One of the best things you can do for your body is to stay hydrated. A person can survive up to 3 weeks without food, but will perish after 3 days without water. If you follow me for any length of time, you’ll soon learn I preach “hydration”.
We all wake up dehydrated, start your day by giving your body what it needs, the rest of the day will fall into place. Try starting you day with a bottle or glass of water, at least 8 oz. Drink your water before any other sugary or caffeinated drinks and before eating. Think about it, you’ve gone all night without fluids – for most, that is 7-9 hours, you’re dehydrated!
Hydration also helps you identify TRUE hunger signals. Did you know, most of the time when we THINK we are hungry, we’re really just dehydrated? Not sure if your body needs fluids or food? Drink a bottle of water, wait 20 minutes, do you still feel hungry? If so, feed that belly! Most of the time you will find the water has satisfied the urge to eat. If you eat every time you think you’re hungry, you could be consuming hundreds of unnecessary calories, when all you needed was a bottle of water.
How much is enough? Forget the one size fits all, 8, 8 oz glasses per day. Try to consume between .5-1 oz of water per every pound. So, if you weigh 150 lbs, aim for 75-150 oz of water per day. If you live in a hot climate or exercise a lot, stay on the higher end of that range. If you live in a cooler climate and are sedentary the lower end will work for you.
Staying well hydrated has so many health benefits, unfortunately this is over looked by many. Staying hydrated revs up our cellular processes and metabolism, it also promotes good kidney and digestive functions. These are all things we can’t see, but there are many you can see – check out the info-graphic below. Raise your bottles and drink to good health – cheers!
