Happy Fall! I’m hitting the gym or in the case of last weekend, the water! That’s me and Jody Bergsma on paddleboards in Bellingham Bay. We paddled a very very long way and were so energized and inspired. I’m taking the necessary healthy steps to get my health back, post baby outside the gym too. If you missed that I had a baby back in April, check out the blog post here. And if you can’t get enough baby pictures, search the blog for “Jamisen” or follow BrambleBump on twitter. You’ll have more than a handful of blogs to read. Getting back on track (cute babies are so distracting), I’ll be posting healthy lifestyle tips (that I’m going to be doing myself) every Monday for the next eight weeks. With the kids back in school, now is a great time to focus on US! Join me by taking baby steps into a healthier lifestyle this Fall.
Drink Your Water
We feel kind of sorry for water. While everybody always fusses about what foods to eatand how much to consume, about the only thing folks hear about water is, “Be sure to drink at least 8 or 9 glasses a day.” That’s it. Poor ol’ water just isn’t getting the respect it deserves.
Well, no more! We’re here to sing its praises and to remind you that water is more thana means to quenching your thirst and filling you up before you overindulge on a meal.(Try drinking a cup or two 10 minutes before eating. It works.) Since water makes up about 65% of our blood and 60% of our bodies overall, we are utterly and completely dependent on it. Without water, we would probably die more quickly than an under-watered potted plant. You can survive for weeks without food, but you’ll last only a few days without water.
Here are some of the reasons why women should drink at least 8 to 9 8-ounce glasses of water per day and why men should down at least 13 cups of water daily. (That’s right.Men need to drink more water than women. So get on your guy about it—and, no, beer cannot substitute for water!)
Without the proper amount of water, biochemical functions taking place throughout the body are, at best, compromised and, at worst, they just don’t happen. Over half the content of our blood is water and is necessary for carrying oxygen, nutrients, hormones and other literally life-giving biochemical substances to our cells. And since we’re really nothing but a zillion different cells organized into a rather attractive package, adequately watering our cells is paramount to good health and wellness.
Water is also used by the body to lubricate joints. Keep this in mind if you’re exercising or if you’re suddenly feeling (as our grandparents say) the weather in your bones. a good portion of the fluid surrounding our major organs is water, it cushions them like a protective water-bed should they be traumatized by a fall or blow.
Water is the waste-management workhorse in the body, and it flushes waste and toxins out through the kidneys (urine), intestinal tract (stools), skin (perspiration) and lungs(breath). About 3 cups of water is lost through perspiration and breathing, and about 6.3 cups is expelled daily through urine. If you wonder about some of the side-effects of flushing too little water through the kidneys, ask anyone who’s ever passed a kidney stone if they wish they’d been drinking more water!
While it’s natural to curse at perspiration rings and sweat trickling down the back of yourneck, just be glad your body’s doing what it’s supposed to do when you’re hot. Again, it’s thanks in part to water that your body temperature is regulated: your water-saturated blood absorbs heat from your body’s core then moves it to the surface of your skin where it’s expelled as perspiration, which, as it evaporates, cools the body. It’s another reason why you should significantly up your intake of water before exercising.
Although it’s tempting and certainly natural, don’t rely on your thirst to remind you to drink an adequate amount of water. The Mayo Clinic suggests that, by the time you actually feel thirsty, you may already be dehydrated. Even being slightly dehydrated can negatively affect your health, since it directly or indirectly impacts just about every function of the body. And how do you know if you’re dehydrated? Symptoms include:dry eyes or mouth, sore muscles, rapid heart rate, lethargy, less frequent visits to the restroom and dark and funky-smelling urine.
Remember, whatever water you’ve “leaked” in one form or another, you need to replace. Here at Bramble Berry, we’ve found that a good way to remember to drink enough water is to get into the habit of drinking a cup or two of water or tea immediately after flushing. (A mnemonic device for remembering this rule is “teepee”!)
Read more about the importance of water consumption in the many articles on the topic at Live Strong (part of the Lance Armstrong Foundation) and Mayo Clinic, where we found many of our facts about the importance of water for health.
CALL TO ACTION: Eight glasses of water per day. We can do this! Do it with tea. Do it with water. Just do it! I’ve already had my first 2 glasses of water today. =) Just 6 more to go.
Tell me YOUR water drinking tips. I’d love to hear them!
I LOVE water! I drink from the moment I get up till I go to bed. My little boys even love water. I use little kid sports bottles and fill them up, they love taking them in the car with them or outside to play. I tell them milk, water and juice are all “good choices”!
Good luck anne maria!
“Good choices” – love this phrase for little kids =)
I have been taught to drink water according to your weight. Thia is a person weighing 100 pounds and someone weighing 250 pounds cannot drink the same ammout. It is obvious one have more toxin than one. The correct way to drink water is: 1. weigh yourself; 2. divide youe weight by 2; 3. that is the ammount of ounces you have to drinkl for the day.
eg: weight = 174 pounds
divide by 2 = 174/2
ouncer of water = 87 ozs
ENJOY YOUR WATER.
That makes complete sense – a big football player will need more water than I will! =)
My goal is to drink 64 oz. of water a day which I do accomplish most of the time. To add flavor I use one packet of Propel for 64 oz. No calories and just a hint of flavor.
1 packet sounds like just the right amount of flavor. I really dislike those heavily flavored waters but just a hint sounds great.
It’s not really a trick but I don’t keep much of anything else to drink in the house besides milk and juice for the boys and I justify not drinking that by “saving” it for them!
We don’t keep much else to drink in our house either. No pop, no fruit juices etc…. For me, it’s less about the water and more about the calories! =)
I try to keep vigilant with my water, I keep a glass on my desk and fill it 4 times before lunch and 4 times afte. I have trouble on the weekends though, it’s hard to keep focused, especially when it’s not right in front of me, so I keep a bottle of water wherever I go and order water whenever I’m catching up with friends, and I always do green tea with every meal, so that helps too. It was hard at first, but now I couldn’t live without my eight glasses and green tea. What a great topic. Thanks Anne-Marie! I look forward to the next seven mondays!
I love Green Tea! I missed it a lot when I was pregnant. I didn’t have any caffeine those first two trimesters. =)
Not to change the subject, but I am getting ready to make some triple milled soap and I have never colored my soap. I want to make a black soap. Is there any recommendations? I know triple milled soap is probably a laugh for the experts out there, but I have never made lye soap unless you count helping my mother make her mother-in-laws recipe (she was a Cherokee and washed all her clothes in an iron kettle most of her life). Any help would be welcomed.
Black soap? You can use black iron oxide https://www.brambleberry.com/Black-Oxide-Pigment-P4044.aspx or Charcoal https://www.brambleberry.com/Activated-Charcoal-P4956.aspx to achieve a black but remember, you’re doing a white + a black so it’s difficult to achieve a true true black – more like a dark gray =)
I try to drink as much filtered water as I can every day (at least 8 glasses). I always drink mine with a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice (I squeeze heaps at once and freeze it into icecubes then have 1 or 2 blocks everyday). It was hard to get used to the slightly sour taste but now water tastes odd without it. The lemon helps make my system more alkaline which is important for keeping my body machine clean and healthy.
I love lemon in my water and I’ve also been infusing fruit and mint in water lately too. Cucumber – yum yum!
I do believe, that water is essential for our well-being. However, just drinking certain amount per day won’t do any good to us. I’ve read so many books about healthy lifestyle that I can probably publish my own. From mine experience it is not how much we drink, but how slow we do it. If I drink 8oz right away, only 0.5 oz actualy would be absorbed by my body, the rest 7.5 oz will find its way in about 20 minutes. But if I sip that cup over two hrs, it will have way better impact on my body. Plus I won’t be running to the lady’s room every half an hour.
I had no idea! Thanks for that tip. I will remember to drink slowly and throughout the day now.
@Dee. Congratulations on losing inches! Don’t worry about the weight. Muscle weighs more than fat so as you build muscle you can downsize without weight loss. Resting muscle also burns more calories than fat.
That’s so true!!
I use the MIO flavor enhancers. They are wonderful and have so many good flavors. You can mix them in tea, water or alcohol (maybe, I havent tried this since I dont drink, but a bartender friend suggested it). I, too, am trying to get to a healthier place in life. I exercise 5 times a week minimum for 1 1/2 hours making sure that I get a good sweat going and I eat fairly healthy. I treat myself to a ghiradelli caramel (the little ones) twice a week if I keep my exercise schedule and a new piece of clothing once a month. I have an awful time losing weight,, but I lose inches instead. Not sure what I am doing wrong, but I would love suggestions. I also keep an exercise/food diary. Good luck!
It sounds like you’re doing a great job with working out and just have a metabolism that doesn’t love you right now. Have you tried the Fat Flush program?
http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Flush-Plan-Louise-Gittleman/dp/0071383832?&camp=212361&linkCode=wey&tag=brambleberry&creative=380733
I did it for liver cleansing but it ended up definitely being a big weight loss thing as a nice side effect.
Weight loss is always a calories in/calories out thing though so if you’re keeping track (I use MyFitnessPal on my iPhone to do that) and always under your calories, the weight should slowly come off.
You are in the same boat as me though – watching calories! =)
The MIO is great! it’s even getting Konnor to drink more water! Our favorite right now is the Mango Peach. You can find it near the Koolaid and Crystal Light type drink mixes in the supermarket. It’s a smallest gray bottle and it’s quite delicious!
I also have several of the rubbermaid water bottles…while I’m drinking one, there’s always another one in the fridge getting nice and cold.
I love this! I will give a word of caution. Don’t over do the water consumption. Water can drain your body as well as replenish it. Plus, beware bottle water! I get on my soap box at the beginning of every school semester to my students. Tap water is safer and cheaper! (Sorry to rant a little.) I keep my water bottle and adult sippy cup, cup with straw and lid, on me at all times.
I’m all about tap water filtered through a Britta (I swear, it tastes better!) and in Bellingham, they test our water annually so we know what’s in our drinking water and it’s pretty darn good. =)
When I was in massage therapy school our teachers said the minimum we should drink of water per day is half our body weight in ounces. So if you weigh 100 pounds, you should drink at least 50 ounces of water per day. Whenever I’m really on track of drinking water like I should, I feel phenomenal. I’m totally with you on all it does for our bodies! Thanks for posting all the info…it helps to remind us of simple things we can all do to stay healthy and feel good!
That is a great tip – I really struggle with water intake but for the next 8 weeks, I’m going to get great. Hopefully that’s enough time to form a good habit.
I love the Crystal Light Pure flavor packs! 30 calories to flavor your 16 oz of water, no artificial sweeteners–I only use 1 or 2 a day and then drink plain water for the rest, but it makes me feel like I am getting a little treat versus 150 calories for 16 oz of juice or 12 oz of soda!
Nice tip. I’ll have to check them out!
I have my reuseable cup I keep at my desk at work, I believe it is 16 ounces…My goal each day is to drink 1 before lunch (because of course I need coffee time), then 1 during lunch and 2 more refills after lunch before I go home. That way I get what I should and then anything I drink at home is bonus! I actually do complete this more days than not. 🙂
Cant wait to see what other tips you have in store for us.
Coffee. Oh how I miss coffee! =) I get so busy during the day that I often forget to drink from the glass right in front of my face!
Side note to missing coffee, have you tried Kaffree Roma? It is an all natural, caffeine-free coffee tasting beverage that I like to drink when I am trying to be good.