How much water should we drink?

I’M GUILTY!!!!! I don’t drink enough water. Most people know that we should be consuming between 1.5 and 2 litres of water per day, more when we exercise. We should also consume between 250ml and 500ml in the hour before exercise. I know it but I don’t always do it. And as a runner that can really backfire on me, particularly when the weather starts to warm up. Take last week for instance. On Friday I had my “day off” which involved a visit to the supermarket, the fruit and veg shop, Bakers Delight (for my wholemeal bread), Aldi, did my banking, picked up some new equipment for bootcamps, had coffee with a friend, unpacked the groceries, did the school run, marked out my Saturday running group course, etc. At the end of the day I realised I had forgotten about my water consumption. (I would have been lucky to have had 200ml for the day). The next day was hot and I ran a hilly 10km with the running group and BOY did I pay for not drinking enough. I was almost vomiting through dehydration. Our bodies can’t function properly when we are dehydrated. Our bodies “steal” fluid from our blood stream and our blood becomes thicker, so we just can’t function properly. A great learning curve for me and I have come up with a good solution below-  

I will now take this bottle with me every where I go to ensure that I’m keeping up my fluid intake. We should be sipping on water all day, rather than having it all in one big hit (it tends to get flushed straight through if we have too much at once). So grab your self a 1.5 litre bottle and mark out the increments as above to ensure you are getting your quota spread out throughout the day. This is also a good tip for anyone elderly that you may have to care for, who forget to drink in the hot weather.

Rose asked me last night if tea and coffee count towards your daily consumption? The answer is no. They both contain caffeine which is a diuretic. So they basically get flushed straight through. Ever noticed that you urgently need to pee after that X-large skinny latte? It goes straight through, nothing absorbed!! Green tea would be more beneficial.

Another reason to drink more water is it makes us feel less hungry. Sometimes thirst can be mistaken for hunger. So when in doubt save the calories, go for the water. And remember if you’re thirsty you’re already dehydrated.

Here is a little Xmas recipe to try out. We had it on Sunday and it makes a nice change from the traditional roast turkey. You can also serve it cold.

TURKEY MEATLOAF

1kg turkey mince

1 medium carrot(grated)

1 medium capsicum (diced)

1 medium zecchini(grated)

2 eggs

3 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp chopped parsley

3 tsp of wholegrain mustard

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.Place all ingedients in a bowl and mix well. Place mixture into Greased lined loaf baking tin. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes. Drain off excess liquid. Let stand for 5 minutes before turning out.

And finally I always love posting photos of my bootcamps doing boxing as you guys always have such a great time. Always plenty of laughs (Helen and Fiona) while you are smashing each other!! Not long until “12 days of Xmas workout”, dress in your xmas out fit if you like. I got mine today:-)