Tag: hydration

Healthy Swellness: Hydrating for your health (+ a Brita GIVEAWAY!)

Brita pitcher and bottles

 (GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. Congrats to Andrea L. who won via her entry on the Health and  Swellness Facebook page.)

Do you drink enough water? There’s no clear answer as experts have different opinions. Eight glasses of water daily is the simple answer we have all heard of. Other say we should drink between half to one oz for each lb you weigh (so if you weigh 130 lbs, you should drink 65 to 130 oz; in cups that’s about eight to 15 cups, which is a pretty big range!). It depends on many factors, including your activity level. One simple way to gauge if you’re well hydrating is to check the colour of your pee; pale straw to honey colour is good. Anything darker or clearer could be a sign you’re dehydrated (although darker colours may also be a sign your liver isn’t working optimally).

Drinking enough water is important because it helps your body run more efficiently. For one, it helps keep you regular. Also, it may help control your weight; if you’re feeling a sense of hunger, it might actually be your body telling you you’re dehydrated. Grab a glass of water instead of the snack you would’ve gone for and, hello, your craving is gone without having consumed any calories.

I know I’m not hydrating enough. I typically drink one coffee a day (and caffeine is dehydrating) and then a juice with lunch and dinner. I tend to only drink water when I’m running. Friends who’ve travelled with me have asked how I’m still alive having witness how little I drink. For about six months when I was training for half-marathons about six years ago, I did focus on hydrating well, but then fell out of the habit as I didn’t notice any obvious changes (I also gave it up because the numerous bathroom visits were driving me crazy).

But I know it’s time to get on the hydration bandwagon. And equipped with a shiny new Brita pitcher and water bottles, I’m up to the task and doing a #BritaBootcamp! There’s a new one-litre bottle; the bigger size is helpful when you’re on the go so you’re less likely to run out of water…so no reason any of us (even me) for not doing well in #BritaBootcamp and getting the hydration we need.

Need motivation to get your hydration on track? Enter my #BritaBootcamp giveaway!

GIVEAWAY

To help you get healthily hydrated, I’ve got a Brita prize (valued at $35) to give away. The prize includes:

  • 1 Brita® Hard Sided Filtered Bottle, 1L – $23.99
  • 1 Brita® Sport Filtered Bottle, 590 mL – $9.99

You can enter in four different ways:

  1. Email me at healthandswellness@gmail.com with your name and address (please put “Brita Bootcamp” in the subject line).
  2. Twitter. Follow me on  Twitter (@healthswellness) and tweet:

I want to join #BritaBootcamp and win this #giveaway prize from @healthswellness!  http://bit.ly/1Ew5NkJ

  1. Instagram: Follow me on Instagram (@healthandswellness) and like the photo of the Brita water bottle on Instagram, and comment how much water you currently drink daily.
  2. Facebook: Like the Health and Swellness page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/healthandswellness) and comment on the photo of Brita products about how you like to drink water (At room temp? With ice? With a slice of lime?)

This giveaway is open to Canadian residents and you can enter up until 4 p.m. EST, Thursday, May 7, 2015. The winner will be chosen at random and notified via the method they’ve won. If they do not claim their prize within five days, another winner will be selected at random.

(sponsored)

2 Comments April 30, 2015

Mid-marathon training report

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oQ7NFDjQfIs]

I’m about halfway into my four months of training for my second marathon and here’s how it going:

Training in the summer sucks. Big time. I wish I could be a little more chipper about it, but I can’t. Yes, training in the heat now will only help me during the race (by then temps will have dropped), but every long run, when I’m miserable and dripping sweat and suffering in the hot, hot, hot sun, all I can think of is how maybe I just shouldn’t train for a fall marathon. I have to run 29k this Sunday and I’ve already started to dread it. That’s a whole week of dreading it.

Forgoing a fall marathon would mean it’d be easier to travel (I have a few trips planned and doing long runs when away is difficult, so I’m finding it hard to fit in trips). This weekend, I decided I’m only cut out to train for spring marathons…and then I remembered that both the New York and Chicago marathons are fall ones and I’d like to do both someday.

Frick.

Double frick.

Anyhow, since I’ve already done half the training, I’ll keep on going. Two more months. I can do it. Right? Right…

In the meantime, my pal Sarah (she’s a holistic nutritionist) is in this video talking about how to survive training and racing in the heat. She pipes up at the 2:40 mark. Have a look-see.

Leave a Comment August 14, 2012

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

With yet another heat wave upon us, don’t forget to drink up!

(PC Everyday Essentials water dispenser, $15)

2 Comments June 30, 2012

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