Saturday, October 23, 2010

Water, Health and Weight Loss

Sweating is your bodies cooling mechanism. When you exercise intensely, you can lose two quarts of water in one hour. To determine how much water you need to drink during and after exercise, weigh yourself after exercise. For every pound lost during exercise, you need to replace with two cups of water.
Symptoms of dehydration are dry mouth, cramping, headaches and muscle fatigue. When the body becomes dehydrated our total blood volume is decreased, due to a loss of fluid lost through sweating. Since blood plasma is mostly made up of water, the oxygen carrying capability of our blood is decreased causing our working muscles and organs to be deprived of oxygen. Sometimes when we are feeling fatigued or hungry a glass of water is all that's needed to improve physical performance and curb the appetite. The color of urine can also be an indicator of dehydration. If it is dark or cloudy you need to drink more water.
To prevent dehydration, follow these guidelines
1. Drink a cup of water one half hour before exercise.
2. Drink fluid every 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Don't wait until you're thirsty. At this point, you have already become dehydrated.
4. Drink cool fluids because they absorb into the bloodstream faster than warm or ice-cold fluids.
Water is the beverage of choice for healthy people. Sweetened drinks such as soda and iced tea do not have the same effect as water. Caffeine and alcohol are diuretics. They signal the kidneys to release water into the urine. If you need that morning cup of coffee to get your engine going, drink water as well. Drink water consistently throughout the day. A home water filtration
system
can give you all the pure water you need for a fraction of the cost of bottled water.
Drinking water on a daily basis will help you with many important areas. By maintaining the proper level of water each day, you give your body the best chance to fight disease, eliminate stress and maintain focus. In addition, drinking enough water can boost
your concentration and keep you from overeating. It helps to flush out toxins and promotes health.

Eight glasses of water a day is recommended for adequate hydration.
If you fall short of the mark it's okay. You can consume water
through your diet by eating fruits such as watermelon, peaches,
oranges and grapes.
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Monday, October 18, 2010

An Easy Way to Lose Weight- Add Fiber

A recent study is The Journal Of Nutrition states that by increasing your fiber intake from 16 grams to 25 grams per day could help you lose 10 lbs. a year. Increase this to 35 grams a day and you could lose over 15 lbs. a year. Another quick fix is to have oatmeal for breakfast which has been shown to help reduce hunger cravings for lunch. One thing to remember, if you want to put on muscle. Oatmeal is mostly carbs. so add a scoop of protein powder.
Although you can get fiber in supplements it is best to get them naturally in food. If you start looking at labels you will find there are many places you might not of realized. Raw fruits and veggies are also great place to increase your daily allotment of fiber.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Am I Getting Enough Protein

If you ask a dietitian or go by the RDA you may of heard you need about 50 grams of protein a day. As a life long weight lifter and personal fitness trainer this has always irked me. Novice weight lifters learns early in the game, you need extra protein if you want to build muscle. There are a few ways to calculate this. The conservative estimate is .5 grams times your body weight. This would be about 75 grams for a 150 lbs. person. The most common viewpoint is .75 - 1.5 gram per lb. which would be a whopping 112 - 150 grams. The most important thing you can learn from this is, going low fat for breakfast can often ruin your chances for muscle gain and fat loss. A bowl of grape nuts or shredded wheat and you're shooting yourself in the foot. Most people who try to get fit, skip the bacon and eggs. They switch to low fat choices that often exclude protein.
For muscle growth, the most important thing to remember is... you need a minimum of 30-40 grams of protein per meal. For a woman this makes three meals close to all you need. A man who is lifting and serious should have a few protein shakes or protein snacks between meals.
A few suggestions for breakfast (because lunch and dinner a pretty easy) would be cottage cheese with fruit, oatmeal with a scoop of protein powder or egg beaters.