La Quaintrelle

I was raised in a non-practicing Jewish family, only ever stepped foot into a temple once for a friend's Bat Mitzvah in 6th grade (I'm in my late 20s now), and am largely clueless about the finer points of Jewish worship (particularly with all of the different types of Judaism).

My boyfriend (whose father is a mostly non-practicing Jew) has recently become interested in going to check out Saturday morning Shabbat services at a local Conservative Egalitarian synagogue he was told about by a colleague. He is considering possibly converting officially. (Since he'd have to; his mother is not Jewish and by Conservative standards, the mother has to be Jewish or you have to convert to be considered Jewish.)

I have no plans to become officially practicing, but I did agree to go with him tomorrow morning to check it out with him.

I am happy to be supportive, but I'm fuzzy on what will be expected of me at the services as I'm not really familiar with the differences between Conservative and Conservative Egalitarian.

They do allow men and women to sit together at services and they even have a female rabbi on staff, etc.

But will I be expected to cover my head? (I know the men have to wear yarmulkes.) The entire service will likely be in Hebrew, which I don't really know.

What can I anticipate?

I'm trying to lose about 20 lbs. I am eating small meals 5-6 times a day, sticking to lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, lots of veggies, and some fruit everyday. Little to no refined sugar. I am practicing disciplined portion control and drinking around 100 oz of water a day. I am also doing at least 45 minutes of cardio 4-5 days a week and some circuit training and yoga.

This method worked for me before with great results. (I lost 30 lbs. in 3 months.)

However, I am finding that cutting out salt from my cooking is proving difficult, as I find that no matter how much I try to use herbs and other spices to jazz up the food, I'm still having a craving for more salt.

I know that reducing sodium intake is in theory highly beneficial to weight loss, but does it really matter as much if I'm drinking this much water?