How Much Water Should You Be Drinking?

Posted by Shaleney Pereira on with 0 Comment

If you’re looking for optimal health, especially if you’re out there training hard – then you need to be drinking an adequate amount of water. Your brain will only tell you that you’re thirsty long after your body actually needs it. When you work out and sweat, your body loses fluid that needs to be replaced, or else your muscles will suffer and your workout will suffer. and the rate you actually recover will also suffer. Because your body will often process that liquid before it’s able to put it back where it belongs, you need to drink MORE than normal after a workout.

THE BENEFITS OF DRINKING ENOUGH WATER 

  • Prevents a dry mouth – quite annoying when trying to work out
  • A well hydrated athlete can feel stronger and workout for longer and more effectively.
  • You will have more energy, and the exercises you struggled with when dehydrated will seem much easier.
  • Promotes cardiovascular health – your heart must work harder to pump the reduced amount of blood and get enough oxygen to your cells, which makes everyday activities like walking up stairs, as well as exercise more difficult
  • Keeps your body cool – your body releases heat by expanding blood vessels close to the skins surface (this is why your face gets red during exercise), resulting in more blood flow and more heat dissipated into the air. When you’re dehydrated, it takes a higher environmental temperature to trigger blood vessels to widen, so you stay hotter
  • Water helps muscles and joins work better – it is important for lubricating joints and when you are well hydrated the water inside and outside the cells of contracting muscles provides adequate nutrients and removes waste efficiently which enhances performance.

HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU NEED? 

Firstly, you should make sure you are hydrated to begin with. Before working out drink about 500mls of water. During exercise sip 170mls of water every 15 minutes (240mls if exercising in extreme heat and you’re sweating buckets). For every 0.45 kilograms of water weight lost, replace it by drinking about 500mls of water or sports drink. Another good way to monitor that you’ve gotten enough water is in the bathroom. If you have a large amount of light- coloured urine, then you’re hydrated. If it’s dark, then you’ll know you need to drink more before, during and after your workout.

CAN YOU DRINK TOO MUCH WATER?

It’s possible to to drink too much water, but difficult to do. Hyponatremia usually found in endurance athletes. Diluted from too much water and sodium levels drop to dangerously low levels. This can lead to nausea, headaches, confusion and fatigue.

So, after reading this blog maybe – had it occurred to you that you are thirsty? Guess what, by the time you have felt this sensation of being thirsty throughout your day YOU ARE ALREADY DEHYDRATED! So really, your body is composed of roughly 60% water – so it’s pretty important so keep hydrated since nearly all of your systems will not function as well without the proper water intake.

Truth About Juice Cleanses

Posted by Shaleney Pereira on with 1 Comment

What is a juice cleanse/ fast? 

During a juice cleanse, a person limits their diet to only fresh vegetable, fruit juices and water for a few days to sometimes a few weeks. The fast focuses on freshly made, unpasteurised juice, so the bottles of OJ in the fridges at Coles wouldn’t be allowed. People either buy the juices pre- made from a manufacturer of juice cleanse products or purchase a juicer and make their own concoctions at home.

The craze of juice cleanses are becoming the new thing, promising weight loss, body detoxification and the treatment and prevention of everything from the common cold to even cancer. A nutritious freshly squeezed juice every now and then can be beneficial for your health, but when it’s taken to the extreme – like limiting your diet to STRICTLY juices for weeks, it not only fails to be the magic solution some people are claiming it to be – it can also do more harm than good.

Many juice- only cleanses lack the fat and nutrients our liver needs to do its job properly. The liver needs nutrients to detox. It detoxes in two phases and needs different vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and amino acids – it functions better with food. Start with the basics – the liver needs good fats, and in a juice only fast there is no fat. Drinking 2 litres of water and eating 2 (portions of fruit) and 5 (of veggies), is a cheaper, long- term solution for your liver.

Common symptoms while on a juice cleanse can include headaches, diarrhoea, nausea, pimples and bloating. These are the result of toxins stored in the system being released into the blood stream. Generally, the chemicals we are exposed to are stored in our system in fat, sometimes for years and yes they are released in a cleanse, but they are released in a rush. That’s what causes the nausea. It’s good to support the liver but not in a rapid fashion. You can support it every day through food.

Juicing is not better than whole fruits and vegetables, in fact – it removes some nutrients. While the juice form does hydrate and supply nutrients, there is no reliable scientific research to support claims that juicing your produce is healthier than eating it whole. The fibre and some of the antioxidants found in the skins and seeds of fruits and vegetables are often eliminated in the juicing process. Like the white pulp in an orange – provides flavanoids, but that is usually left behind!

Because juice doesn’t offer the fibre contained in fruits and veggies, the body absorbs fructose sugar more easily, which can affect blood- sugar levels. None of this means you shouldn’t drink juice. It simple means, instead of drinking juice for weeks, a healthier route might be just including juices in a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, lean protein and whole grains.

 

To put this into short list of why we don’t encourage juice cleanses:

  1. Juices are less filling than whole fruits and veggies – You’re not going to feel as satisfied and full if you drink your meals instead of chewing them.
  2. Juice fasts can leave out critical nutrients your body needs to function properly. There is a reason dietary guidelines include various categories of food – you can’t get all of your essential vitamins and minerals out of just one
  3. It is not an effective and way to lose weight and keep it off. By cutting out all of the fat from your diet and drastically lowering your calorie intake, yes you may lose some weight. But you will most likely put it right back on after the fast.
  4. It’s not cheap. A popular Melbourne manufacturer will charge you $65 a day for its cleansing package of juices. Want to juice at home? Get ready to spend anywhere around $30 to $300 for a juicer.

Overall, here at Results in Motion, we don’t advocate that our clients juice cleanse – it’s not a long term solution, it is difficult to adhere to and SURELY you’d rather eat your food than drink it right? SO MUCH tastier 🙂

Setting Goals For Summer

Posted by Shaleney Pereira on with 0 Comment

Every year, most of us make a promise to ourselves or set a fitness related goal along the lines of “I will lose weight before Summer” or “I’m going to get fit this season”. Let’s all have an honest moment and evaluate how successful we have been in achieving these? Firstly, congratulations for making the first step – having that positive mindset and target driven focus to know you actually want to achieve something is brilliant. Unfortunately, time in time out setting those sorts of unspecific goals leads to failure at achieving them. Setting unrealistic and unplanned goals (such as I’m going to lose a stack of weight by end of September) will inadvertently set yourself up for a potential failure – what is a “stack of weight”, is “end of September” a reasonable time frame? Failing at goals/targets often makes us lash out with more unhealthy behaviours and bad-decisions – sort of beating ourselves up for not being successful – recognise this pattern – “Damn i didn’t lose any weight, I might as well eat this whole large pizza”. This cycle of creating unrealistic goals, failing, acting out against the failure creates a merry-go-round of non-achievement and essentially pushes you further and further away from your target. So, let’s STOP THIS CYCLE NOW. What we want to make clear in this blog is how to be SMART when assessing your goals and how to succeed with them. There are 5 main steps you need to follow when trying to set your realistic and attainable goals- if you stick to these, you will 100% achieve as planned

S = Specific.   This means that every goal that you make should clearly be defined. Rather than saying “I want to lose weight” try making it more specific by saying for example, “I want to lose 5kgs across the next 3 months before Summer arrives”.

 M = Measurable.   What this means is that you should be able to clearly measure and track your progress. By creating a goal saying “I want to increase my fitness” gives no clear way to asses your progress. In order to re-frame the above goal so that it is measurable, start by measuring your fitness levels to begin with. Then you can determine a 6 week goal based on the initial data. E.g If you start out by only being able to do 10 burpees in 30 seconds, a measurable and realistic 6 week goal would be to complete around 15 burpees in 30 seconds, without breaks.

A = Attainable.   Before you can add numbers on how many KJs you want to lose, you have to know how high or low you want to go. It’s good to ‘aim for the stars’, but don’t be too extreme. Likewise, a goal that is too easy is also not very motivating. Only you know your limits. With the goal set in mind that you “Will lose weight”, what percentage is attainable for you. Research suggests that a 5-10% weight loss is attainable for most overweight people in a certain amount of time (e.g. 2 months) A measurable, attainable goal could be “I will lose 7% of my body weight within an 8 week period”

R = Realistic.   When it comes to losing weight, we all tend to want the unrealistic and typically unhealthy quick fix. Try not to set unattainable health goals that aren’t relevant to you in this time in your life. Choose something that is motivating you and that you are concerned about. Rather than setting the unachievable goal such as “I want to lose 5 kg in 10 days” instead, aim to lose half a kilogram a week. Attempting to lose weight faster than this is quite unhealthy and will only lead to failure and disappointment.

T = Time- bound.   Include an end point. Knowing that you have a deadline motivates you to get started. Since healthy weight loss is about 0.5-1kg per week, set your deadline accordingly. For the example of “I will lose weight” you could use 2 months. “I will lose 6kg of my body weight in 2 months”.

Here are a few more examples of action- orientated SMART goals:

  • I will walk 5 days every week for 30 minute each.
  • I will drink water instead of soft drink every day this week.
  • I will bring my lunch to work instead of eating out 4 days this week.

Remember that there are no quick fixes when it comes to fitness. Setting realistic goals and making an effort to attain your goal is a solid way to develop the healthy habits that will help you achieve long- term success. 

Easter Life Hacks – Don’t Gain Kgs This April

Posted by Cathy Schoemaker on with 0 Comment

Oh yes! Oh yes! We can all feel it coming – that Easter public holiday run is within our reach! YAY for Good Friday and Easter Monday – BRING ON the long weekend hey? Can you believe that we are already celebrating Easter (I am aware that Woolworths and Coles have been stocking shelves with hot cross buns since Jan 1st but STILL!)?!  Extra days off work and holidays aside, Easter tends to illicit complete and utter panic in personal trainers and can be a complete undoing of all your good work to date of you’re not mindful of sugar/calorie intake.  In our experience, Easter can sometimes be a more devastating time than Christmas for falling off the bandwagon. At least with Christmas you are having lots of scrumptious meals – cold cut meats, exquisite salads, roasts, vegetable and general abundance of varying food groups…. Easter- not so much. To me, Easter screams hot cross buns, chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies, more hot cross buns and definitely even more chocolate eggs!  High sugar, high fat combined with potential high alcohol intake = FULL SCALE EASTER CHUBBIES!!!

So what can you do to prevent a landslide of epic proportions? I have listed some tips below that help me “keep it semi real” across this time of the year, and also some food facts that you may or may not (or maybe CHOOSE not) to be aware of!

  1. Beware the bunny! The total number of grams in chocolate bunny can be quite disturbing. For example if you consume a medium-large size Cadbury Bunny, you have almost consumed the equivalent of a family block of chocolate.
  2. Even more so…. Beware the mini Egg – 4 mini solid chocolate eggs is equivalent to half a normal chocolate bar #devastation #whaddaymeanIscoffed20!!!!!!
  3. Hot Cross Buns – on average are about 200 calories – if you consume 6 of these in one day you have basically eaten your entire calorie intake.
  4. If you are drinking this Easter, pick one night out of the 4 day period, and enjoy it – keep it decent the other 3
  5. Do NOT overbuy chocolate for friends and family, the last thing you need is to be stuck with a stack of Easter gifts that you didn’t end up giving – you will inadvertently add them to your own stash. Trust me.
  6. Commit to 2 out of the 4 days to train – you will not only burn off some of the excess sugar, but you will also feel better about yourself.

Have a brilliant Easter, but remember it’s not an all access pass to go completely psycho on chocolate!

3 Tips To Avoid The Festive Season Fatness

Posted by Cathy Schoemaker on with 0 Comment

Let’s be open, real and honest – unless you get a massive bout of gastro across December, there are not many people out there getting slimmer over the festive season! Between the office Christmas parties, BBQs, family gatherings and social Sunday sessions, December tends to be a whirlwind of finger food, bubbles, beer and general consumption. It’s probably completely viable to gain up to 3kg over the week between Christmas and New Years right?! But guess what – it doesn’t HAVE to be like this? “Christmas” doesn’t have to equal “Fatness” and you can actually enjoy the holiday break without going completely nuts and ruining all your hard work. Here are my “Top 3 Tips To Avoid The Festive Season Fatness”

christmas-pic

 

  1. Don’t “Call It” too early – there’s no reason you can’t train right up until Christmas Day

Yep we get it, it’s the end of year wind down, but for some clients, the shutting up shop and jumping off the bandwagon starts on December 1st. If you stop training and committing December 1st, that’s 4-5 weeks off plan – there is a lot of potential damage that can be done in this time, so take that temptation away from yourself and continue to stick to schedule right up until the main event. If you can maintain a regular training regime in amongst all the food, celebrations and parties, you will 100% be better off for it not only on your waistline, but also in the New Year when you make your fitness comeback.

2. You Either Eat or Drink – not both

One sure fire way to add centimetres, gain body fat and feel bloated is to smash both the alcohol tab AND the finger food selection….or to drink yourself silly at the work Christmas Party and steer your uber home via drive through Maccas. #badmove. To put it in simple terms, when you drink alcohol, your body focuses on burning off the alcohol first, which means that whatever food you eat will essentially stored as fat. You are actually better committing to a night of just drinking, or forgo the booze and noms the food! Both options better than the combination of the two

3. Eat regular “normal” meals between events

You know events are going to be calorie laden food – spring rolls, fried calamari, mini sandwiches, the works – why make matters worse and eat this type of food when you’re not there? Try to stick to your clean eating, healthy and nutritious meals when you’re not out partying – this will not only make the event snacks more enjoyable, but you’ll saving the needless calories too.

So as you head into festive season, remember that you don’t have to go all out nuts and shove everything in your face. You can enjoy the consumption of treats and booze without making it in excess. Keep your training consistent and keep working hard – the more you put in effort wise, the easier it’ll be in January when you make your entrance into 2017 healthy lifestyle times.

3 Mistakes People Make When They’re Trying To Lose Weight

Posted by Cathy Schoemaker on with 0 Comment

Suddenly it’s Monday again and you’ve found yourself on the weight loss / weight gain round-a-bout. You’re SURE when you weighed in on Friday just gone, you were 3kg lighter, how on earth have you managed to stack on all this fat across the weekend? If you were to have an honestly moment with yourself, it might not seem that surprising as you went from salad + tuna to a plentiful weekend of brunches, lunches, coffee n cake, champagne, beers in the sun….. yeah, it’s really not that surprising at all is it?!

Well you know what – what’s done is done and the best thing about a Monday is that you get to start fresh all over again. Put the weekend behind you and focus on the week ahead. 7 days of healthy, clean eating coupled with some hard training will be enough to shift the excess, as long as you don’t do anything crazy. This week’s blog is about what NOT to do – listed below are 3 classic mistakes that people make when they’re trying to lose weight – make sure you DON’T fall into the trap of 1, 2 or 3, as you will slow your progress and make your weight loss journey even harder.

not-a-quick-fix

#1 – Quick Fix Detoxes and Juice Cleanses

Warning warning – these are a trap, they are crap and ultimately they will do you  more damage than good. Living off juice for a few days might make you feel slimmer, but it’s unsustainable and will leave you lacking in energy, hungry and wreak havoc with your metabolism. I’m not against juicing at all but substituting real meals for low-calorie liquid options is not the way forward. What happens at the end of the 5 days of juicing? You guessed it, you’ll most likely binge eat and find yourself back to where you started

#2 – Cutting food groups out excessively

Don’t cut your carbs, cut your diary, cut your meat, cut your anything! Removing food groups again, leaves you feeling lighter and leaner, but ultimately it’s not a sustainable way of eating. You can’t just drop 2/3 of your regular eating plan and expect to be able to keep that up – you’ll get bored, you’ll get hungry and again, like the juice cleanse, ultimately you’ll binge come the weekend. If you are planning on cutting out a food group for whatever reason, just make sure you research alternative options to get the essential vitamins, minerals and macros into your diet via another angle. The absolute worst is when people decide to suddenly become vegetarian and haven’t bothered to research plant-based proteins to replace meat. Know your stuff, know why you are doing it and be smart about it

#3 – Training like a possessed human without proper build up

Guess what, you can’t go from 1 session per week to 9 without a negative impact on your body. If you’re de-conditioned (outta shape, unfit, injured, overweight) it’s going to take some time for you to build up to training daily, or for the super fit, training more than once per day. One of the worst things you can do it jump in balls to the wall and get injured. Your recovery is as important as your training, and it’s better for you to put in 3 solid sessions, training PROPERLY, at 100% intensity and effort, than it its to put in 8 half arsed ones. Train hard, train properly and your results will come quicker.

We all know that losing weight and keeping it off is one of the toughest things out there. It comes on so easily and can prove a real nightmare to get off. There are no magic pills, diets, workouts that will do it for you. It’s all about consistency and effort – day in day out until you get to your goal. Avoid the above 3 mistakes (aka short cuts that you think you’re taking) and it will come off quicker – promise

Drop a couple of quick KGs before Spring Racing Carnival

Posted by Cathy Schoemaker on with 1 Comment

Suddenly it’s upon us again! Frocks, horses, bubbles and FUN times! If you’re heading to any of the Spring Racing carnival events this year then no doubt you’re probably in a position where you need to drop some of Winter kgs quickly. As we emerge from the coldness and covered-upness that is Winter, it’s often a shock to the system to have to get out and about and frock up! Cue detoxing, training, tanning – suddenly you’re a poster girl for all things wellness 🙂

So let’s be honest, you officially have 12 days until the first major event – Derby Day, and good news is that if the Melbourne Cup is your goal, then you guys have a full 2 weeks. Trust me – you can make a massive impact your waistline in 2 weeks. BUT – the crucial point is – you have to spring into action now (like the “spring” pun?!). Now not all of us are in a position to whisk ourselves off to Bali for a 10 day detox/fitness retreat, so you’ve got to put the steps in at home. Here’s a check list that you can work through to drop some body fat, feel great and ensure that you’re looking your best at the races this year.

melbourne-cup

  • Training Plan – Results Based. Ok so I’m going to list 2 training plans in this list, this first one, the Training Plan – Results Based, is your “get ready to work your ass off”, “it’s going hurt like hell”, “yes you will be sore:” training plan. This training plan needs to be a combination of the following 2 disciplines – HIIT training and WEIGHTS training. If you’re working with a Personal Trainer, or have access to a Boot Camp then you better be giving 100%, 100% of the time. Train like you WANT to change your body. If you’re not sure on the exact workout to do – touch base with us and we can guide you on specifics
  • Training Plan – Commitment. This is the second training plan and requires you to just go through the motions diligently on a daily basis. It’s not forever, I get it that it’s a massive ask + grind but the more you can commit here, the more chance you have of a quick kg drop. Commit to going for a run or a long power walk every night or first thing every morning (dependent on when your Results Based Training sesh is). Get out there and get the cardio happening. It will stop you snacking in the evening and will knock a few more calories off you
  • Nutrition – Removal of Crap – Normally I’m not a massive advocate of cutting stuff out of your diet as it’s not sustainable for manageable for long periods of time, quite often it leads to binging. HOWEVER – you have literally 12-14 days to make a difference so we’re going with the following:
    • NO sugar
    • NO alcohol
    • NO white foods (pasta, rice, crackers, potatoes)
    • LIMITED dairy
    • LIMITED carbs after lunch time
  • Nutrition – Addition of Health – It’s not all about cutting out, we need to make sure while we’re removing the crap, we increase the good! So these things are applicable  all year round, but if you want to increase your energy, top up your vitamins, flush out the junk then work to adding the following things in:
    • INCREASE water intake to 3L per day (additional 1-1.5L if you are training hard)
    • INCREASE veggies massively – try to eat raw, fresh and at least 2 meals per day
    • INCREASE lean meat/protein – you’ll need to fill up on something so focus on this instead of carbs
    • INCREASE fruit for energy – if you find cutting the starchy carbs is leaving you depleted, have some fresh fruit

If you get your diet right, massively increase your training and CONSISTENTLY do all the above for 12 days, you WILL notice a difference. Don’t believe me? Take a photo in your undies at the start of the 12 days, then take one at the end. If you can hand on heart say your didn’t stray from the plan of attack above, then you should PROUDLY notice a massive difference. May the force be with you people – let’s prep for one of the most fun times in Melbourne and look amazing when you’re suited and booted and frocked up. Have fun!

 

Clean Eats and Kale

Posted by Cathy Schoemaker on with 0 Comment

It’s Spring and it’s officially time to quit the crap, come out of your Winter hibernation and embrace your health & fitness journey for the next 3 months. It’s all good and well to have fitness goals but absolutely undoubtedly, the most pivotal piece of the health puzzle, has to come from what you’re putting in your mouth.  You’ve all heard the phrase: “ You can’t out-train a bad diet” and I can certainly attest to that! I train 6 times a week, plus have a super active job but will STILL blown up like a beached whale if i shove crappy processed food into my mouth. In a nutshell, if you are serious about dropping the kgs, leaning up for Summer, it will all be thanks to your diet.  Get that right and you are more than 75% there.

September is the BEST month in the entire year to absolutely NAIL your eating plan. Our Boot Camp  cadets have knuckled down for Spring Ultimate Results Camp and are really kicking goals with their nutrition. Use this time to really focus on what makes you feel good – i.e. energetic, healthy, lean. Think about food both as a fuel and as nourishment so why not detox your body this month?  Make a commitment to get off the sugar, the alcohol, the refined carbohydrates and the packaged crap that inadvertently makes you FEEL CRAP.  Instead of going on a “diet” as such, think about what you can really do this month to work on the nutrition aspect of your well-being. Here are some suggestions – print them out, stick them on the fridge and try to incorporate some into your September Health and Fitness plan:

  1. Increase your water intake – start your day by drinking 500ml warm water with lemon, aim to get 3L in per day
  2. Go shop at the local farmers market and buy some fresh produce – leafy green veggies, rainbow colour varieties and seasonal fruits
  3. Get familiar with your superfoods – rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, add these in your diet and reap the benefits – blue berries, chia seeds, avocado, walnuts, broccoli, kale, Atlantic salmon
  4. Revamp your weekly menu with salads and whole foods – aim to eat a fresh salad 2 meals a day – raw food will help to increase your satiety and reduce sugar & salt cravings
  5. Make in immediate switch to small meals evenly spaced throughout the day – try not to go more than 3 hours without food

There are loads of healthy food options available and even more recipes to help you cook them – follow our Results in Motion Instagram page for clean eats inspo!

Kale is the new word on the street, many health enthusiasts touting is benefits – quite a people though are reluctant to use it as they are not sure how to prepare it. Give this salad a go for some fresh goodness:

kale-salad-pomegranate-3-600

Kale Salad Delight

250g fresh kale

1 clove of garlic smashed

Pinch of salt and pepper

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp of chia seeds

4 spring onions sliced

1 bunch of mint and parsley chopped

2 tbs of cranberries or goji berries

2 oranges, peeled and segmented

  1. Remove tough stems from the kale, wash and shred finely
  2. Combine garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice, chia seeds and oil in a small bowl or cup – mix well and pour over shredded kale, combine well
  3. Massage into kale for about 203 mins – the leaves will wilt a little and become tender then add spring onion, mint, parsley, cranberried and orange
  4. Toss through and adjust any flavours where necessary – divide into 2 bowls

Calories – approx. 115; protein 5.7g, carbs 4g, fibre 7.3g and fat 9g

Human of RIM – check us out in action!

Posted by Cathy Schoemaker on with 0 Comment

What better way to celebrate and appreciate our AMAZING Results in Motion clients – we are excited to launch our “Humans of RIM” blog which features on our RIM Instagram. For those that aren’t completely socially savvy and all over the world of Insta – here is the first installment which you can read directly from our website.

So what’s “Humans of RIM” all about? Throughout the business we have clients achieving big things, having fun and generally being AWESOME humans – worthy of celebration and worthy of some attention. We know the voyeur in all of you loves to facestalk, check out and read about other people successes so we’re committing to presenting you a weekly column with excerpts into other’s journeys. Find out what makes them tick, hear about their health and fitness achievements (and in some cases disasters!) and have some fun 🙂

Our first HOR installment: 2 of our dedicated VCE #makeithappen CREW:

carlyna-and-ashi

Ashini “It’s been four years now since Carlyna and i became close. I have to admin, when I first met her I thought she was slightly rude. Every time I asked her for help with maths she refused to help me. But now I’d have to say that she has brought such a huge amount of positivity into my life. Every Thursday I look forward to smashing gym with her and I get super frustrated to smashing every time she bails on me because working out just isn’t the same without her”

Carlyna “She yells at me if I even think about skipping gym”

 

Water – Hydrate & Feel GREAT!

Posted by Cathy Schoemaker on with 0 Comment

As we are coming into the warmer months, the consumption of water gets that little bit more important – for training, for health and other bonuses such as keeping you youthful!.  Among our population, not nearly enough of us can claim that we are hydration heroes! In fact, as time goes on, more and more people are tending to go with sports drinks and soft drinks instead of the natural and healthier option of H2O.

How much is enough? 

In terms of “enough”, an average person should consume between 2.5 to 3 litres of water every day (or 10 cups if you want to measure it like that).

A recent study in the UK showed just how vital H2O is and the benefits it has on our body. A journalist from the DailyMail named Sarah Smith, conducted a test where she had to consume 3 litres of water every single day for 28 days. The results were quite outstanding. She managed to lose 2 kilograms and 2 inches off her waist without doing any exercise at all. This, on top of much better looking skin and more energy are just some of the benefits that drinking the correct amount of water can promote.

water pic

Why should we drink water?

Not only does water keep you hydrated (and alive!), but it also provides you with a whole host of other benefits – some that might surprise you:

  1. It keeps you young: By consuming water, you are preventing your skin from going dry. Through the body’s natural moisturising, you are less likely to develop wrinkles and lines.
  2. Drinking water helps you lose weight: Drinking water also helps your body burn stored fat. If you’re not drinking enough water, your liver will be forced to help your kidneys detoxify your body. When you drink plenty of water, your kidneys don’t need any extra help, so your liver will be able to metabolize stored fat more efficiently. Drinking water flushes toxins from your body and prevents constipation.
  3. Drinking water helps you build muscle: Another benefit of drinking water is that it makes your muscles stronger. That’s because water carries oxygen to the cells of your body, including those of your muscles. Drinking plenty of water enables your muscles to work harder and longer before they feel tired, and this can help you build muscle.
  4. It makes you smarter: Drinking water can increase your cognitive function. Your brain needs a lot of oxygen in order to function at optimum levels. Drinking plenty of water ensures that your brain gets all the oxygen it needs. Drinking plenty of water also supports nerve function. It ensures that your body’s electrolyte levels remain high enough to allow your nerves to relay messages to and from the brain in the way they were meant to.
  5. It’s good for your joints: One of the lesser known benefits of drinking water is that it helps keep your joints strong, healthy and lubricated. Your joints need moisture in order to remain strong and flexible, so that your movements are smooth and pain free.

It is safe to say that you should be doing everything possible to get your required 3 litres a day. Not only is it vital for life, but it puts you on the best possible foundations for a leaner, healthier version of you.  And believe me – I know you all want that!