too much sodium in diet

[Ragetiger]

Seems that I was in a world of hurt when I did my monthly evaluation. Trainer claims "got back to square one" . . . and the weight I lost over the last six months returned in three weeks >< The culprit turned out to be a high sodium hiding in the diet (primarily in the lunch) So for now I'm tossing out my sun chips as well as my jack links beef jerky. Between these two items I lose almost 500mg of sodium (who knew that baked chips had so much salt hiding in them), but now a good chunk of my lunch is gone. To make it harder on me, my budget is extremely limited (about 40 dollars a month, rest gone to bills and other expenses which cannot be avoided).

Thinking of adding a second PB sandwich with wheat bread and possibly aa banana. Have to keep foods that don't need no prep time and doesn't need to be kept cool.

I'm at a real lost as to how such a thing could possibly happen, the sun chips and jerky was always part of my lunch seeing I have to bag this for work. I have to be careful with whatever change to lunch I do make, body is easily shocked into storing calories when a diet change occurs. I'm also inclined to think that the stress caused from work may also be playing a part in this.

Despite the fact I've gone "back to square one" I was making gains in every part of my workouts. Added reps here, more weight there. This has me beyond dumbfounded. This also hindered todays workout, no focus whatsoever. I am really bummed out over this.

[inflated]

Buy some real food. You can't eat sunchips and beef jerky and expect to get fit. Peanut butter sandwiches aren't going to help much either. Real Food not processed junk.

[Ragetiger]

it's funny when people say to buy "real food" but fail to give example. . . really i though peanut butter was real doesn't taste fake to me. You also have to consider the budget I'm restricted to. If i'm only able to hold onto 20 every two weeks I can't afford to buy anything too expensive or won't last long, in term of total servings and shelf life.

Also you fail to realize the sun chips and jerky was only in one meal, then again I didn't really spell that part out. This meal is falling 3 hours prior to a workout when I'm trapped at work, so it should be better prepared to be used quickly.


And before anyone says it. . . .don't just say "fruit and vegetables" cause I can run down to a farmers market and get totally lost (that and I may be tempted to smack the stupid clean out of you). Not really, but still I need to know what kinds of fruit and vegies to be on the hunt for.

[bigbearny]

He also said he's on a real limited budget.. the "real" non-processed foods tend to be the most expensive things in a supermarket..

[BIGJOEY]

it seems to me that first you have to set your workout goals. as for processed real foods well what is needed is time management. if you need help i would be more than willing to send you a cook book which sets up your food for a whole week on a sunday( afternoon) and teaches you how to prep, cook and package it a week at a time. this will help you
achieve your goals. You may have to get a small cooler and a few ice packs. Those are fairly inexpensive and will last you a long time. The book is in pdf format and here is my e-mail [email protected]

[Ragetiger]

Your advice always seem to be spot on. I'm certain the cook book will give a much needed boost, not to mention adding some flavor to lunchtime.

Seems that removing the chips and jerky did trigger a mild change. A drop of three pounds and an inch off the waist, it may be water weight I'm holding on to. Any good foods out there that will have an effect simular to a water pill?

[BIGJOEY]

glad to help bro. if you have a trader' joe's in your area their precooked brown rice has no sodium in it. you can get almost 2 lbs cooked for about 3 bucks. Their fish runs about $5 a pound for cod and white roughy so they are cheep for nyc in certainareas. it's mostly organic but 1/2 the price of whole foods or dags.

[Ragetiger]

It's funny I go by a trader's joe when i go to fresno, not once have I thought about going inside. I'm gonna have to check it out. Not much of a fish fan, thou I do eat tuna.

Now to wait for yahoo to stop acting like snail mail.

[AS2000]

FYI, on the peanut butter front, Trader Joe's has some natural peanut butter (house brand) that has very little salt in it. It's basically ground up nuts, with a tiny bit of salt. (No added fat, no added sugar, no added unpronounceable garbage.)

[Ragetiger]

Found me a jar of PB that had honey mixed in. Hardly could taste the honey. LIttle bit on toast is a great pick me up.

[FuzzyKB]

Originally Posted by Ragetiger

Seems that I was in a world of hurt when I did my monthly evaluation. Trainer claims "got back to square one" . . . and the weight I lost over the last six months returned in three weeks >< The culprit turned out to be a high sodium hiding in the diet (primarily in the lunch) So for now I'm tossing out my sun chips as well as my jack links beef jerky. Between these two items I lose almost 500mg of sodium (who knew that baked chips had so much salt hiding in them), but now a good chunk of my lunch is gone. To make it harder on me, my budget is extremely limited (about 40 dollars a month, rest gone to bills and other expenses which cannot be avoided).

Thinking of adding a second PB sandwich with wheat bread and possibly aa banana. Have to keep foods that don't need no prep time and doesn't need to be kept cool.

I'm at a real lost as to how such a thing could possibly happen, the sun chips and jerky was always part of my lunch seeing I have to bag this for work. I have to be careful with whatever change to lunch I do make, body is easily shocked into storing calories when a diet change occurs. I'm also inclined to think that the stress caused from work may also be playing a part in this.

Despite the fact I've gone "back to square one" I was making gains in every part of my workouts. Added reps here, more weight there. This has me beyond dumbfounded. This also hindered todays workout, no focus whatsoever. I am really bummed out over this.

______

Cut out the garbage foods that you in your own heart knew were garbage before you bought them. There are no healthy potato chips, there is no such thing as healthy beef jerky, and some of the canned food and veggies we buy are not great either if you're not careful.

We are all facing budgetary problems right now. You're definitely not alone on that one in any manner.

I don't know where you live and that could be a complication. I live on a ranch in the Southwestern Desert of the U.S.. What we try and do is to go to the local Farmer's markets. One can find a great number of things at these markets that are fresh. Very often the prices at these locations are a great deal less than in the supermarkets.

Though it is true with regards to the necessity of a percentage of sodium in the diet, the fact is that we are now bombarded with it. There are some processed soups and related products that have enough in a single serving to constitute as much as 50% of your entire days allowance. By the time you add in the hidden salt in other processed foods many of us are in fact way over what we need.

Peanut butter in and of itself is not the culprit. The problem with this is the fact that most of it is filled with preservatives and salt unfortunately is one of them. Unsalted Peanut butter is available and can even be purchased off of the internet. Personally I was given a gift of a peanut butter making machine. These were popular in the 1970's and I still have one. The problem with that thing is that it takes 15 minutes to make home-made peanut butter and 45 minutes to clean the machine.

The other thing that works against those of us into weight training is that we as a whole do not consume the little tiny portions of food that is considered average. We try the best we can, but, we must face the fact that it takes food to feed us and for the most part very small portions don't cut it. This is the other thing that puts us way over.

A food manufacturer fools the public by stating the content and then in fine print stating that the percentages mentioned are based on a serving that my be as little as 25% of the small container in your hand and this makes the serving so small as to be impractical.

If you live in the "big city" here is another thing you can do. Supermarkets and other outlets buy their fruit and vegetables from wholesale distributors located in industrial parts of your city. The wholesaler by law is required to throw away an entire container of fruit or vegetables if a single piece of that fruit or a single vegetable is spoiled or shows signs of mold. If you make friends with wholesalers you can often get more in this area than you'll ever eat for free. I had a friend back in the 1970's that was a wholesaler in Los Angeles and I periodically made trips down to his wholesale location. I very often left with a Chevrolet Suburban Full of things and I would spend a great deal of time sorting, cleaning and freezing a ton of things and this would last me quite a while. They are not supposed to do this, but, we can all agree that one spoiled apple does not guarantee that the whole barrel is bad.

Here is one example of one of the things that I do personally:

I personally LOVE chili. I absolutely refuse to eat chili purchased from a store. The fat and sodium content in this is insane. I usually buy 50 lbs of Pinto Beans at a time because when the time is right I can get them dirt cheap. Hunting is common around here and in fact I find it being done without my permission on MY property on occasion. (Not a good thing) I have a freezer. The only red meat I really like is Buffalo/Beefalo because it does not have the fat or cholesterol characteristics of lot raised beef. I also have Venison, Elk, and at times other game animals because conscientious hunters never waste game meat. It is shared and feeds more than just them. I personally when others are full up talk to the local Firemen and Sherriff's Deputies and find a good home for meat with people who are struggling in my own area if I get more than I can use. This may sound outlandish if you were to live in the middle of Chicago, but, you'd be surprised at the number of people who go hunting and find themselves overstocked very quickly. One large 15 point Buck white-tail can feed a good number of people for quite a while.

At this time in our lives we have to remember the resourcefulness used by our parents, grandparents, or great grandparents in the first years of the 1930's after the beginning of the first great depression.

In a weird manner of speaking this resourceful thinking is in fact better anyway. It can give you fresh fruits and vegetables that are not processed with a great number of chemicals. It can give you meats, fish and poultry that is not lot fed and prone to problems and it can cost you a great deal less than you would imagine.

I am 57-years-old. My biological and step-parents were all born in the first two decades of the 20th Century. When I was a kid I heard more of the, stories of coping with the aftermath of the 1929 crash than most kids did. However, all of the above survived and prospered under the most difficult of conditions and if we are smart and resourceful we can too.

I wish you the best of luck with your diet changes. You would be surprised at what you can do if you take a little time and make the right friends in the right places on this one.