[dawnsky]

Hi all!
I made a post earlier (Stuck at 214!) Well I was 213.5 this morning!
However, that isn't the issue. I have been keeping track of caloires for around 4 weeks or so now, so I decided to start counting another one. I think I will now start keeping track of sodium! When I get used to keeping track of calories and sodium I will then start on the fat grams, carbs, protein etc. It will take some time for me to get used to all of this counting, but I am doing pretty good and starting to feel SO much better! I actually have energy now! So I was adding up everything I ate today.. When I added up the sodium my eye balls just about blew out! I couldn't believe the sodium intake I have been eating!! Here is the list of sodium for today.

Oatmeal 150 calories, 0 sodium, 2.5 grams of fat
Saled 100 calories (not sure about the sodium or fat)
Tuna Saled (Tuna) 150 calories, 930 sodium, 3 grams of fat
Reduced fat Mayo (for tuna) 40 calories, 300 sodium, 3 grams of fat
italian dressing (for saled) 75 calories, 0 fat, 2,320 sodium!!!!!!!!!!!!
Healthy Choice Meal, 230 calories, 600 sodium and 4.5 grams of fat.

I still haven't had dinner or a snack yet!!!! Yet this is what everything comes to. aprox.

Calories: 745 (not counting dinner or a snack) havent had those yet
Fat: 13.3 grams (not counting dinner or snack)
Sodium 4 THOUSAND, 1 HUNDREAD and FIFTY!!!!!!! (not counting dinner or snack!!!!)

My question to you is this; Do you think I may not be getting a lower weight on the scale because of all of the sodium I have been having? It may be making me retain alot of fluid weight? Could that be possible? I mean... I have been having around 5 THOUSAND grams of sodium everyday! I am now thinking that I wont be at 213.5 tomorrow because of all of the sodium I have had today. (Which is a little more then usual, but not much more)

What is your take on it? Also, would you all please, please list some low calorie, low sodium foods that I could start eating. I am just now starting to venture out and count other things I am eating and it is frustrating at times. So any food you could point me in the direction of would be so great!

Thank you soo much!!!

[ChrystalM]

Sodium can make you retain water, so I would think that it could be the culprit. That seems like alot of sodium for dressing, is it 2,400mg per serving? You likely will have to just check nutrition labels when shopping. For salad dressing you could also make your own. I like just using a little oil and vinegar sometimes. You can find tons of recipes online by searching. My DH and I usually prepare meals and don't use alot of prepackaged, boxed or frozen meals. Have you tried using dailyplate or fit day to keep track of nutrients? I like DP because it has alot of name brand foods.

As far as low sodium, low cal foods, have you looked at the recipe section on the home page for 3fc? There are several there. I also use several cookbooks like Rachael Ray and Biggest Loser, also I get recipes from allrecipes.com. Good luck with everything!

[its my time]

Yes that sodium can make you retain water, the other thing is how many calories are you getting a day, if its not enough your body will go into starvation mode also try changing your calorie intake like every day or every 3 days or so, say your have 1600 one day try 1400 the next and keep changing it up if you shock your system like that it also helps w/the lose,

also are you getting enough water to flush out all that sodium make for example if you are getting the min amount of water try uping it up a few more servings,

as far as low sodium foods I don't really have a prob w/that, but you can always go to google and google low sodium foods and see what that brings up,

Good luck

[JayEll]

I think there must be some mistake reading the label on that italian dressing. You wouldn't be able to eat it if it had that much sodium per serving.

Water isn't what we need to worry about, it's fat. Yes, eating too much sodium will cause some water retention, but the real problem there is not drinking enough water or other liquids to flush out the sodium.

People without high blood pressure do not need to worry about sodium. You don't have to start eating low sodium foods. In fact, we need to have sodium--if people don't get enough sodium, say, because they are drinking too much water, then they can become ill.

I would say that tracking calories is the main thing, and nutrients second to that.

Jay

[dawnsky]

The italian dressing is 'Free Zesty italian' by Kraft.

It only has 15 calories in it per serving and 480 MG of sodium per serving. One serving size is 2 tbsp. So.... I just may have had about 8 tbsp's of it!!

Maybe next time I will just go for 2-3 tbsp I'm a cow.. I know it! It was SO salty I had to force myself to eat it at the end...

Oh and I couldn't help it... I got on the scale today... Back to 214 lbs.. grrrrrr

Happy Saturday everyone!!

[baffled111]

One way to keep your sodium lower is to avoid processed foods: they are the main culprits. But I agree with Jayell, sodium isn't such a huge problem for weight loss (and for my money, you'd be better off tracking protein and fiber to start with: those have more impact on weight loss, how full you feel and how full you stay).

Salad dressing is super easy to make. I keep it in a jar in the fridge and treat it like commercial salad dressing (it lasts forever just like commercial dressing). Balsamic vinegar, a tb olive oil, a dab of dijon mustard, salt, pepper, a dash of sugar (makes up for the low oil:balsamic ratio) and a cracked clove of garlic and shake it all together in a jar. The mustard and garlic are optional but add a little more flavor. It takes about 3 minutes, is very low cal, low in sodium and tastes delish.

[vixjean]

www.myfooddiary.com
it counts sodium for me and gives me a warning when I go over, and saturated fats too, it probably counts everthing, but those are the warnings I get.

[FluffeyNutter]

It's so hard to eat non-processed foods. I work more than full time and I can't get time to cook. I'm in awe of all you who can find time to do it!

[JayEll]

I use Newman's brand, and often the Olive-Oil-and-Vinegar dressing (full fat). It has 150 mg sodium per serving (2 TBSP). Yes, it is high in calories--90 per serving--but I usually have 1/2 serving (1 TBSP) on a whole salad.

Once you get used to eating less dressing, the salad tastes just as good as drenched. I doubt I'd be able to get through a salad with as much as you used.

Jay

[Heather]

I agree with some of the other posters that you probably don't need to overly worry about sodium, unless you have high blood pressure. There may be other things to keep track of (like protein and fiber) that can help you create a program that helps you lose weight.

But if you want to cut back on sodium -- just cut back on that salad dressing. Are you really sure you used 8 tbsp? That's a half a cup!!!

[sugarcoatit07]

u could def cut back on that dressing i use that fat free italian salad dressing packets which have 25 cals per packet it's about 1.5 oz it does have like 430 mg of salt tho and no cals