
    I rarely go over, but I monitor sodium closely (blood pressure is slightly elevated). I read ALL labels and minimize salt (low fat foods) and maximize potassium (potatoes, chicken breasts, bananas, coffee).
  • mentar75
    mentar75 Posts: 5
    1.) Fruits
    2.) Veggies
    3.) Lean meats
    4.) Beans

    Stay away from canned and processed foods... You are right, most premade food adds a ton of salt, fat, and sugar. This is because these three cause addiction! You will get use to the new you! It is so worth it. Make a home made veggie soup, freeze, and take with you. Ezekial bread. Tuna! Always good... Hope this helps! Now you understand why it is so hard to lose weight!
  • Beezil
    Beezil Posts: 1,677 Member
    Just wanted to add, drinking water is good, yes, but it won't get rid of the excess sodium for you... you need to make sure you are getting enough potassium for that. Potassium and sodium go hand in hand with regulating the fluids in our bodies, so it's pretty important!
  • RebekahKuhl
    RebekahKuhl Posts: 16 Member
    I eat between 2000 and 2500 calories and stay under 95% of the time. You can check out my diary if you'd like. I've spent a lot of time looking for the lowest sodium options of most foods - bread, tortillas, canned veggies, etc. I generally stay away from most processed foods also. :smile:
  • skyocom
    skyocom Posts: 41 Member
    Unless you have blood pressure issues you can try balancing the sodium you take in by increasing your potassium intake.
  • JacksMom12
    JacksMom12 Posts: 1,044 Member
    I'm always over in sodium, but my blood pressure is great and it doesn't bother me otherwise. I dont really retain much water from it. I'm super poor, so sometimes completely clean eating is out of the picture. I try my best. Sorry I'm not much help. I am just not one of the sodium snobs.
  • chicpeach
    chicpeach Posts: 302 Member
    I keep my sodium intake under 1500 daily. I eat about 1600 cals daily (give or take a 100). It's not easy. Most prepackaged and preprocessed foods are out. Restaurants are very tricky and often times the only recourse is to special order without salt (many places are unable to do this as they don't actually prepare the food in their restaurants - it arrives already seasoned from some place and they just warm it up, so be warned.)

    But here are some things I've found that may be of help to you:

    Lowest sodium of all the major cereals that I've found is Total Raisin Bran.

    Lowest sodium healthy bread: Sara Lee whole grain white.

    Instead of mayo, try mashed avocado.

    Cookies: Iberia Galletes Maria

    Don't be fooled by low sodium soups and broths, they're still loaded with sodium.

    If you do go over on sodium, be sure to drink extra water. I know this sounds backwards since sodium makes you retain water, but by drinking an excess of 8 glasses, it helps flush it from your system.

    Hope some of the info helps. Feel free to friend me. I'll be as supportive as I can.
  • mhotch
    mhotch Posts: 901 Member
    My husband is on a strict low salt diet. I have found that organic foods are less in sodium. Use fresh ingredients as much as possible. Anything processed will be over loaded with sodium. Cook from scratch whenever time allows. And learn to read labels. I am usually consistent having my sodium less than 1500 per day.
  • chicpeach
    chicpeach Posts: 302 Member
    To the poster who asked about sodium levels:

    The mayo clinic, and indeed many doctors recommend that those under 50 and in good health should limit their sodium to 2500 or less. Those with high blood pressure or over 50 (some argue that anyone over 40) should limit their sodium to 1500 a day.
  • jhardenbergh
    jhardenbergh Posts: 1,035 Member
    any type of processed or packaged food is going to be loaded with sodium, I try to avoid it but sometimes like today it was unavoidable, we had Panera for dinner. Restaurant food is usually loaded with sodium as well.
  • RetroGlitzDiva
    RetroGlitzDiva Posts: 109 Member
    Stay away from processed foods and you won't have any issues.
  • Hood25
    Hood25 Posts: 201 Member
    Mission Carb balance medium tortillas have 280mg per tortilla which I have found to be lower than most and it also has lower carbs and high fiber which helps x out some of the carbs. I use these for my husband who has high blood pressure and has to watch his sodium intake. They taste really good and are close to the 'real' deal. Also, Clints salsa is waaay lower than most salsa's and is a life saver to add some flavor to things that are a little bland.
    Compare and contrast and try different things. It will be trial and error but it can be done. I've had to work hard to help my husband. I have low sodium intake on pretty much every day. I don't have to go low sodium but it just works out that way with my food choices. Your welcome to look at my diary as well.
    Good Luck!
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