When you exercise, you sweat. And when you sweat, you lose fluid. Our bodies are mostly water, so even a slight shortage can make you dehydrated, which describes an insufficient amount of water in your system. Dehydration causes a reduction in blood volume, which means less oxygen gets to your working muscles; it negatively affects your heart rate; and it compromises energy systems in your muscles. There’s a drop in your energy levels, so you don’t get as much from your fitness workout when you’re dehydrated. That’s why drinking water is stressed as part of the any fitness program.
Recent studies show that drinking water may play a role in the regulation of your metabolism–your body’s calorie-burning engine. For one thing, if you become dehydrated, your metabolism tends to slow down, meaning that you won’t burn as many calories as normal while at rest. In addition, ample water may reduce appetite and control food intake by making you feel full. Drinking water also dilutes sodium levels in the body, making it the best remedy for fluid retention.
You can avoid dehydration–and the accompanying drop in energy and metabolism–by taking steps to protect yourself ahead of time. Here are some great guidelines for staying hydrated:
- Upon rising, drink 2 cups of water to help cleanse and detoxify your system. You tend to be dehydrated in the morning, so this is a good time to replace fluids.
- Although the traditional recommendation is to drink a minimum of eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day–which is a good move–it’s more accurate to base your water intake on your body weight. For example, try to drink at least half your body weight in ounces daily. If you weigh 200 pounds, your daily intake would be least 100 ounces. That’s 12 glasses (8 ounces each) a day.
- Drinking water during your fitness workout is imperative. You should consume 6 to 8 ounces of drinking water every 15 to 20 minutes while exercising.
- Keep drinking water after exercise. Have two 8-ounce glasses of water to restore fluids.
- Limit caffeinated soda, tea, and coffee, as well as alcohol. All of these have a diuretic effect, causing fluid loss from your body. If you enjoy caffeine or alcohol, follow them up with a water chaser just to stay in balance.
- If you feel hungry, you might actually be thirsty. How can you tell the difference? Simply drink a glass of water if you think you’re hungry. If the water satisfies you, you were thirsty, not hungry.
- Don’t like plain water? Flavor a pitcher of plain water with herbs like mint or basil, or slices of citrus fruits or cucumber.
Watch liquid calories in general. If you’re not careful, it’s quite easy to get a lot of excess calories from beverages. Because they’re liquid, those calories go down easily, and we can ingest a lot of them without even knowing it. The most common culprits are sodas and fruit juices. An average can of soda alone can have up to 60 grams of sugar–that’s the same amount of sugar in four pieces of bread. That said, you’ll want to curtail sodas and fruit juices and learn to enjoy drinking water instead.
