Healthy Tuesday - Stay Hydrated

Especially during these dog days of summer -

STAY HYDRATED!

Sometimes when my hunger is just insatiable, it turns out this is a communication error. My body is sending me a signal that it wants something and I quickly start looking for some yummy snack (or 3)! My body is really telling me that it is thirsty.  But I need to be careful about what I am choosing to hydrate my body with.

Remember that caffeine dehydrates. You probably already know that drinks like Mountain Dew or Diet Coke have caffeine, but so do some of the water flavor packets. You've seen them, right? They are the packets of flavor you can add to a bottle of water. If you need to do that in order to drink the water, by all means, do it. Just watch for the additives like caffeine that will quickly eliminate the water from your body.

I also avoid the full sugar sodas and fruit drinks – I simply do not have enough hours in the day to spend at the gym to burn calories as fast as I can drink them. 

• One 24 oz bottle of Coca-Cola has 300 calories (yes, the bottle says 100, but remember, there are 3 servings in that bottle)
• An 8 oz glass of OJ has 110 calories.

Now, have you ever looked at the "calories burned" calculator while walking on the treadmill? It takes a LONG TIME to burn these calories!!!  I sweat my butt off and run my legs as fast as I can for 30 minutes and it is just around 300 calories. And to think I would work THAT HARD and pour sweat on the treadmill for one 24 oz bottle of Coke. I DON'T THINK SO!  I'll stick with a glass of sparkling clear, super refreshing H2O! Better yet -

I'll choose ICE WATER. This is a trick we can all play on our bodies. As we drink the ice water, our bodies have to rev up the metabolism to warm the water and maintain our body temperatures. BONUS! Zero calories and a metabolism boost.

Also, if you have little ones running around like I do, remember that these same principles apply to them. The smaller they are, the quicker they can overheat. Keep them hydrated and the best choice for their growing and developing bodies is the same - WATER!

Now, it is great weather here in central Indiana - get out there and enjoy it and don't forget to take your water.