Hydration please!
As a Personal Trainer I tend to drink a lot of water quite easily throughout my day. It always slightly perplexes me though when I meet people who are blatantly parched. I wonder to myself how it is possible to ignore the sensation of dehydration.
Chronic dehydration can feel like the norm once you’ve been in that state for some time and it doesn’t help either that there is a very British reliance on caffeine products, like tea and coffee, the problem is they actually work as diuretics on the system, meaning they aid the elimination or reduction of water out of the body rather than keeping it in or ‘hydrating’ the body.
We’ve all heard the recommendations to drink at least 8 classes of water a day but as a Trainer I’ve found it’s really quite hard to encourage people who hate the ‘taste’ of Water to make it a habit. Or those who just forget, they have to consciously count the glasses as they stand at the sink glugging it down to get their quota.
Whilst fielding this issue with many of my clients over the years, some of the strategies we put in place are fairly simple, like carry a small bottle with you all the time and sip throughout the day, or if you don’t like the taste or lack thereof, flavour with freshly squeezed lime or Lemon juice but one of the simplest ways is to just keep an eye on the colour of your pee, if it’s clear and pale in colour it’s all good, so use that as your marker rather than worrying how many glasses you’ve drank. Don’t forget your body draws moisture out of the food you eat as well, so it will all count towards how hydrated you are.
Finally as a note for the festive season, do we even need to mention how alcohol can make us feel like a dry sponge, so do yourself a favour and stay hydrated people!
You’ll thank me for it on New Years Day! 😉
– This Article has been published in the December edition of Life Magazine – http://www.lifemagazines.co.uk