Weight-Loss Sodium and carbs.......

[FatPig]

I've tried food diary apps in the past but none tracked ALL the nutrients like the one I'm using for the last two weeks or so. What an eye opener! I didn't realize just how many carbs and sodium I had been consuming even after making major changes! I've always watched calories but it's now clear that they are but a small part of the equation. In the last 7 days I've averaged 2227mg of sodium per day , 155gr of carbs per day and 1574 calories per day. The carbs are high but not that far out of what some say is OK. The sodium however explains why I'm doing everything to change what and how I eat to lose weight then gain it all back overnight and then some. Water weight!

I was feeling a little weird this morning and checked my blood pressure. Almost wish I hadn't. It wasn't good. Even though I've completely restructured my food quality and quantity AND am finally exercising things just aren't going to plan. Sodium to blame again. Losing weight just to see it come right back when I weigh the next morning is downright depressing!

I've structured my lunch and dinner times to noon and 5:00pm. Breakfast is whenever I drag my fat carcass out of bed. Could be anywhere from 4:00am to 9:00am.... I have no refined sugar in the house. No soda. No candy. No chips or cookies. Closest thing to a treat is Triscuit crackers with sea salt. Blahhhhhh.

I have spent the entire day today online trying to track down foods that I #1 am willing to even eat AND #2 can afford to help me lower those crazy numbers I have been ingesting. It's bewildering the amount of self proclaimed nutritional "experts" out there and not a damned one of them agree! No wonder the nation is obese! Lots of information online and none of it worth a hill of beans. I'm hoping to hear from real dieters what kind of numbers work for them. I couldn't care less about any medical studies, I want to know what real people are changing their diet to and the numbers they see as far a nutrients. The good and especially the BAD ones.

I'll be grocery shopping next weekend and you can be sure all of my bad sodium and carbs numbers will be dropping dramatically. I'm having no problem with portion control right now and can and WILL make dropping my sodium and carb intake #1 priority. Hope to hear food suggestions that have worked for REAL dieters.

Pig

 

[Cate]

Sodium is a killer. It's very hard to reduce it, but my cardio thinks it's one of the most important things we can do. I'll leave it to the others to suggest ways of losing weight healthily as I am no nutritional expert but I know that I have to cut down starchy carbs & sodium to lose weight & wine, which I find even harder. I'm back to day 1 of logging on MFP to lose 10 kg of regained weight. It's disheartening, but the main thing is never giving up.

 

[Trusylver]

I struggle to add enough sodium to meet minimum requirements, If you do not eat processed food then you will not have a problem with excess sodium.

 

[PLB]

I try to tell people that it takes time to learn the skills you need to do this weight management thing. I know how frustrating it is with all of the mixed messages out there, so it can be really difficult to figure out what to do. Just try not to be too hard on yourself when you find a part of your new habits that could be improved. You've done a good deal of change already, so now you've got one more hurdle to jump in reducing your sodium intake. When you've been logging your food intake, what foods are the biggest culprits for increasing your daily sodium? Like Trusylver pointed out, the fewer processed foods you consume, the less sodium you will likely be eating (unless you add salt or salty seasonings to everything!).

 

[FatPig]

Yesterday's (and today's) BP scare has made me change priorities. Lowering BP is now top priority but I think I can probably continue working weight loss at the same time. Sodium seems to be the hardest hurdle to clear. They put that garbage in everything! As a divorced old man of course most of the food in my house WAS processed. I've now gone through my freezer, fridge and cabinets and boxed up all the "bad" food. I gave it to my adult children rather than throw it away. Does that make me a horrible father?

I've become obsessed with changing my diet for the better. Hope it's not too late for all the damage I've caused to my heart. My ex-wife says I don't have a heart so how can I have any heart problems? (we're actually better friends since the divorce)

I've been all over the internet looking for info and especially recipes then it came to me.....Maybe the American Heart Association knows something, Bingo! They have all kinds of healthy recipes on their site. Heart Assoc. recipes (LINK) I hope it's OK to post the link.

Something else I found out about. It's a sodium free salt alternative called "No Salt". It's Potassium. Zero sodium and zero just about anything else so it seems to be the panacea for salt lovers IF it tastes like salt. It costs a LOT more than table salt but I'm going to get some next shopping trip and give it a try.

I'm really happy with my diet today. I'll consume way less than 800 calories and NOT be hungry. I think I can keep my sodium intake below 600mg as well.

No wonder American is obese. It's HARD WORK trying to eat healthy!

Pig

 

[Trusylver]

Something else I found out about. It's a sodium free salt alternative called "No Salt". It's Potassium. Zero sodium and zero just about anything else so it seems to be the panacea for salt lovers IF it tastes like salt. It costs a LOT more than table salt but I'm going to get some next shopping trip and give it a try.

Take care in using salt replacement products containing potassium chloride, Potassium consumed in excess may be harmful for some people. For example, many persons with kidney problems are unable to rid their bodies of excessive potassium, which could result in a deadly situation. If you have kidney problems or are on medication for your heart, kidneys or liver, it is best to check with your physician before using salt substitutes in place of sodium.

 

[FatPig]

I'm living on Social Security now. No insurance. No chance of seeing a doctor. Back when I had insurance and begged doctors to help me control BP and lose weight they acted like they didn't hear me in the whole 3.5 minutes they spent in the exam room with me. I'll be damned if I'll make a Mercedes payment for one of those b@st@rds 100% out of my pocket now! The one and only time I ever left a doctors office knowing what was actually wrong with me was when I had early shingles. Other than that I only left wondering why I wasted my time there. About 30 years ago I got an ambulance ride and spent the night in the hospital with IV's and several shots of something, later to find out it was due to extremely low potassium levels but they never told me that even at discharge. Luckily my girlfriend worked in that hospitals records and got me copies of my records. It was plain to see the low potassium level. I easily diagnosed myself! Started taking supplements for a few weeks and was fine. No more heart going wonky. Sorry, but money driven doctors are a very, very, very sore spot for me........

Based on my diet right now and most certainly before I started I'm at a potassium deficit. I like salt but I don't pour it on everything so for the small amount I'll use I hope I'll be safe using a salt substitute.

Pig

 

[Sila1324]

I'm living on Social Security now. No insurance. No chance of seeing a doctor. Back when I had insurance and begged doctors to help me control BP and lose weight they acted like they didn't hear me in the whole 3.5 minutes they spent in the exam room with me. I'll be damned if I'll make a Mercedes payment for one of those b@st@rds 100% out of my pocket now! The one and only time I ever left a doctors office knowing what was actually wrong with me was when I had early shingles. Other than that I only left wondering why I wasted my time there. About 30 years ago I got an ambulance ride and spent the night in the hospital with IV's and several shots of something, later to find out it was due to extremely low potassium levels but they never told me that even at discharge. Luckily my girlfriend worked in that hospitals records and got me copies of my records. It was plain to see the low potassium level. I easily diagnosed myself! Started taking supplements for a few weeks and was fine. No more heart going wonky. Sorry, but money driven doctors are a very, very, very sore spot for me........

Based on my diet right now and most certainly before I started I'm at a potassium deficit. I like salt but I don't pour it on everything so for the small amount I'll use I hope I'll be safe using a salt substitute.

Pig

Hi,

To my experience, when I had a great intake of salt, it was actually that my body was so depleted that I needed to use salt to boost it. I can recommend some useful information sources for you to learn how your body functions and how to help it losing weight while getting back to health. On youtube, check out Montreal Healthy girl and Thierry Casasnovas (he is French but some of the videos have English subtitles). You can also use free tools like Lifextend to get information about foods that help supporting organs and health in general. You can get really good information even if you can't get a doctor to help you (and my experience is that the majority of medical doctors don't really know how to eat better to get healthy). While getting more info, add fermented food, kombucha and kefir (homemade) to your diet. This will help your gut flora getting more beneficial bacteria (as bad gut flora leads you to bad food cravings). Go step by step. Make gradual changes. Wish you all the best.

 

[PLB]

When taking your BP, how are you getting the measurement? Are you doing it yourself at home? Following the same routine before your measurement? Are you taking it at different points in the day?

As for your sodium intake above, you are still under the recommended upper limit, but at your low caloric intake, it seems high considering the amount of food you are eating. Canada and the US seem to be in agreement that people should not eat more than 2300 mg per day (~ 1 teaspoon) and that most people should shoot for about 1000 to 1500 mg per day. Here are some links with information:

Sodium in Canada - Canada.ca

American Heart Association - How much sodium should I eat per day?

FDA - Use the Nutrition Facts Label to Reduce Your Sodium Intake

Heart and Stroke Foundation - Reduce salt

 

[FatPig]

When taking your BP, how are you getting the measurement? Are you doing it yourself at home? Following the same routine before your measurement? Are you taking it at different points in the day?

I have been taking my BP midday. I have an Omron HEM-780 that my doctor approved of last time I saw him.

Since my last post (apologies for all the angry words toward doctors) BP has been dropping. Still quite high but now out of the call 911 range. I immediately changed my diet based strictly on sodium content. A side benefit has been the lower sodium foods that I'm eating are very filling but are low in calories as well. I'm now having a hard time wanting to eat so along with lowered sodium I'm seeing way lower calories. I'm seldom hungry and have to remind myself to eat. Probably a good problem to have. I seldom eat more than 1000 calories now and exercise drops that number even further. Yesterday was 539 calories adjusted to only 359 after exercise. I didn't eat any lunch because grits for breakfast was so filling and I simply wasn't hungry at lunchtime.

I'm NOT a fish eater but because I wanted to add Omega 3 to my diet I bought some salmon fillets and air fried them with a little EVOO and a few seasonings but NO salt. WOW! I like salmon now! Also found a recipe for tuna salad using plain Greek yogurt instead of mayo. I eat it right out of the bowl. Not as a sandwich. Good stuff! Unfortunately because of all the mercury we've dumped in the ocean and the tuna have absorbed I can't eat it every day. Bummer...

Since Monday my highest sodium intake has been 1274mg and my lowest 622.6. I'm still purging some "bad" foods and did shopping this morning. Everything I bought was with health in mind and not so much calories. I figure in a week or two I'll have a personal diet that works for me to lose weight AND keep my ticker ticking.

Pig

 

[FatPig]

Just had lunch. 4 oz. salmon in the air fryer oven with nothing but EVOO and Mrs Dash table seasoning. I wasn't hungry but needed to eat and DANG this was good! 295 calories and 175,9 grams sodium (mainly from the salmon). Tastes amazing and is healthy. The Mrs. Dash will now become an easy replacement for table salt.

Pig
Link Removed

 

[FatPig]

One reason I expect to succeed with a diet this time is that while healthy eating has now become the main priority the path I'm following is leading me to eat things I've never eaten before or eaten very little. Now salmon isn't just a main course, it's a treat! I'm now finding salt replacements that add so much more flavor without killing my heart from all the sodium! Better veggies on the counter and in the fridge too.

I know chickpeas/garbanzo beans are good stuff and supposedly make good snacks but so far, yuck.....I tried a few years ago to bake them with garlic salt and they were still disgusting. I did pick up some roasted garlic hummus this morning. Tasted it with a small chunk of Triscuit and it was OK. Still not a Dorito. I hate to lose and so far chickpeas are kicking my butt so if you have a link to a recipe for tasty chickpeas I'd sure love to see it.

Pig

 

[alligatorob]

Hey FP, sorry to hear that you are struggling with blood pressure. A trick a friend of mine with kidney problems taught me to help with sodium was to use very fine salt when I put salt on food. The fine salt dissolves more quickly on the tongue and tastes like a lot more salt than courser salt. Not a cure all, but every little bit helps. The good news is that you are doing good things about your diet and health, no matter what else you are better off than if you were not trying to eat and live better.

I still think you need to change that name, it has a negative connotation to me, one you don't deserve. I am sure people have referred to me as a fat pig behind my back over the years, so I am a bit sensitive to it.

 

[aiminglow]

Hello, FP and all the people here. Just wanted to say that I'm really appreciating being able to "listen in" to this conversation. I'm pretty ignorant about things like how much salt or potassium or whatever is a useful/non-harmful amount, and thanks to threads like this I'm slowly getting a bit of a handle on things.

 

[PLB]

I have been taking my BP midday. I have an Omron HEM-780 that my doctor approved of last time I saw him.

That's good, did you get instructions on when to take your BP or how often? Keep in mind that your BP will change often throughout the day, depending on many factors. Usually, you want to relax for a minute or two before starting the measurement, but it's good to know your BP in various states of rest/non-rest as well. Taking it just once per day gives you just a small snapshot, so if you're not following the same routine beforehand, then you'll likely get results that are a bit all over the place.

Since my last post (apologies for all the angry words toward doctors) BP has been dropping. Still quite high but now out of the call 911 range. I immediately changed my diet based strictly on sodium content. A side benefit has been the lower sodium foods that I'm eating are very filling but are low in calories as well. I'm now having a hard time wanting to eat so along with lowered sodium I'm seeing way lower calories. I'm seldom hungry and have to remind myself to eat. Probably a good problem to have. I seldom eat more than 1000 calories now and exercise drops that number even further. Yesterday was 539 calories adjusted to only 359 after exercise. I didn't eat any lunch because grits for breakfast was so filling and I simply wasn't hungry at lunchtime.

I'm glad that you've been getting better measurements, that must have been frightening to see such high numbers. That really seems like a very low amount of calories. If I am reading this right, did you only eat a total of 539 calories that day, then do 200 calories worth of exercise? An important issue with eating so few calories is the inability to get a well rounded diet in there to ensure you are getting enough of the proper vitamins and minerals.

I'm NOT a fish eater but because I wanted to add Omega 3 to my diet I bought some salmon fillets and air fried them with a little EVOO and a few seasonings but NO salt. WOW! I like salmon now! Also found a recipe for tuna salad using plain Greek yogurt instead of mayo. I eat it right out of the bowl. Not as a sandwich. Good stuff! Unfortunately because of all the mercury we've dumped in the ocean and the tuna have absorbed I can't eat it every day. Bummer...

Always nice to discover new foods that you enjoy!

Since Monday my highest sodium intake has been 1274mg and my lowest 622.6. I'm still purging some "bad" foods and did shopping this morning. Everything I bought was with health in mind and not so much calories. I figure in a week or two I'll have a personal diet that works for me to lose weight AND keep my ticker ticking.

Pig

It seems like you're making some positive changes, keep it up!

 

[FatPig]

Wow. It's been two weeks since my last post. The drop in sodium intake has had a dramatic affect on my blood pressure. 6/16 it was 192/113. That's call 911 range! Thanks to diet changes it has been dropping steadily and just now it was 144/87. Still not great but for me it's worth getting excited about! My BP monitor has a saved history so I can see the changes are not a fluke and is a steady downward progression. I've been eating MUCH better including a lot of omega 3 fish and nuts, drinking Hibiscus tea and exercising. I'm not on any BP meds either.

Cutting down on sodium has somewhat complicated the menu choices though. It seems almost everything with lower sodium is high in carbs. I research everything I eat now and only buy based on the balanced overall nutritional qualities of the food. An interesting dilemma is that those foods are usually quite filling and leave me with very little hunger. I sometimes have to push myself to eat meals because I haven't had even 500 calories before dinner time. I'm now doing my best to push it at least to 1000 calories per day but exercise drops that back down to around 800. I just seldom feel hungry now. I feel much better overall, my back pain is slightly less and I "feel" slimmer though the mirror still shows I have a long, long way to go.

While I wish my weight loss was even more, 10.2 lbs in the last 30 days is a number I can live with for now. That's 2.5 lbs per week so I guess I should be quite pleased. I also bought one of those super duper Bluetooth enabled scales 5 days ago that measures every part of your body. While I won't live by its numbers it is cool to at least see improving trends in the good and bad numbers. Most troubling is the visceral fat and while other numbers are dropping visceral is still crazy high, not dropping and choking all my vital organs. Visceral fat is my next target. Most of my belly fat is under the muscle and I'm guessing will be the hardest to lose. Yet another quest....... I must be a glutton for punishment as I'm actually starting to enjoy them.

Pig

 

[alligatorob]

Hey FP, its good to hear from you. The BP thing is great news, just great!

While I wish my weight loss was even more, 10.2 lbs in the last 30 days is a number I can live with for now. That's 2.5 lbs per week so I guess I should be quite pleased.

Great news also, 10+ lbs in 30 days is a lot of weight loss, congratulations!

Keep on postin.

 

[FatPig]

Want to lose weight through recipes and cooking
I strongly recommend this course
Click here SPAM LINK REMOVED

I took a look at some of the sample recipes and it looks promising. I always like finding new recipes. I checked it out online and the reviews looked good so I went ahead and bought it. It's only $10.00 right now so even I can afford that. The site shows a bunch of books but they're actually all downloads. That's great for me as I'd rather have everything on the computer anyway. LOTS OF STUFF!! Now I have to start reading through it all.

Thanks for the link. I'm sure I can find something I can use.

Pig