To The Faithfully Fit:
I know you’ve heard this more than 1,000 times. But it’s still worth repeating. Drink more water! Drinking water prevents your body from becoming dehydrated, cleans out impurities (i.e. excess sodium), aids in the healing process, keeps your metabolism going and prevents your body from feeling hungry.
But how much should you drink? The rule of thumb has always been eight glasses of eight ounces. However, as with most things, that rule is just a guide. To be specific for each individual, divide your weight (in pounds) by two. The resulting is the number of ounces of water you need each day.
Let’s take our 160 pound person from last week. Obviously that’s 80 ounces of water a day. That may seem like a lot. However, these tricks might help make it easier.
Drink eight ounces before each meal and snack. Remember, you should all be eating between four and six times a day. We’ll take the average, five. So right there 40 ounces have been accounted for.
Next, if you keep a bottle of water with you at your desk or in your car, I am sure you can drink another eight ounces between each meal. So that would be eight more ounces between breakfast and lunch, lunch and a snack and your snack and dinner. There’s another 24 ounces. You’ve now totaled 64 ounces; only 16 more to go. You can make those up pretty easily.
The good news is that there seems to be some scientific agreement in the acceptance of now including other drinks (coffee, tea, juice and soda) as a contributing part of a body’s daily water requirement. However, be sure to watch for any added ingredients like caffeine, sugar and sodium that would cause your body to suffer unwanted side effects. For every gram of sodium you ingest, your cells use up to 23 times that amount of water to neutralize it. Sorry guys, alcohol still doesn’t count.
Also, many foods that have a high water content can also help you reach your intake goal, as well as satisfy your hunger – ultimately reducing your caloric intake. Fruits and vegetables contain 85% to 98% water. Eating dense vegetables (i.e. cucumbers, tomatoes, jicama, etc.) in a salad, with meal or as a snack is one of the easiest ways access those last few ounces
Most dairy products are fairly high in water. Eggs and meat are good examples of nutrient rich foods that also have a high water content. However, the more a meat is cooked or aged, the more water it loses.
One more note, try to not to drink anything two hours before going to bed! I guarantee you won’t sleep very well.
