Water

Last week I was spot on with my food, hitting my carbs, protein and fat levels to the number. I was feeling lean and actually pretty good, but something was missing. I wasn't quite as energetic as I would have liked and the feeling of lean was fleeting from one hour to the next.

On Saturday, I had my regular weekly weigh in and body fat % results, which are part of my personal training package. I weighed myself first thing, before eating or drinking and after going to the toilet (I know you don't need to know that, but it is my routine). I was shocked at the result, putting half a kilo on (1 pound on). 

1 kilo doesn't sound like much and it isn't, but for me I was then wracking my brain to see where I had gone wrong. My food had been great, my training was going very well and I felt leaner (thinner!). So why the increase, I should in theory have lost weight this week.

The only thing I could attribute it to, was water. I had been awful with my water intake that week. Despite eating well, I had probably hardly drunk 1 litre a day, where I should be hitting 3 litres (not including tea/coffee).

My next surprise was at my body fat percentage result, I had dropped about 0.40% body fat, which again doesn't sound like much, but is a fair bit. This was pointing more and more into my water intake not being right and my body was holding/storing the water.

In my naivety in the past (before I started this journey), I was never familiar with the effects water had on the body. Yep maybe I was thick. I was told it was important, but never felt it made me feel any differently. Because in those days, I didn't listen to my body ever, I didn't realise the benefits of water.

I also never really realised that our bodies store and retain water like they do. This week was a prime example of this and let's just say I've been drinking a hell of a lot more water since then. 

For me water is boring, I'd much rather drink a coffee or glass of wine. But I have to change my thoughts about it, drinking water gives you energy, keeps your skin clear, clears your body of toxins and when you drink a sufficient about, you can lose weight!!

Having that week of no water, has really made me realise how much our bodies need it and that most people (including myself), do not drink anywhere near enough! I've never been perfect with my water intake, but I am striving every day to put the effort in and drink enough.

Challenge yourself to drink more water, have a litre bottle of water and see how many you can drink in a day. If you drink glasses of water, every day try and drink a little bit more. Myself I will be setting myself timescales: 7-11; 1 litre 11-4; 1 litre 5-9; 1 litre 

I often tell myself 'you can do this', I can and I will!!

Thanks for reading, please share with your friends and family, comment/like and follow me :)