Getting Fit #3

Again, I meant to get to this yesterday. It’s supposed to be a Friday post. Perhaps it should be a Saturday post. Currently I’ve been devoting most of my time to helping Big Daddy with a special project. But I’m taking a quick break for a quick update.

First of all, I lost my first pound. But only one. I’m not surprised though because this week wasn’t exactly ideal. The kids have been sick and between the three of them, keeping me awake for most of the night. I haven’t been getting enough sleep and we all know enough sleep is important for good health, physical and mental. As a result I’ve slept in very late and I only managed to exercise once this week.

On the other hand, I have focused on two things this week, even if I wasn’t getting any exercise in, to help me lose weight and be healthier.

1.) Drink more water!

2.) Eat less salt.

I’ve never really thought of myself as a big salt eater. I don’t add a lot of salt to my plate, if any. I do usually season meat with it while I am cooking though. I never really paid attention to how much sodium was in so little salt, but I am now! I had no idea it was so much. Most of what I have cooked this week I have cooked with little to no salt and then only added a little on the plate if necessary. For example, I seasoned the pork loin with a rosemary mix, some onion powder and garlic powder, and then I cooked it in a roasting pan with various vegetables which also added to the flavor. In fact, for that meal, no salt was necessary at all!

We do need to be careful of course, because iodine is an important daily need and iodized salt is our main source of iodine. However, it takes very little salt to meet that need and there are other sources of iodine such as milk, eggs, and potatoes with the skins on – yum!

I got a good start on those two healthy habits this week, but I need to keep working on it. Especially the water part. Oh, and I need to work on the exercise part, too! Okay, okay and the sleep part as well. Good grief.

• Sodium and losing weight
• Sodium: Are you getting too much?
• Nutrition Fact Sheet: Iodine
• Micronutrient Information Center: Iodine