Jumping Cholla

I spoke a few days ago about my need to lose weight, since my current weight isn’t helping my back, breathing, kidney and even balance problems.

A renal dietitian taught me what I need to do. It’s not a diet. It’s a meal plan. It’s guided by certain limitations on four key nutrients: sodium, protein, phosphorus and potassium. In reality, it’s referred to as a sodium controlled meal plan. I record everything on Cronometer, an app and website that does all calculations.

These are my daily guidelines:
~5 oz of lean meat, fish (salmon, tuna best) or an egg
1 milk choice* (but I’m lactose intolerant)
5-6 grains*
3 servings fruit*
2+ servings veggies
2-3 oils
*Carbs

Most serving sizes are 1 tbsp, 1/2 cup or 1 of something, like a slice of bread or an egg.

Foods that are extremely high in sodium and phosphates that I can never eat are processed meats (ex hot dogs, sausages, pepperoni, pastrami, bacon, ham)

Also included in the never eat category are restaurant or store bought soups, gravy, salad dressings, broth, condiments, MSG, and anything pickled or fermented. A minimum of 4 L of water is my goal, keeping in mind that foods also contain water.

I am a label reader. There are ‘no sodium added’ or ‘lower sodium’ soups, tomato products, beans, crackers…
Phosphorous is one of the few nutrients not required on food labels, so I look for any ingredient beginning with phospho, phos, or phosphate. If those are in the top 6 ingredients, they’re out.

The losing weight part comes from packing all of that into 1200 calories.

Limits:
2000 mg sodium
1000 mg phosphorus
~50g protein
My potassium levels are good so no limit.


It’s not Keto or Mediterranean or low carb or anything else people without chronic kidney disease would follow to lose weight and improve health. I’m not the only person on Blipfoto with CKD limitations, so there isn’t anything special or unique about me.

Feel free to ask questions anytime.