Drink More Water to Feel Healthy and Lose Weight

If you want to lose weight and be healthier, you may have heard to drink more water. The first reason you may have already heard. Our bodies are composed mostly of water and enough water helps us stay hydrated and makes everything run more efficiently. There are a variety of other reasons so I’ll bring up one you may not have heard of.

Our liver and kidneys only function at full capacity if we drink lots of water. There are various opinions but most stress eight to ten glasses a day. If we make an effort and do these two things happen. Our liver functions at full capacity and our kidneys don’t have to help the liver clean the blood supply. This frees up the liver to help remove fat and cholesterol from our bodies. In short drinking lots of water will make us lose weight!

If you already know you should be drinking more water, I have some tips that may help you fit more water into your daily routine. 1) Find a container that hold about 16ozs. Bring it in the bathroom as you get ready in the morning and you’ll see how easy it is to finish it. You will already have achieved 25% of your daily quota.

Second, fill a glass pitcher with the remainder of the six to eight glasses. Glass I find is helpful because it makes the water look more appealing than plastic containers. In addition you may want to cuts some lemon or lime slices or even add some fresh mint to the pitcher. When the pitcher is empty you know you’ve hit you goal.

Third, drink your water when your home out of a nice glass tumbler. Plastic bottles are fine on the run but seem silly to me if your at home. One of my clients told me she used a champagne glass to make the water seem special. If you like your water cold put your pitcher in the fridge. If not keep the pitcher where you’ll see it during the day.

If you work at an office try to have a water container on your desk. Having a big glass before all your meals is also a good way to not only get your water but also make you feel full and eat less.

Bust Through That Weight Loss Plateau

There is a large group of people who do everything right and still have a hard time making weight loss progress. I have little sympathy for people who want to look better and lose weight but don’t eat right or attempt to increase their activity. There are a few solutions I can share that may help people break through their weight loss plateau.

 

The first thing makes perfect sense, modify your diet. If you eat low cal. all the time you can be slowing down your metabolism. Most people eat the same thing every day. If you have 1500 calories a day, switch to 1200 one day and 1800 the next. Go really strict with only 1000 calories and the next day have 2000.  Try adding more protein and more veggies and cut out the starchy carbs. It’s hard to believe but sometimes it’s more than just math.

Like the first tip of modifying your diet, you can also change up the times you eat. You can actually reset your metabolism by changing your eating schedule. The one exception is breakfast. Eat as soon as you wake up. This will give your body a nice jump start to begin the day. Also you can make your snack more like a meal and your meal more like a snack. It may be hard to switch your times during the weekdays, so try different eating times on the weekend.

For people who already exercise, change your workouts. It has been proven for years that the body respond better when challenged. If you do the same thing for over a month it begins to get easier. Advanced workout buffs change their workouts daily. Most people need something new at least every few weeks. Change the exercises, speed, order, pairing and even frequency of workouts. You will not only get stronger and more fit but will also avoid injury.

The last tip is to assess your diet. If what you’re doing doesn’t work, it may need to be modified. The biggest mistake people make is portion size. Most food manufactures make servings smaller than what an average person would usually have. If you get a food scale you will be amazed at what an ounce of cereal looks like. Buy a book on food calorie counts and keep a food diary. Information is power, so get informed and get the scale moving in the right direction.