Thursday, February 19, 2009

Have a glass of water

I have always been a fan of drinking more water. I don’t always do it as much as I should. It seems as though I go through phases but the bottom line always comes down to the fact that water is really good for you. As a therapist, I would frequently instruct a client to drink their water. It helps in giving the body a means to transport medications and nutrients to all the places they are needed. It also picks up and carries waste out of the body. In the clinic or during a home visit I would regularly use the task of getting a glass of water as a functional activity for my clients. When recovering from a stroke, you might be surprised how difficult getting a drink for yourself can be, or how rewarding. After I delivered each of my children, I was convinced that drinking water helped me recover more quickly no matter how real or psychological, it did get me up moving. We know that we are supposed to be drinking water during and after exercise. We hear that we should have 8 to 10 glasses of water a day. Some have even studied the effects of water as a tool in weight loss.

Well, the other night I was watching the food detectives on the food network and they had a segment devoted to water. Their study reviewed how the right amount of hydration can make your skin appear healthier and more glowing. They even came up with a formula to determine just how much is enough. You take your body weight and divide by two. That is the number of ounces of water that you should be drinking each day to be adequately hydrated. The easiest way to keep track of your daily intake of water is with a separate container just for your water. Once you have done the simple math to figure out just how many ounces you need daily, figure our what size container will hold that amount. Here is a quick glance at a conversion table. But for a simple example, if a person weighs 140 pounds, they should drink about 70 ounces of water each day. That is a little more than a half-gallon which holds 64 ounces. So whether it is for exercise, to be momentarily busy or to get the toxins out, go get a drink of water.

1 comment:

Teaching Heart Mom said...

I agree... I don't know why I have a hard time about doing this... I have to almost schedule it. Keep a water bottle in the car and force myself to drink a glass when I wake up. Good blog! :)