A Dose of Health

I stopped by the grocery store last night to pickup cold cuts for my daughter’s school lunch. She told me she was tired of peanut butter and apple sandwiches (I was also tired of making them).

It was late and the cold cut counter was closed so I picked up a package of Sara Lee Honey Roasted Turkey Breast. Now, I know that there’s a lot of salt in processed meat, but for grins, I donned my reading glasses and decided to read the ingredients. I shouldn’t have done that. Here’s what I found:

Turkey Breast
Water
Honey
Contains 2% or less of:
Salt
Sugar
Sodium lactate
Sodium phosphate
Sodium diacetate
Sodium erythorbate
Sodium Nitrite

It gets me the way they package it as 2% or less of…

So, with 2% or less of 6 different types of salt, that means that the turkey package is potentially 12% salt.

Serving Sizes

The serving size for such chemicals are 4 slices which yield the following nutrition facts:

50 Calories of which 5 are from fat

.05g Fat
20 mg cholesterol
550 mg sodium
2g carbohydrates
2g sugar
10 g protein
2% iron.

The Truth of the Matter

The prepackaged slices are approximately 4 ½ inches in diameter and sliced so thin that it’s next to impossible to pull one slice off without it ripping. With such size and thinness, most folks use more than 4 slices to make a sandwich.

On the conservative side, let’s say you use 6 slices of turkey to make a sandwich. That means that you’re consuming 825 mg of sodium (and that’s not including the bread, mayo or mustard). Wow, that’s a lot of salt.

According to the MayoClinic adults shouldn’t exceed 1,500 to 2,400 mg of sodium a day. The requirement drops if you are over 50, African American and have any type of chronic diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

A long time ago, I used a homemade recipe for cold cuts. It’s time for me to stop being so lazy and get back to basics. Making my own turkey cold cuts is not only healthier, but it’s cheaper too (plus I can season the turkey any way I want).

I happen to be a fan of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Often times I make my own peanut butter by grinding peanuts, almonds or even cashews in my Magic Bullet. I add a drop or two of olive oil for consistency and there I have it…peanut butter.

Although I knew the peanut butter was healthy, the jury was still out on the jelly. Organic jelly is nice, but I still would prefer something a little more natural.

Dr. Oz to the Rescue

I was watching the Dr. Oz show the one day and he suggested using fruit on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead of jelly. What a light bulb moment. Plain old fruit and peanut butter, what a nice combination.

After all, I love peanut butter and bananas, and my daughter likes putting peanut butter on her apples. Why go out and buy jelly when you can just slice fruit on a peanut butter sandwich?

Try it Out

So, to try it out, I packed my finicky daughter a peanut butter and sliced apple sandwich on whole grain bread for lunch. The healthy peanut butter and apple sandwich was followed by a healthy snack of peeled Clementines. I waited until she came home from school to hear the verdict. I wasn’t sure if she dumped the lunch and opted for school issued “hot fries.”

When she came home I asked her about her lunch. She said that she liked it and she ate everything I packed for her. Whoo hoo. I was so pleased to finally be able to prepare a healthy lunch that she would actually eat.

Isn’t it amazing how small things like peanut butter and fruit sandwiches can make a mom so happy?

Isn’t that a common question? Every year tons of folks make resolutions to get fit, eat better, lose weight, stop eating junk and so on and so on.

Try something new this year. Don’t make a New Year’s resolution, make a New Month resolution. A year is a long time. Often times 2 months down the line (if not 2 weeks), folks forget their resolutions. Why not take all of your “New Year” resolutions and break them into New Month resolutions. Here’s a typical example:

New Year Resolution

Start exercising
Lose weight
Quit smoking
Stop drinking

Change it to:
January:
Begin an exercise program
I will exercise x amount of minutes x days each week. On days 1, 3 and 5, I will do weight training and toning and on days 2, 4 and 6, I will do aerobics for x minutes each day. On day 7, I will rest.

The more specific your goals, the better. Resolutions should be spelled out in such a fashion that your 8 year old child could read them and tell you if you’re honoring your resolutions.

Once you’ve mastered your first month’s resolution, go onto the next month. For example:

February
Goal: Lose weight.
I will drink at least 8 eight-ounce glasses of water daily, eat fresh fruits and vegetables 3 to 5 times a day, cut out fried and highly processed foods (no more fast foods), eat more whole grains, lean meat and fish, eliminate soda, sugar, white flour, excess salts (you get the idea).

Again, you want to make your goals specific. If your 8 year old has your February resolutions in her hand and she walks in as you’re about to eat a meal, she can check your list, look at your plate and determine if you are sticking with your goals.

Once you have managed January and February then move onto the next.

Chart Your Progress

An important part of honoring goals and resolutions is to chart progress. You need to know your starting point to get a better idea as to whether or not you’ve made improvements. Setting the baseline is the most painful (and embarrassing) part of the process.

For instance, if you want to lose weight/get in shape, strip down to your skivvies and take photos of yourself, front back and side views (what a sobering thought). Then get on the scale (even more sobering). Once you get off of the scale, take your measurements (brutal).

Next, take some vital stats such as your resting heart rate, blood pressure (you can go to the local drug store and use their blood pressure machines), blood sugar level if you have a glucometer.

Finally, set a base fitness level. See how many push ups, sit ups, leg lifts, knee bends (if your knees allow) you can do in your current state. Throw in any exercise you wish to chart on your journey.

Take all of your baseline information and put it away. You don’t want to look at it too often because it can be depressing (I’m speaking from experience here).

Get Started

Now its time to put your goals into action. Put a copy of your goals on your refrigerator, your bathroom mirror, your computer screen or anywhere you need to to remind yourself of what you’re trying to accomplish. You’ve got to focus on the goal, because change is not easy (at first).

After 30 days, pull out your dreaded stats. Go through the whole measuring process again. If you stuck with your goals, you will notice an improvement. Now all you need to do is wash, rinse and repeat.

Deeper Resolutions

Once you’ve mastered these goals, you’ll be able to make serious resolutions the following year. All of the superficial stuff such as getting in shape, losing weight, quit smoking and drinking will all be taken care of. Next year you’ll be able to spend time exploring your inner self and becoming a better person.