Hydration keeps us happy

We've all heard time and time again how important it is to drink enough water.  But how much is enough?  And, why is it so important?  Water makes up between 55 & 60% of our body weight!  Isn't that crazy?!  Water plays a huge role in weight loss & helps our bodies in more ways than we can possibly understand.  For instance, did you know you lose about 12 cups of water a day?!  Perspiration, urine, breathing, and the soles of our feet take that away from us.  It's vital that we restore that water to our bodies.  One of the main reasons I've been focusing on hydration this week is because it's summer.  And it's hot.  The past week where I live the temperature has shot up into the 90's and we are definitely feeling it.  And, our air conditioner went out on us and won't be fixed for a few days.  I literally felt like I might melt today and knew hydration was more important than ever.

How much water is enough?  The rote answer is 8-8 oz. glasses a day.  This is a great start and if you've been drinking less than this daily, start with this amount.  A good formula to use is the following:

1. Divide your weight by 2.2
2. This equals the number of kilograms you weigh
3. Take that kilogram number and multiply it by 25-30 (I would aim for the higher & take 30)
4. This equals the number of cc's of water you should drink daily
5. 30 cc's equals 1 oz.
6. Divide the number of cc's by 30 & that is the total number of ounces you need for the day.
Here's an example using my weight:
1. 160/2.2=72.7

3. 72.7x25=1817.5        72.7x30=2181
6. 1817.5/30=60.5 ounces      2181/30=72.7 ounces
So I need to drink between 60.5 & 72.7 ounces of water daily

However, this doesn't take into account heat, exercise, etc., so I always aim higher. My personal goal is at least 100 ounces daily.  One easy tip for keeping track of how much water I drink daily is to keep a 16 ounce cup by my sink.  I keep two pitchers of water in the fridge so they stay cold.  Throughout the day each time I fill up and drink that 16 ounce cup of water, I put a mark on my calendar.  The goal is to have at least 6 marks at the end of each day.  Another thing that I know works for people is to fill up a pitcher with their 64 ounces (or however much their goal is) and to leave it out on the counter.  They know that by the end of the day that pitcher needs to be empty.  If you have a hard time drinking that much water at first, flavor it with sugar free/calorie free crystal light.  Another trick I try with myself if I'm struggling with getting enough water in is to not let myself have anything else to drink (ie: a diet soda) until I've had all my water for the day.  This encourages me to get my water in early and then I'm usually guaranteed to get more than my goal because I'll drink more later in the afternoon and evening as well.

Try getting your goal amount of water for 10 days straight and I guarantee you'll see & feel a difference in your body.  It takes about that long for our bodies to rehydrate themselves, so you might have to go to the bathroom a lot the first several days, but once your body starts to drink all that in & really use it, you'll adjust accordingly & feel more energized, have fewer headaches, and speed up your metabolism. Those are some pretty great reasons & I challenge you all to drink more water this summer!