Hydration

     With the summer months approaching and people getting ready to go outside to enjoy the weather I figured it would be a good idea to talk about hydration.  Water is vital for everything we do, including cooling our bodies. 

     Our bodies are mainly water.  Our brain alone is 98% water.  Our brain sees to all of our vital functions.  A drop as little as two percent can affect every process in your body.  This leads to our hearts not performing at peak, our metabolisms dropping, our energy levels lowering, our mental acuity lowering, and sometimes an over all "sick" feeling.  Two percent!  That isn't much. 

     The question is how much should we drink.  If all you are doing is staying inside and being pretty sedentary then you may only need 64 ounces.  That is 8 - 8 ounce glasses of water a day.  But what if you are working out, out in the heat, swimming at the pool, or just going for a walk?  You need to be drinking A LOT more.  Sports drinks are all fine and help with electrolyte replenishment but they also contain a lot of sugar.  Diluting a sports drink 50 percent sport drink and 50 percent water is a better choice.  It provides more of a vessel for the electrolytes to travel through the body and replenish you. 

     Caffeine and alcohol are you enemies when it comes to staying hydrated.  For every caffeinated or alcoholic beverage you drink you have to drink 2 waters of the same size to replenish what you will lose.  Even then you need to drink a third water to try and stay a head of the game.  Don't let yourself get dehydrated because it can take hours or even days to rehydrate.

     Finally, how do you determine how hydrated you are?  One method is your urine color.  If your urine is clear to light yellow you are doing great.  However if it is darker in color you need to start pushing fluids.  If you haven't had to urinate for more than 2 hours.  You need to push water.  If you stop sweating, feel fatigued or start cramping, you need to get out of the heat and slowly start drinking water.  I will go into more with those symptoms in my next post.

Keep pushing play!

Sean Knowles
Independent Beachbody Coach
Leavenworth, KS

Nutrition is 80% of Fitness!

When it comes to fitness many think that they can eat whatever as long as they work out.  That is a big no.  Your body needs certain nutrients and throwing empty calories in thinking that will do it, will actually cause you to retain the fat you are trying to burn!  If you are working hard to improve your overall fitness then give your body what it needs.  If you have cravings, you are probably missing a nutrient in that food.  Eat a healthier option.  Here are some tips that will help you. 

If you want something sweet get a piece of fruit.  The natural sugars will release slowly into your system preventing the spike.  It is also less calories. Not to mention the fiber aids in digestion.

If you are going to be out and about take a bottle of water and something healthy like fruit or nuts (unsalted!).  Almonds and walnuts are a good choice due to natural appetizer suppressants in them.  It will keep you satisfied.  Also nuts are a good source of protein and GOOD fats.

If you know you you are going to be out during meal time and won't be anywhere to get a healthy meal, grab a Shakeology.  It will provide all the nutrients your body needs and tastes good.  It also helps reduce cravings.  If you want to find out more about this great product go to Http://myshakeology.com/coachseanx 

Try and eat every 2.5 to 3 hours.  This will help to keep your hunger in check so that you do not gorge yourself at meal time. Eat slower too.  It takes time for the stomach to signal the brain that it is full. 

Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day.  It helps keep your body in check.  If you are sweating a lot then drink more.

Finally Keep a food journal!  We can easily over or under estimate our calories.  By keeping a food journal you will know how much you have consumed.  Even if it is just a stick of gum, LOG IT!

I hope this helps you reach your goals!  If you need to contact me then you can reach me at coach_sean75@yahoo.com and www.facebook.com/coachseanx

The Importance of Sleep

As time becomes more and more precious and our plates become fuller we rarely seem to have time to ourselves.  We try to make up this time by staying up late and taking in those precious moments.  What happens when we do that though?  We lose the precious hours of sleep that we all crave! 

Sleep helps us to rest, sure, but sleep also helps us in all things dealing with our health.  Sleep helps our bodies repair from injury.  Sleep helps our bodies to grow.  Sleep also helps our immune system to fight illness.  Lack of sleep can also increase stress levels.

How much sleep do we need?  Research recommends 7 to 9 hours.  That seems to be the "magic" number that benefits the body most.  Other research has also found that there is a time period we should be sleeping.  This research contends that sleeping between the hours of 10 PM and 6 AM benefit the body most.  Through natural cycles that our bodies follow, our bodies repair themselves between 10 PM and 2 AM and rest from 2 AM to 6 AM. 

What happens when you don't get enough sleep?  For starters your metabolism will slow down.  Your mental acuity is greatly diminished.  Your response time goes down.   Your ability to fight infections and viruses is compromised.  Who wants all that?  Sure caffeine, sugar, and energy drinks can temporarily give you the artificial alertness you may be craving, but they just mask the problem.  They don't solve it. 

In short....MAKE TIME FOR YOUR BODY TO SLEEP AND RECOVER!  It is much better than staying up to watch the late show while you are fighting fatigue.

Sean Knowles
Independent Beachbody Coach