H2-Uh-Oh!?

Water - it's everywhere, but yet many of us don't drink nearly enough of it on a daily basis.  The most common excuse I hear people say is "I was so busy that I forgot".  Before I started my weight loss journey I too was guilty as charged with this excuse.  If I drank two 8 ounce glasses by the end of the day it was an accomplishment.  You might also be thinking that can of soda, cup of coffee, or bottle of beer have water in them so that must be sufficient. I applaud the attempt, but those aren't healthy fluids because they are dehydrating while water, the most pure fluid you can consume, obviously hydrates the body and has no calories or additives.

So what did I do to change my poor hydration habits?  Well first things first I set a goal to completely cut out all soda and other carbonated sugary beverages.  Next, I replaced these drinks that I would normally consume with my meals with water.  Drinking a glass of water before a meal not only helps fill you up, but you're less inclined to overeat (often times we actually mistake dehydration with hunger!).  To get a little flavor occasionally I'll add a wedge of lemon or lime to my water or I'll have sodium-free sparkling water.  Today, you'll usually see me sporting my reusable water bottle whether I'm at home, work, gym or out running errands.  I make it a point to gradually drink water throughout the day and at the end of the day I track it online.  Once I began to drink more water I wasn't always hungry, I became more energized, my skin cleared up, and the weight started coming off easier!

To win you over here are just a few benefits when you properly hydrate yourself:
-  Alleviates fluid retention
-  Improves liver function (increases percentage of fat used for energy)
-  Metabolic function improves
-  Nutrients are distributed throughout the body

If that'd didn't work here are some the detrimental effects of dehydration:
-  Fatigue
-  More inclined to overeat
-  Lower blood pressure
-  Water and sodium retention
-  Increases heart rate
-  Lower cardiac output
-  Decreases blood from to the skin

Internal and external factors (gender, weight, exercise level, climate) come into play when deciphering how much water you should consume daily, but a good start would be 8-10 glasses per day.  A good rule of thumb is to consume an additional 8 ounces for every 25 pounds that you are overweight.

Here's a link to video with more tips on how to drink more water.

Happy drinking!