The Little Things Can Mean So Much:


The little things can be easily overlooked. I will take some time today to talk about a couple of the little things that are actually very important to a healthy lifestyle change. The first subject is salt intake. Stretching before exercising is the second subject. Both are important for a healthy diet and workout program.

Let's Talk About Food:

One thing about my eating plan that is different for me this year is my salt intake. In 2008 when I lost so much weight I was cutting way back on my salt intake. I don’t know what kind of impact if any this had on my success last year. I have since been diagnosed with a medical condition that actually requires me to add salt to my food. As a saltaholic, it is not the worst thing that could happen to me. I really love salt. Consuming salt can cause you to retain fluids and hence make it harder to lose weight. The weight that I am trying to lose is fat, not water weight. If I start to have problems losing weight I will reconsider reducing my salt carefully while monitoring my health closely. Hopefully, this will be a nonissue and I will lose weight without reducing the salt. Most people don’t require much salt and they consume way more than they need. For many people, too much salt is a problem for their heart. If you don’t have a condition such as I do, try reducing the salt that you add to your meals. After you become accustomed to the taste, try reducing the salt when cooking your food. Slow and easy change is usually the easiest to tolerate. Making this change will be good for your weight, good for your health and good for your heart.

Our Favorite Subject: Exercise :-(

As promised, I have a list of exercises that I will be starting on the wobble board this evening. I am not in very good shape and I need to start with easier exercises and progress over time. The exercises that they have developed and describe on the DVD that came with my ifit wobble board are intended not only to stretch and strengthen the muscles and tendons, they were primarily developed to prevent injury. Stretching is important before any type of exercise. I have a bad habit of forgetting to stretch before I run. I would rather spend my time doing something else. It would be awful if I injured myself and then couldn’t run at all. That would be a huge road bump on my path to lose 40 pounds in less than a year. I would much rather stretch and prevent injury if I can prevent it. I have to commit to stretching before I exercise. For some reason, mentally this is a challenge for me. Perhaps, once again, being accountable through my blog will give me the push that I need to commit to stretching before I exercise.

Today I will talk about the calf stretch exercise as portrayed in the DVD that accompanied my ifit wobble board. You start with one foot in front of the wobble board and the other foot with the ball of the foot just in front of the center of the wobble board. With both legs straight and hands on your hips you slowly rock the wobble board front and back stretching out the calf muscle. Good posture is very important in these types of exercise. Be aware of your posture at all times while using the wobble board. Remember to keep your legs straight and to rock at the hips. Determine the number of repetitions that is good for you. I am going to start with 10 reps. After finishing the reps on one leg, switch and repeat stretching out the calf on your other leg. This will be a great exercise for stretching out my calves before I run.

That’s A Wrap: No, I Am Not Talking About Food:

The little things are often missed and yet can be so important. The amount of salt in your diet can seem like such a little thing; but, it can have huge consequence to your heart and health. Try to reduce your salt intake slowly over time to benefit your weight, your health and your heart.

Another little thing that is often overlooked when starting a workout program is stretching before you work out. Stretching prevents injury. Injury is a huge road block on the road to developing a successful workout routine. Find a way to help yourself include stretching in your workout program. The wobble board is a great tool for stretching and strengthening the muscles and tendons. Find yourself a wobble board and try the calf stretch out for yourself.