Step 1: Drink water!
This first week's challenge is going to be to drink water. I said small steps, right?!? You can decide for yourself how much you think you need to increase your intake, but I am going for 60 oz a day of water, or 1.7 liters. Let me explain a little about how I arrived at that number:
The Institute of Medicine recommends that women get roughly 2.2 l (9 cups or 74 fl. oz) of total drinking fluids per day. Men should be getting about 3 liters (13 cups or 101 fl. oz.). If I am drinking 60 oz of water, that leaves another 14 oz for other things I like to drink, like my orange juice in the morning, or my beloved milk that I cannot, will not live without. Although please note that 1) these are intended as guidelines, and 2) no one is going to a watery grave if they drink a bit more.
Also, my beloved hospital water cup holds 30 oz, so that's a significant deciding factor too.
The Institute of Medicine recommends that women get roughly 2.2 l (9 cups or 74 fl. oz) of total drinking fluids per day. Men should be getting about 3 liters (13 cups or 101 fl. oz.). If I am drinking 60 oz of water, that leaves another 14 oz for other things I like to drink, like my orange juice in the morning, or my beloved milk that I cannot, will not live without. Although please note that 1) these are intended as guidelines, and 2) no one is going to a watery grave if they drink a bit more.
Also, my beloved hospital water cup holds 30 oz, so that's a significant deciding factor too.
There are heaps and heaps of reasons why drinking enough water is good for your health, and I'm not going to make this post any longer by listing them for you. But I will provide you with some good resources if you want to read up on it yourself :
- The Facts About Water from the Drinking Water Research Foundation
- How much water should you drink every day? from the Mayo Clinic
- 6 Reasons to Drink Water from Web MD
- Water from the Institute of Medicine (if you're feeling really researchy and scientific)
Cheers!
PS: It occurs to me that Monday mornings are not going to cut it for any of you Europeans who might want to join in my little Health Challenge, so in the future I will try to get my posts up on Sunday night so everyone can have the benefit of starting on Monday morning.
And, finally, while we're in the housekeeping vein: I just wanted to tell you all how much your comments mean to me! I love hearing from you, and I love checking out your blogs to learn a bit about you, so don't be surprised to find a comment or two from me!
Image borrowed here. Randomly from a site about dogs and water. Hey, we all need to hydrate! :)
oj der var det allerede stepp one..
ReplyDeleteSå flott for her har jeg vannflasken ved siden min og startet med dette i dag tidlig.. tankeoverføring thi hi ...
Klem
Boy oh boy, should I ever be doing this! Go you!!
ReplyDeleteHa, I love our hospital mugs!! It's the best way to track water intake. Mine holds 32oz., so I will be trying to drink two of these. It usually ends up being 1 or 1 1/2 of the mug, but that's better than only a 1/2 or less when I don't keep track.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! I'll be right there with you!
What a great challenge! It's something everyone can do. I Will be doing this one with you for sure.
ReplyDelete