Now that I've spent a life time of eating the wrong foods, I'm in a situation where I need to count calories to lose, count carbs because I'm insulin resistant and now manage sodium intake because of the just discovered a fib issues. Thank heavens for the sites like MyFitnessPal that will tell me all of those things.
However, trying to balance it so that I'm at about 1200 calories, 100 g of carbs or less and between 2000-2500 mg of sodium is driving me nuts. Everything has so much salt in it.
So, does anyone know of any good products that are low sodium? Preferably a company like Walden Farms only low sodium. Just realized that while WF is 0 everything, it's very high in sodium so now it's out or at least seriously reduced.
The DASH diet might have some useful tips as far as the lower salt thing goes... don't have to actually follow the diet itself, but it might be worth taking a look at for some ideas and suggestions...
Ok, if you're like me and you do not like to cook this is what I've been doing. I agree, sodium is outrageously high in most processed foods--but! There are a few out there that are ok.
I usually have cereal for breakfast and then a Healthy Choice meal for lunch and then I'll cook for dinner.
Thanks for the feedback. First, as to the 1200 calories being too few. I'm in my 60s. That means I've lost 40% of my metabolism just from aging. If I go to 1500, I will maintain. When I'm at 1800 or as in the past way above that, I gain. It's not unheard of for me to gain 10 pounds in a weekend. So, 1200 is what is working and I'm eating plenty.
I'm eating meat, fruit, and veggies as well as dairy, legumes, nuts, and whole grains. I'm not eating a lot of processed, prepackaged foods. But, at this time of year, I also eat a lot of frozen fruits and veggies both because they're cheaper and they're actually "fresher" than something that has been shipped in from across country or overseas. But foods naturally have sodium in them and they have to be counted. For example, 1% low fat milk for my cereal (1/2 cup) has 60 mg of sodium, a 6 oz container of low fat greek yogurt has 100, multi-grain cheerios has 90, 2 cups of a generic tossed salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber) has 108, 2 TBL of gorgonzola cheese crumbles has 267, 8 baby carrots -- raw -- have 62. So, it's not all just processed food and it doesn't take much to get it to quickly add up to 2500. I have been using the Walden Farm dressings, but found out that 2 TBL has 240 mg of sodium. If you really want to understand how restrictive a 2500 mg allowance of sodium is, consider that 1 TSP (yes, one teaspoon) of salt has 2400 mg of sodium in it. Think how often you sprinkle on some salt to your foods without taking into consideration all of the sodium that's already in the food.
I will look at the DASH diet. If memory serves me correctly that is a cardiac diet and they might have some good ideas. Thanks for that suggestion.
If you're hunting for a reason to keep on losing the weight, I could be your poster child. I'm not deathly ill, but the obesity has definitely taken its toll, and if I don't continue with the weight loss, things will soon start to go terribly wrong. On that happy note , I'll go do more research.
Oh wow, you are working against a lot! I hear you on the age thing, I'm 40 and it's hard! And I didn't realize about the sodium in natural foods. I love salt, and don't have problems with it so I don't ever consider it!
I will look at the DASH diet. If memory serves me correctly that is a cardiac diet and they might have some good ideas. Thanks for that suggestion.
You're welcome... DASH stands for Dietary Approachs to Stop Hypertension... So that's part of the rationale behind it for lowering sodium... And actually, the hospitals that I work with have been using it place of the standard heart healthy diet that we're been using with cardiac patients for years and even in patients that don't have high blood pressure are put on it as well... There is also a version for weight loss as well... and as mentioned, you wouldn't have to follow it necessarily, but it might me worth taking a look at for it's suggestions on strategies on cutting down on salt... Hope this helps...
Thanks all. I'm chuckling again over the fact that I get more info off of this site than from my doctors. One says to lose weight (OK, they ALL say to lose weight), but not one has ever given me a diet to follow. Or referred me to a nutritionist. The cardiologist says to go on a low sodium diet. Again, no diet, no suggestions. When I asked him for recommendations, he said just to do research on the Internet. Ggggrrrrrr. Fortunately I'm perfectly capable of doing that and since I'm very independent and insist on being part of the decision making process in terms of what's being done to me, maybe he figures I'll be more likely to do it if I figure it out. And, to be honest, that may be the case. But just mentioning the DASH diet would have been a good starting point.
Just made up some deviled eggs for my nephew for dinner today and realized that Dijon mustard -- my current go to for sandwich spreads -- has double digit amounts of sodium per tsp. Oh crap. Or maybe it would be more appropriate to say Oh Salt!
Addition Problems
, I'll go do more research.
