A New Beginning

I came up with The Scatterbrain Health Minder a little while ago and, while it has been working pretty well for me in paper-and-box format, I think it would work quite nicely in the virtual realm also. So, I have been toying with the idea for this blog for a while now and I think it's time for action.

The Scatterbrain Health Minder is for people like me, who would like to do things to better their health, but are easily overwhelmed by all the information out there, some of it contradictory, and by everything that you're supposed to do. The idea is to do one single thing each day that is good for your health. Some of the items rotate more often than others, and by repeating them  it will help to form a habit, but I don't concentrate on any one thing for long because my idea is that I want to touch as many bases as possible without going overboard in any one direction.

So, today I will share my first health tip. It's a simple one, to start off slow and easy.

DRINK WATER!

Our organism needs it for so many things, but do you know how much water you are supposed to drink? 

Some people say 3 liters, which is the equivalent of eight 8-ounce glasses. I also heard recently that some scientists are now saying that any liquid you drink counts, even the liquid in soup. This is different from what I used to hear, that the eight glasses had to be water. But it's good news because it makes drinking enough that much easier. Herbal tea counts too and so does juice. (I don't think coffee or caffeinated teas do, though. Sorry!)

I have done a couple of spring cleanses at my yoga center, and what they recommend is to base your water intake on your height and weight. For example, I am 5'3" and 190 lbs. (Yes, I'm a fat girl. :p lol) My yoga studio recommended that I drink 2.8 liters of water per day. When I did the cleanse, they did the calculations for me, but I have searched online and found a formula that gives me the same result without factoring my height into it. Go ahead and try it for yourself to see how much water YOU need. :o)

Here is an example of how to calculate how much water you need, using my information:

First you need to know your weight in kilograms by dividing your weight by 2.2. For me, 190 lbs. divided by 2.2 lbs./kg gives: 86 kg

Divide your weight in kilos (86) by 8 (ounces) to get the number of glasses you need to drink: 11 glasses (I rounded up.)

If you want to know how many liters that is, one 8 oz. glass is equivalent to a cup and it takes 4 cups to make a liter, so 11 divided by 4 is 2.75 L or 2 and 3/4 liters. (Rounded up to the tenth this would give the same answer as my yoga studio: 2.8 L)

Hope that helps. :o)

Another thing that I would like to add is that you aren't supposed to drink all of your water for the day all at once. I know that I was guilty of this when I was teaching because I was afraid I'd have to go to the washroom while I was supposed to be in class, so I drank all my water at night. But if there is any way you can spread it out, you really should. One of my friends told me that you should drink 200 mL every hour. That's a bit less than a cup so it shouldn't upset your bladder too much. Try to go to the washroom before class, before your important meeting or before whatever activity you do. That way, you start with an empty bladder and have plenty of room for that little glass of water that you sip from throughout the hour.

As I am on sick leave right now, I can measure out my water in the morning so I don't have to keep track during the day. I don't know how you all feel about it, but I don't like the taste of water that's been sitting in a plastic jug, and I find it tastes like plastic from a plastic cup too, so I like a glass jug and drinking glass. If I'm on the go, I have a stainless steel water bottle that I take with me. Some people prefer to check off the number of glasses they drink every day in a drinking diary or on a wipe-off white board. Find what works best for you.

Good luck! :o)