Weight Loss Day 3

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Day 3

Today we’re working on Hydration.

The reality is, if you’re like most Australian’s, then you’re likely chronically dehydrated all year round. A big part of the reason for that is we love to drink everything else other than the one thing we are primarily designed to drink. Now before you try and tell me that beer is actually 90% water, let’s keep this in the context of what we’re trying to achieve during the 10-week program.    

Other liquids will pick you up and drop you back down, some will even act as a dehydrator, some will make you want to eat a greasy kebab at 2am, and many will make you hungry and leave you with a heap of worthless calories just for good measure.

 

Dehydration and the science behind it!

Chronic dehydration leads to a heap of issues. Your body tries to find water from wherever it can get it, so it first goes to your gastro intestinal system and milks it dry, it then can also go to the synovial capsules that help to provide cushioning and support for your joints. These two issues alone can cause gastric problems over time, and lead to conditions such as arthritis in the joints.

The other big effect that our lack of water intake has is afternoon drowsiness. The post lunch fatigue factor. What do we generally do to try and keep ourselves up and about? We eat rubbish. We hunt out the charity chocolate box and donate money to our future health condition.

It really is the simplest change to make, but one that still needs to be made with deliberate intent.

The simplest way to maintain healthy hydration levels throughout the day is by regularly sipping on water, this will help reduce the chance of food cravings, increase your metabolism, and help negate eating out of boredom.

Did you also know that just a 2 to 3% drop in your hydration levels can have about a 20% effect on your physical and mental performance. It’s a staggering statistic, when you think about what the implications of that might be for you, whether driving a car, focusing on detailed work, using your fine motor skills in the workplace. Your risk of an incident or accident is greatly increased simply through the effects of dehydration.

Remember - It's 24ml per kg/body weight if you’re eating lots of fruit /veggies, 33ml per kg/body weight if you’re not! You’ll be going to the toilet more but that’s very normal and will reduce as your body adapts, plus it helps get your daily steps up!

Go out and get yourself a water bottle! – And no I do not have any stocks in water bottles companies.