YUDoDat?

OK. So resolve to come to my blog each month. I’ll resolve to offer a new habit to work on each month. I’m creating a 12 step program for better nutrition. Each month I’ll introduce a topic for you to work on that month. By the end of the year, you’ll have transitioned into a new you.

So. Here we go. Ready to pick yourself back up and try try again? Good. For the rest of January you have an easy task. Drink more water.

Most of us walk around dehydrated. So what you say? Well.  According to Chimes, in a  Calvin College Newsletter:

“You can survive about eight weeks without eating before you start to show vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Without water, though, your body can go only a few hours before it gets dehydrated, and it will only take a few waterless days to die.”

Why is that? A very large portion of your body is made of water:

• The body is 60 percent water
• Blood is 82-90 percent water
• Muscles are about 75% water
• Bone is 25% water
• It’s believed that the brain is 75-80% water

Without water you’re nothing! And with that much water required by your body imagine how much better you’ll begin to feel when you’re properly hydrated – the body simply works better. Your blood is liquid. Your blood carries oxygen to your brain and to your muscles. Your brain has liquid. Even your bone has liquid. If you don’t drink enough fluid how can you expect the liquid in you to perform?  Have you ever boiled the liquid out of an egg? or boiled the liquid out of soup stock until it gets thick?  Well, what do you think your blood does when there isn’t enough liquid?

If you’re feeling tired all day it’s possible that you are dehydrated.

So start by replacing the soda you drink in the afternoon with water. Carry around a pint glass or plastic bottle and keep if FILLED. As it begins empty, refill it. Keep that water by your side all day and sip sip sip.

Oh great houdini let me guess at the excuses:

• You’re not thirsty.
• It’s tasteless.
• You don’t like it.
• You’ll just have to go to the bathroom all the time and there may not be one when I need it.
• You drink coffee and soda all day long. That should count for something!

Take comfort my little chickadee. You are not alone.

In a study done by the Nutrition Information Center at the New York Hospital and the International Bottled Water Association,

• 27 percent of the people cited they didn’t have time o drink. 
• 11 percent said they don’t feel thirsty.
• 8 percent don’t like the taste
• 7 percent forget to drink it

I’m guessing you’re not convinced and asking “What’s it have to do with dieting anyway?” Ok smarty pants. Did you know that thirst is often mistaken for hunger?  So if you want to lose weight one of the first things to do is to drink more water. Water helps the food expand so you can eat less. And water helps to remove the waste from your body so you become healthier – what goes in must come out!

Exercise:
For the next week work on achieving the following: 

1. Monday – Wed – Friday  - at 10 am and 3 pm drink a glass of water.  (If you normally have coffee or soda at this time, substitute them – so you have 2 less glasses of the nasties and replace them with water. If you normally don’t drink any water, add them. ) 
2. Tues and Thurs are free days, unless you want to break the habit faster. 

Work towards being able to keep the to this practice all week. You want it to become second nature. Your goal is to be a fully hydrated by the end of January.

Tips and Tricks

Sources of water:

• Tap – common and affordable, but depending on where you live may contain chemicals and minerals that you’d rather not drink. The EPA offers information regarding acceptable levels for drinking water.
• Filtered water – common in the workplace, affordable to do at home. Get a water bottle to make it portable. Bottled – convenient and portable, if you have the money to spend on them.
• Flavored waters  - be careful with these. They may have too much sugar which is exactly the habit you’re trying to break
• Sports drinks. It depends on whether youre an endurance athlete or not. An article posted on the Friedman School of Nurtition, Science and Policy website states that: “Sports drinks might be beneficial to endurance athletes, but for the average person they only add unnecessary calories to his/her diet (about 50 to 70 per 8 ounces). According to Nutrition Concepts and Controversies, “for most athletes, electrolyte and mineral repletion is best accomplished by eating a balanced diet, not by taking mineral-containing drinks. In the heat, however, electrolyte-containing fluids may benefit athletes who are training or competing.” http://nutrition.tufts.edu/consumer/balance/2003-04/water.html

In the beginning it may be easy to forget to drink the water. Old habits will win over, time will pass and before you know it, the day has slipped by and you haven’t had any water. Try setting some form of an alarm or a reminder. Add it to your calendar, post a sticky note, have a friend call you.

• If the taste (or lack thereof) is intolerable for you, try using water flavored with citrus such as lemon or lime.
• If you drink tap or filtered water, it may be worth getting a water bottle that you always refill and carry with you. This way you can always carry a supply without the hassle of spilling.
• Have several bottles filled, in the refrigerator and ready to go at moments notice
• Anytime you leave your house take a bottle of water with you. I always carry a bottle in the car.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 11th, 2007 at 12:34 pm and is filed under Hydration, Habits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.