I count calories on this one site, it says that a person should have 1,500mg of sodium a day BUT I normally have 2,000-2,500mg of sodium when I put in the food i'm going to eat for the day. Also having the same problem with sugar, its not marked on the site but when I look im going over with sugar as well!
I know both are bad but how can I have less sugar and sodium in my diet? I don't really know what other foods to get that wouldn't have a lot of that stuff I pretty much have just been living on cereal,wheat bread, chicken, fish, and wheat bagels since im kind of lost at what to eat
Are your sugars from good things, like fruit? When I upped my servings of fruit, I noticed much higher sugar levels...but its not processed "bad" sugar. If you are eating processed foods, or drinking lots of soda, juice, etc, there will be extra sugar. Try cutting back on those things. If its from fruit, I wouldn't worry too much.
Also, with the sodium, processed foods (even raw meat) will have sodium. Try to cut it out when you can (buy low sodium stuff when available...we do pasta sauce, salsa, soda, canned veggies, peanut butter.....sodium is added to basically everything).
Really watch for frozen meals like Lean Cuisines. They have LOTS of sodium. Just try to cut it back, and by making small changes, you can really impact your health. I am down to 700-800 mgs daily just by making small changes. And take notice. Different brands of milk will have different sodium levels....different cheeses have different levels, just about every product you buy. If you want to decrease this, you have to read labels like crazy and compare products.
If you can look for lower sodium versions of packaged food you buy.
Do you have high blood pressure? The 1500mg is recommended if you have high blood pressure, as long as you are under 2300 mg consistently you are doing pretty good.
What are you eating that has sugar in it? Your cereal? Or fruits? Fruits are better than something like cereal.
I honestly try to eat as much from scratch as possible. Literally the only packaged food I can think of that I buy off the top of my head is things like ranch dressing and butter lol.
I am having an issue with sugar as well. It tells me to aim for 32g a day..well, I eat a grapefruit for breakfast and that gives me 20! Add my greek yogurt which I usually have before lunch and I am over for the day and it's only 10:30. I am trying to just really have it come from fruits and really watch any type of sugar coming from processed foods like coffee mixes or cereal. I can't reach that goal of 32 because I eat too many fruits in the first place, but I just try to watch what it comes from.
As far as sodium, just pay more attention to what it's coming from and try and cut those out.
I keep my sugar intake under 15 g/day, and to do that I had to stop eating nearly all yogurt and most fruit. There is like one brand of yogurt that is pretty low-sugar that I have on occasion and for fruit I'm allllll about berries now - I have some every day - and avocado. When I reach my weight-loss goal I'll try to add yogurt and most fruits back in. Basically all the sugar I get in a day is from berries, vegetables (like tomatoes, onions) and little bits from the processed food that I eat (some meats, cheeses, whole grains).
@Razorbackbritt
Thanks for the info, I think most of my sugars are from fruit because I dont drink anything but water and dont add sugar to anything I eat
@beerab
Ah I didnt know that! I dont think I have high blood pressure I haven't been to the doctor in almost 2 years.
@ERHR
Oh wow its amazing you can keep it that low, berries dont have a lot of sugar? As for yogurt I havent found any thats under 10g of sugar I would think there would be sugar free yogurt some where!
@Razorbackbritt
Ill have to look when I go to the store though I dont eat yogurt a lot unless I need it to get my calories in since I find it hard to get in at least 1,300 calories adding the vanilla and berries sound good since my favorite flavor is cherry vanilla
@WASaBubbleButt
If I cut out my wheat bread/bagels ill have even more trouble getting in my calories and I eat Great Value Corn Flakes cereal, also dont think we have a Krogers around here because I never heard of it.
@WASaBubbleButt
Ah thats why I never heard of them, Harrisburg is an hour away and my mom doesnt like going up there because people drive crazy there xD I searched but there were none within 10miles of my town other then turkey hill which is just a place to get gas
Oh I should clarify, I don't eat any artificial sweeteners either - so if something is sweet and "sugar-free" I won't have it. The only brand of yogurt I've had is Fage, but I only eat like half at a time. Most days I'd rather allocate my sugar grams to fruits and vegetables.
Berries have lower sugar content than many other fruits and I'll only have a few per day, like maybe 10 blackberries or 5 strawberries. But they are jam-packed with nutrients so they have a big health impact for a small amount of calories/sugar/carbs.
Sodium and Sugar
