Week 2 Challenge - Water Intake

We are now into week 2 of the 8-week challenge from trainer, April Crosby.  How did you do last week with adding 20 minutes of activity into your daily routine?  Was it hard to find the time?  Were you successful?  Hopefully you were able to get your 20-minutes in on most of the days last week.  Keep going, though, don't stop just because that week's challenge is over.  The goal of this program is to improve your health and get you ready for spring!!  We are hoping you will make PERMANENT lifestyle changes and not just short-term changes.

This week's challenge is about hydration.  If you haven't read our previous blogs on water intake, go back and read "Water...Is it the Magic Pill for Weight Loss?" and "I Don't Like the Taste of Water - Do You?" before continuing with this week's challenge.  These blogs will give you a little better perspective on the importance of water and hydration.  With that being said, let's move on to this week's challenge.  Most Americans are in a constant state of dehydration due to the over-consumption of soft drinks/caffeinated drinks and sports or energy drinks.  How often do you drink just plain ol' water?  Our body's are made up of approximately 60% water.  Our brains are comprised of almost 70% water and lungs are nearly 90% water.  Without the proper hydration level, our bodies do not function at their peak performance.  More importantly, if you are dehydrated, you are not an efficient "fat-burning" machine.

So what is April asking of you this week?  In short, she wants you to increase your water intake.  Your goal is to consume half of your body weight in ounces of water daily.  For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, you will need to drink 100 ounces of water.  That's about 6 small water bottles a day.  First of all, don't panic.  If you are not up to speed on your water intake, start with baby steps in the beginning of this week.  The first couple of days, drink 25% of your weight in ounces of water.  In our example above, that would equate to 3 small bottles or 50 ounces of water.  Work your way up to half of your body weight of ounces.  You will be amazed at how much better you feel when your body is fully hydrated!  Your mind will be more clear, you'll have more energy, and most importantly your body will function as it should!!

So this week, keep up with your daily 20-minutes of physical activity and keep a water bottle with you all day.  Remember, we are looking for plain ol' water...not "vitamin" water or anything with additives in it.  You can add fresh fruit to your water to "spice" it up a bit but that's it!  Keep track of your water intake on your smart phone or in a journal.  Start small and work your way up. 

Let's make your body an efficient fat-burning machine so you can either lose those extra pounds or to keep them off permanently!!  Good luck and keep us posted on this blog or on Facebook.