| I hear OVER & OVER
again from my clients, "I know I don't drink enough
water". So, true to my style, I always give them the
"science behind my recommendations" as to why water is
so important, hoping to encourage them to increase their
intake.
Recent research presented at the American Dietetic
Association (ADA) national conference showed that study
participants had a 3.3% decrease in metabolism when they were
only 2% dehydrated.
For anybody trying to drop a few pounds or those of us with
"slow metabolisms", proper water intake may help get
it back to normal. (Weight training is the best thing in
the world for really getting metabolisms going...more on that
another time)
Being dehydrated also decreased cardio-vascular athletic
performance by 8-15% in studies I looked at. This makes
working out seem HARDER! Now why would we do this
to ourselves?
Some ADA recommendations for weight loss &
maintenance are:
Take your weight in pounds and divide it by
2. That's how
many ounces you should have per day.
So a 150lb person divided by 2 = 75
or 75 ounces per day
or about 9 1/2 8oz glasses
or about 5 16oz glasses (which is
a typical drinking glass at our house)
If you consume alcohol or beverages containing caffeine or
exerase, be sure to add some extra water in daily to compensate
for the diuretic effect.
Recommendations on how to get all your
water in:
- Keep a water bottle with you at all times. I refill
my bottle for a week or so until the top gets gross.
- Freeze 1/2 filled water bottles, then add water if you
like it ice cold.
- Drink 8oz water before every meal & snack as a good
habit.
- Add a sprinkle of Crystal Light or juice to your bottle to
jazz it up.
- Buy a fancy bottle or "Silly Straw" for the kids
to encourage water consumption.
Note: Decaf coffee, ice tea, pop & Crystal Light can
count twards this daily total if we have to get desperate.
Whether you use bottled, tap or filtered water is up to
you. I'm still undecided on this.
Drink up |
