The Building Blocks of Life: Water

We all know how important water is for our daily diet.  Most of us have been taught since we were children that we all need a certain amount of water intake a day in order to help maintain a proper diet, etc.  And I am not refuting this teaching by any means.  Because my logic is, our bodies are mostly made of up water at the very basic level.  Common sense would dictate that we NEED to take in water.

I am not going to tell you that you have to take in 8-12 cups of water a day.  That is entirely up to you.  Your preference.  As I states before, I am NOT a doctor or a medical authority of any kind (I'm a computer geek just trying to get healthy).  For "official" advice consult your doctor.  Give this URL a read sometime from the Mayo Clinic as it covers daily intake etc.  Instead I will tell you what has made a difference in my life.

My Story:

I weighed myself yesterday and found that I have lost a total of 11 pounds within the last 7 weeks.  And I must be honest that I haven't been actually trying to loose weight.  We went on vacation, ended up doing a bunch of walking and drinking a lot of water to stay hydrated and the water habit seemed to make it's way back home with us.  Basically I replaced my soft drinks and sodas with water.  And a couple weeks ago when I hit the scale for the first time in forever, I was amazed to see that I had already lost several pounds.  Sure, the vacation walking helped me.  But I didn't sustain that behavior during the weeks after my vacation (although we have since started back up), the only real difference was changing my soft drinks over to water.  We don't snack much here at home.  So we rarely have the "bad" foods we should probably distance ourselves from.  So it definitely helps that we don't keep that stuff here in the house.

My Result:

I find that by replacing the sugary, soft drinks with water even my appetite is affected.  I don't get hungry quite as easy (or quickly), I have less of a desire to snack (when we do have snack foods).  And I feel better overall.  I have had less headaches and joint aches since being off of the soft drinks as well.  I even rest better now.  Does this mean that I haven't had a Pepsi or another various soft drink.  No way.  I have about one a day.  And that's really about all I need (or want).  I have, in a sense; taught myself moderation of soft drinks.  And I still have a cup of coffee about every morning with breakfast.  So basically 2 caffeinated beverages a day is what I limit myself too. And personally, I feel great.

And the awesome thing about it was, I saw how quickly I dropped a few pounds that otherwise I probably would have killed myself over in the gym.  But you see without making a change, there would have been no catalyst there to help ignite a little weight loss.  And as a result of seeing a few pounds drop off the scale, it ignited a desire to push a little harder and loose a few more in the process.  As a result, I've started working out on my lunch breaks.  Days where I can't go to the gym, I use a small set of free weights I have here and I utilize Xbox Fitness on the Xbox One game console to sneak in a lunchtime workout (when I can).  And being sore has never felt better.

So at least in my case, I don't adhere to a "rule" or a set amount of water.  I drink a glass of water when I get thirsty and with my meals.  Do I NEED more water? Maybe.  Am I comfortable with my current intake.  Yes, I am.  My challenge to you.  Start replacing one of your "non-water" beverages a day with a glass of water.  Do that for a week, and see if you don't start feeling better.  From there start working your way down.  I understand dropping the soft drinks cold turkey is hard.  Been there, done that.  It's a hard, tough process.  But the payoff is well worth it in the end.

Posted in: body, body weight, change, diet, exercise, fitness, free weights, intake, pepsi, soft drinks, water, weight loss, workout, xbox fitness