Each week I'm trying to figure out how to make simple changes to my lifestyle that will enable me to get healthier. This week my goal was to increase my protein intake. Since I don't eat meat - red or white, it does become a bit more of a challenge. I do eat fish, and I know that fish is a great source of protein ... it's just that it can get a little bit tiring. In any case, I definitely upped my protein intake this week, but it is still a work in progress.
This week my focus is going to be on making sure I'm drinking enough water. I think I'm quite
lucky in that I don't struggle to drink water as many people seem to do. I drink at least 3 liters (100 ounces) of water a day without a problem at all. However, I do think that with the amount I've been working out lately, I should try and increase it to 4 liters (135 ounces) on a daily basis.
Recommended water intake on a daily basis (drink more when exercising):
2.7 L (92 ounces) per day for women
3.7 L (125 ounces) per day for men
If you are overweight, you should drink an extra 8 ounces for every 25 lbs. of excess weight.
These are just recommendations. The numbers will vary depending on your daily routine, your nutrition, the climate you live in, etc. I would just use these as a rule of thumb rather than a strict guideline.
Still unsure of how much water to drink? You can use an online calculator to help you out:
http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm
http://www.csgnetwork.com/humanh2owater.html
Something I read that I really took to heart: If you're thirsty, your body has already started to become dehydrated.
This week I'm going to try to drink at least 4 liters (135 ounces) of water per day [pure water, not fluids, e.g. coffee, milk, juice etc. ... just water.] We'll see how it goes!
A few articles I read on water & weight loss:
http://www.laststopfatloss.com/water-for-weight-loss
http://www.shapeupshop.com/weightloss/water-weight-loss.html
http://darrenstehle.com/tag/water/
Good luck with the sleep issues - Bruce is going through that right now, and I have struggled in the past although I seem to be better now. It just leaves you feeling drained all day though!
ReplyDeleteSome good tips: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sleep/HQ01387
ReplyDeleteRaine
And this is very interesting:
ReplyDelete"[G]o to bed later when you are having trouble sleeping. If you're only getting five hours of sleep a night during your insomnia period, don't go to bed until just five hours before your wake-up time. For instance, if you've been waking up at 7 a.m., don't go to bed until 2 a.m. No naps! Make the time you spend in bed sleep time. Still some insomnia? Go to bed proportionately later. Then, as your time in bed becomes good sleep time, move your going-to-bed time back 15 to 30 minutes a night and do that for a week or so.
This is the opposite of what we want to do: we want to go to bed earlier to make up the lost sleep. Learn to do what many sleep laboratories teach -- go to bed later the night after losing sleep." (copied from http://www.k-state.edu/counseling/topics/life/sleep.html)
Raine