You walk in the door and think, "Oh my goodness, I am so thirsty!" You open the fridge and reach for....________. Fill in the blank. What is it that you reach for? Juice, soda, milk, beer? But what is it that you really need? Some of you are not going to be happy with the answer. It's water. Plain, simple, boring water. Oh sure there is water in all those other beverages right? So whas wrong with substituting them? Well theres nothing wrong with drinking other beverages, but they can never make up for straight water in our diet.
Almost everyone needs to be drinking more water every day. Those reports that say you should drink 8 glasses of water a day? They aren't lying. Some of that can come from other sources: coffee, fruits, milk, etc, but most should still come from plain old water. Its actually not too hard to get enough water a day once you put your mind to it. The key is not to wait until you are thirsty. By that time, you are already dehydrated. When you lose only .5% of your body water, you have increased the strain on your heart. And it only gets worse from there. A good rule to live by is whenever you are about to eat either a meal or snack, drink a glass of water 10 minutes before. This will help you stay hydrated and take care of thirst. Sometimes we mistake our body's signal for thirst as hunger. Which causes us to overeat but never satisfying our real need of water. So drinking that glass of water takes care of that. Be sure to wait about 10 minutes after you drink to eat so you let your body respond to the water. You may find you forget about the snack you were going to eat because your body doesn't need it anymore. You can also increase your water intake, by investing in a good water bottle and carrying it around all day. You'll find yourself sipping from it throughout the day just because its there. And you will be less likely to feel the need to visit the soda machine at the office.
Another time that its really important to drink water is before, during, and after working out. Working out makes you sweat. Even if you don't think you are sweating, you still probably are, just not at as fast a pace as usual. So be sure to drink water. If you are a Gatorade drinker, be sure you are doing an exercise that actually makes you lose the electrolytes you are replacing. And then drink water too.
So what if you just don't like water? Maybe you have city water and prefer well water. Whatever it is, your body still needs it. But there are so many products out there to help! There are those MiO things on the market these days. I've looked at them, and if adding them helps you drink water, go for it. Same goes for those Propel or Crystal Light powder packs. Or try the flavored water thats on the market. They are at least better than not drinking any water. Just get one with VERY little to no sugar. Just somehow, drink water. We are so blessed in America that we have such cheap access to this life essential element. Not many other countries have that benefit. Unfortunately, we don't take advantage of it. (That includes me...I have to really think about getting enough water each day). I know theres always reports coming out saying "LOOK what's in your TAP WATER! You are going to DIE!!!" Chances are, no you aren't. Don't fall for it. Sometimes groundwater can get polluted but more than likely, those that say that are endorsing some product. If it worries you though, invest in a water filter. Or one of those water dispensers that you get the huge blue jugs of water for. You can get that bottled water while being a little nicer to the landfills. Hopefully these thoughts will help you increase your water intake throughout the day. It is such a simple way to become healthier! Do you have any tricks to keep up your water intake? Let us know!
Side note: I found another bruise from falling in my race! Its the size of a quarter. Not sure how I missed it. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment