How is that Water Challenge Treating Me?

So .. as I discussed in a previous post I am taking a 30 day water challenge. You may ask .. how is it going?

The first couple of days were miserable .. at one point I wanted to move my laptop into the bathroom to save myself the walking. The bonus in this? I easily hit my daily quota in steps walking back and forth again, and again, and again, and …

Things I’ve Learned …

• Don’t drink massive amounts of water before you are going to be in a situation where you cannot go to the bathroom. Thankfully I ‘thought’ about this and tapered before I had to teach classes at the gym. That would have been miserable!
• When you drink water more consistently that ice water really keeps your body temperature lower. I switched to luke warm water pretty quick
• After a couple of days I started to drink it more consistently on my own (I was having an app buzz me every hour to drink water) .. it definitely feels both that my body needs it and wants it

Things I’ve Noticed …

• For some reason my system feels cleaner, head to toe. I really don’t know how to explain it but I feel like I’m flushing myself out constantly.
• I’m not as hungry as often as I thought I was … that is in part because we sometimes mix up signals of hunger and thirst and well, I’m definitely never thirsty! 🙂
• My skin feels better .. I noticed today that some of my dark circles seem a bit better (and it’s not because I’m getting enough sleep at night because that is one of my issues..)
• I am more alert during the work day, which is great because right now my job is slooooow

Are they related? I don’t know but they are different, and positive.

I’ll post another update on this soon but I’m pretty sure that 30 days will end up being a permanent change!

Happy day and thanks for reading!

I have tons of playlists on Spotify, by BPMs, by moves (i.e. seated flats, standing climbs, etc). Feel free to follow me as I am constantly adding to my playlists 🙂

Christina

Feel free to follow me on social media!

Follow @joschmoblo

Follow @_findingfitness – my blog’s twitter

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This is Good For Our Health – Taking a 30 Day Water Challenge

At times, I am fantastic at drinking water. If you count the water in my coffee then most days I’m great. Other days I really don’t drink enough. Part of it is that whole out of sight, out of mind aspect.

Water bottle in hand, ready to take this 30 day water challenge!

So .. I have decided to take a 30 day water challenge. That sounds easy, right? You would think so! For the next 30 days I’m going to make it a point to drink at least my quota of water .. and let’s see how life is when I’m done.

How much water? Well, I was doing a bit of research and there really is no straight answer .. so I’m going to go based on what the Mayo Clinic has posted…

For females they recommend 74.4 ounces, and they say …

• Short exercise sessions (but where you still sweat) increases that number by 1.5 to 2.5 cups (or 12 to 20 ounces). If it lasts longer than an hour (this is me a few times a week) it requires more (although they don’t specify how much).
• During the extended exercise sessions they advise to drink sports drinks containing sodium to help replenish the sodium lost.
• They also advise to continue drinking after exercising (<< — this is never a problem!)

Ok .. so I’m going to wrap my brain around this for a minute .. but I’m doing this! Let’s see what happens and feel free to join me if you are up for it!

Why drink more water?

• It helps your complexion .. I know this because on consecutive days where I don’t drink enough water my complexion goes South. If for no other reason I’m doing this for my skin 🙂
• Cravings control .. did you know that sometimes when we think we are hungry our body is actually just thirsty? Yep .. I used to think it was just because I was looking for an excuse to eat
• It could give you that energy you need .. one of many signs of dehydration is becoming tired. This could cure that
• It keeps your muscles hydrated .. when we sweat during workouts we are losing water from our muscles so definitely make sure you drink just enough to stay ahead of the extreme muscle fatigue
• It keeps your internal systems moving along .. our body is made up of 60% water .. drinking keeps everything internally moving ahead

I’m sure there are a bunch of reasons but instead of looking them up I’m just going to find out for myself! See you on the other side 🙂

Thanks for reading!

I have tons of playlists on Spotify, by BPMs, by moves (i.e. seated flats, standing climbs, etc). Feel free to follow me as I am constantly adding to my playlists 🙂

Christina

Feel free to follow me on social media!

Follow @joschmoblo

Follow @_findingfitness – my blog’s twitter

 

How to Help with Munching on Snacks!

I love food, I will admit it. If there were no calories and no draw backs I would make a career out of eating!

When I am bored I like to munch and over the years it’s been a habit that I’ve had to work myself out of. Do I think it’s completely gone? No. I do however minimize the chance that it will re-surface.

Maybe this will help someone else. If it helps one other person then me writing this will be worth it. This is what I’ve done to help with my non-stop desire to munch on food..

• Remove the stuff you love from your house. I literally went into my cabinets and emptied them of all the junk food. Unopened stuff as well. I *really* wanted to eat it all 🙂 but that would have defeated the purpose! Some things I took to work and the things that would not last until work had to go.

• Remove the junk food that you keep at work. Sometimes we keep emergency snacks in our drawers at work. When I get bored at work I start to think about food, and those snacks. Next thing you know they are going down the hatch. So .. no more work snacks.

• If you have vending machines at work and like to visit them then stop bringing change to work. We have vending machines at work and this is actually not a problem for me but if it is for you then take the opportunity out of the equation.

• Think about your grocery shopping trip .. give yourself a break but not a chance to fall. This is hard to explain in one sentence. If it’s something I LOVE and will consume immediately then sadly I never bring it into my house (because I will eat it ALL and immediately!). We are, however, human, and in order to survive a healthy lifestyle it is a good idea to give yourself a cheat moment or two along the way. So, when I grocery shop I will buy a focused quantity of something I like each week.
  • As an example … I cannot bring Nutella into the house because I will eat the whole jar but I will buy a couple of slices of deli cake to give myself a sweet treat for working hard and staying focused all week. That way it is a treat and not too excessive. I may buy a pint of ice cream but I will never buy a gallon.

• Speaking of grocery shopping, try to buy what you need for that time period. Try not to fall victim of buying junk food because it’s on sale or you have coupons. Sure, it’s nice to save money but if we are trying to be healthier then it’s better to stay on course, no? Decide what you want to have more … that cheap gallon of ice cream or to be able to fit into a smaller pair of jeans? Trust me, it’s worth the sacrafice!

• If you think you are hungry, when you are usually munching, try drinking water. It’s been said that sometimes we interpret our body signals as being hungry when in fact it just wants water. So why not try? Grab a glass of water and see if 8 ounces does not do the trick!

If you have a sweet tooth, like I do, sometimes it’s hard or near impossible to give it all up. It’s both a mental and physical stress it seems. That’s when we both give ourselves breaks to work towards and we also learn to make simple swaps. If this is also you, then read my post Start Small and Start Now – Make Simple Swaps in Your Eating to Change Your Life and maybe this will help as well. I’ve learned to balance eating healthy while also satisfying my sweet tooth and, to be honest, it does not feel like I ever sacrifice what I eat.

If you have questions, let me know! I would love to help or give advice. Thanks for reading!

Feel free to follow me on social media!

Follow @joschmoblo

Follow @_findingfitness – my blog’s twitter