Sodium Questions

How many mg. are you talking about? My husband is on a low sodium diet (2 grams or 2000 mg/day) & since I don't want to cook separate meals for us, I eat the same things. I usually am under 2000 (mfp gives me up to 2500). Frequently I'm at about 1500 in a day. Read labels - you'd be surprised how much sodium is in anything pre-made. Watch out for sauce mixes, salad dressings, and anything like hamburger helper. Start with your own rice or pasta, don't salt water when boiling, and add fresh or frozen veggies, fresh meats, etc. for a casserole or one-pot meal. Using the recipe maker on mfp is a great way to check anything you make from scratch.

You are not dumb just maybe trying to track too much. It might be a matter of choosing to track the things that are important to you. I take a multi-vitamin among other supplements and eat all foods pretty clean- I don't cut out any food groups these days (although I have in the past) so I do not even look at vitamin counts anymore as my normal diet plus the supplements give me what I need and then some. Of course, if one is eliminating foods like dairy or meats one might have to keep an eye on calcium, B vitamins, iron, etc., I too am wondering what your daily sodium goal is. I watch my sodium pretty closely and am usually able to stay at or below 1500 or so-yes, many veggies and otherwise healthy and natural foods have sodium- some like Swiss chard have a lot when compared to say, kale. I myself do not pay attention to every single item that MFP tracks and it doesn't differentiate between sugars in fruit and refined sugars. That being said, I do limit myself to one or two servings of fruit a day, and those are usually the ones that are the highest in fiber and antioxidants and lower on the glycemic index. I also really limit a lot of sweet/starchy veggies like beets and corn.

There are some things I track just to be sure I am getting enough and even have set higher than the MFP default- protein and fiber are two that if I go over I am happy. As the others have said, seek out no or lower-sodium options- for example, Sargento's low-fat Swiss slices have way less sodium than the low-fat cheddar slices. I put my food for the day in my tracker and will pick and choose things based on sodium and calories, which are the two things I will make food choices about.

I have just started having great results-almost 20 pounds gone in the last couple of months-and I think it is because I have finally started to dial in what affects my body. Even though I joined in 2010 I didn't really start using MFP consistently until this past February). Try not to get too discouraged- use the tracker as a way to get to know how your body is affected by what you are eating and as a planning tool.