Wednesday's GHI: Water bottle

Gotta Have It: Giant water bottle

If you could only do one good thing for your body each day, I would recommend drinking tons of water. And I mean tons... a gallon if possible. But start for a goal of at least 64 oz. per day. Water is so essential for all of your body's processes to function properly, you need to give your body plenty of it!

My favorite water bottle. This thing comes with me everywhere!!

By the time you feel "thirsty," your body is already dehydrated!! You should be constantly drinking water, and you should never feel thirsty if you are staying properly hydrated. Here's the TMI time: if your pee is actually yellow, you need to drink more water. Your urine should be practically clear. The yellow color is from uric acid, which is the waste that your kidneys process out of your body. So you can imagine that it's not good for that to sit in your body for a long time, especially if it's that concentrated. In fact, prolonged dehydration can even lead to UTIs as those toxins pass through you in such a concentrated form. And for those of you who have ever had one of those... Let's avoid that, shall we?? So while many people complain about drinking the proper amount of water because they don't like that it makes them have to use the restroom more frequently, that's a good thing!! Get those toxins out of your body as often as you can!! Embrace the toilet. Not literally though, that's gross.

And lastly, staying properly hydrated can actually make you eat less. When you feel hungry, more often than not what your body actually needs is water. But when your body goes to send those signals to your brain, the "hunger" and "thirst" signals are so close together, that your brain kind of smooshes them together, and the feeling if hunger dominates even if it's caused by thirst. So any time you feel hungry outside of a normal meal time, try drinking a big glass of water and wait ~15 minutes. If you're still hungry, then have a snack with some protein and fiber, like peanut butter and carrots or an apple, or almonds and some dried fruit. 

Here are some tips to help keep you optimally hydrated:

1. Get a big reusable bottle, and keep it with you all day. Bring it to meetings with you. Bring it in the car. Bring it into the store with you. 
2. Set milestones for when you want to finish said water bottle. For me, I have a 24 oz. bottle, and I fill it up first thing in the morning, then I refill it once before lunchtime, once in the afternoon, once before I leave work, and once in the evening. That's 120 oz minimum each day. 
3. Avoid drinking water within 30 minutes of eating or during meals. When you drink water, it actually reduces the acidity of your stomach which means you can't digest food as efficiently as you're meant to. So drink a big glass of water 30 minutes before eating to keep you hydrated during the meal. If you need to drink water while you eat, add some lemon juice - the little bit if extra acidity reduces the alkaline effects of the water (chemistry class, anyone??).
4. When drinking anything with diuretic effects, drink one glass of water per beverage to reduce the potential for dehydration and bloating. This includes any caffeinated beverages (especially coffee) and any alcoholic beverages. Bonus: you'll be way less hungover. I would also say any time you eat something really salty, you should down a glass of water 30 minutes after you're done eating to avoid bloating.