Alex Shalman.comPractical Personal Development

Easily 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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