Liquid motivation

Ice waterEasily taken for granted as the single most important nutrient needed for not only our survival but our optimal performance as machines of bone and flesh. It has given us energy, good health, rejuvination and refreshment since our conception. If you haven’t guessed by now, I speak of water.

Ever have days where you feel sluggish and drowsy and if it wasn’t for your ‘responsibilities’, you wouldn’t even get out of bed or from in front of the TV? Maybe it’s not that severe, but you seem to just be lacking the ‘edge’ in whatever you’re undertaking. Consider that you may be less than optimally hydrated. I’m not talking about being so dehydrated that your skin begins to dry on contact but enough so that you feel lethargic and experience a dullness of your critical thinking abilities.

When I drink half a liter of water right before bed I wake up feeling a lot more alert and ready to start my day. Combining abundant water consumption with a healthy diet, good sleep, and daily cardiovascular exercise,d I find my days to be more focused and productive then when I omit any of these elements.

More is better

Alex Jamieson, author of The Great American Detox Diet: 8 Weeks to Weight Loss and Well-Being has some interesting ideas to boost your water intake:

  • Drink one or two glasses as soon as you wake up to make up for the hours that you’ve been sleeping and water deprived.
  • Drink a glass of water before exercise and 8 more ounces every 15 to 20 minutes during exercise.
  • Avoid caffeine or alcohol which have a dehydrating effect.

The water consumption calculator at nutrition.about.com is an easy way to figure out how much water you should be drinking based on more than just your body weight. I have been drinking 2 liters of water a day which is still too little according to these calculations. This makes sense though because I get the additional fluids from the healthy food that I eat.

Side effect: healthy weight loss

The feeling of hunger may in fact just be a thirst in disguise. Try drinking a cup of water first before reaching for a snack. You’ll notice that many of your hunger cravings can be satiated by this simple technique. Cold water helps you lose weight by burning calories. This happens because your body uses energy to heat the ice water up to body temperature. Between less calories snacking and drinking ice water this will definitely add up.

So enjoy a nice ice cold glass of water and get back to your busy day you achievers!

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Posted by in Health | January 26, 2007 | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumble | Print | 13 comments

  • http://www.stevepavlina.com/forums/health-fitness/3340-odd-experience-alcohol.html#post36007 Odd experience with Alcohol… – Personal Development for Smart People Forums

    [...] I definitely think that it was the water that made you feel that way when you woke up, not the alcohol! __________________ Alex Shalman . com – Practical Personal Development [...]

  • http://www.wisdomofhealing.com/2007/02/03/carnival-of-healing-71/ Wisdom of Healing » Blog Archive » Carnival of Healing #71

    [...] Alex Shalman suggests that we look toward an honest to goodness cure-all that far too many of us provide too little of in our lives! Liquid motivation may be found at Alex Shalman . com – Practical Personal Development. [...]

  • http://www.necromanc.blogspot.com Mitza

    I just got a bottle of cold fresh water, and I started to drink more. :)

  • http://www.stevepavlina.com/forums/health-fitness/4109-increase-fluids-increase-health.html#post41635 Increase Fluids to Increase Health – Personal Development for Smart People Forums

    [...] I agree with both Richard and Dimitry, water is the way to go. I’ve blogged about this very subject in a post called Liquid Motivation. Let me know what you think. __________________ Alex Shalman . com – Practical Personal Development [...]

  • http://www.alexshalman.com/blog/2007/02/18/sundays-speedlinking-2-18-07/ Alex Shalman . com » Blog Archive » Sunday’s Speedlinking – 2-18-07

    [...] Alec Gullon started blogging about Life and Growth just this month and produced an interesting article titled Drink More Water, which you will find very much complementary to my Liquid Motivation article. Have a look at both. [...]

  • http://www.babylune.com/the-ninth-healthy-fit-family-carnival/ Babylune – The Ninth Healthy & Fit Family Carnival

    [...] There are, though,? ten great posts about how to encourage being active together, healthy fluids, healthy attitudes and even a little healthy sarcasm.? There are also some danger signs every family should be on the look out for to ensure nothing in the effort to become a healthy and fit family is taken too far. [...]

  • http://www.alexshalman.com/blog/2007/03/17/my-10-daily-success-habits/ My 10 Daily Success Habits | Alex Shalman . com

    [...] This is what I believe to be the most vital part of my good health. Drinking at least 2 liters of water a day helps me stay energized, focused and happy! I consider it to be liquid motivation. [...]

  • Diogo Chaves

    There’s a diet that a friend of mine though me:

    First day:
    - after you wake up, you can’t eat until you drink a glass of water

    Second day:
    - after you wake up, you can’t eat until you drink 2 glasses of water

    Third day:
    - after you wake up, you can’t eat until you drink 3 glasses of water

    …

    Seventh day:
    - after you wake up, you can’t eat until you drink 7 glasses of water

    after the seventh day, you return to to first (only one glass of water before the breakfast).

    This may not be THE diet for anyone, but I hope this mays help someone. It really works, and I don’t know of any side effects, and Alex showed us lot’s of good ones.

  • Michael

    Alex, you drink half a liter of water before bed? I usually stay very hyrdated throughout the day but I never drink a whole lot within about 30 minutes of when I go to sleep. If I do, I know I’ll be up in the middle of the night going to the bathroom.

  • http://carnival.nourishedmagazine.com.au/2007/04/08/1st-edition-april-07-carnival-of-nourishment/ 1st edition: April 07 Carnival of Nourishment

    [...] Alex Shalman presents Liquid motivation; posted at Alex Shalman . com – Practical Personal Development [...]

  • http://carnival.nourishedmagazine.com.au/articles/1st-edition-april-07-carnival-of-nourishment 1st edition: April 07 Carnival of Nourishment

    [...] Alex Shalman presents Liquid motivation; posted at Alex Shalman . com – Practical Personal Development about the nourishing qualities of H20. [...]

  • http://www.alexshalman.com/blog/2007/11/25/sundays-speedlinking-11-25-07/ Alex Shalman . com » Blog Archive » Sunday’s Speedlinking 11-25-07

    [...] Guy points us to an anecdotal perfect beverage for weight loss. I’ve been talking about this stuff since I started writing this [...]

  • http://www.abczen.com/how-to-quit-drinking-alcohol/ How to Quit Drinking Alcohol, And Deal with the Social Pressure

    [...] Liquid Motivation [...]