DRINKING WATER

Drinking water is essential to your health. It is present in liquids, plain water and foods. It helps maintain the balance of body fluids. Your body is composed of 60% water which aids in digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients and maintenance of body temperature.

Many sources suggest drinking eight glasses (one half gallon) of water a day. This is a recommended amount to help replace the amount of water lost each day. Fluid losses occur continuously, from skin evaporation, breathing, urine, and stool, and these losses must be replaced daily for good health. Fluid losses are accentuated in warmer climates and during strenuous exercise.

Drinking water is essential when exercising. Water helps energize muscles. Muscle cells that don’t have adequate fluids don’t work as well and performance can suffer.

Water can help control calories. It doesn’t have any weight loss effects, but substituting it for higher calorie beverages will help. Water can increase metabolism and regulate appetite.

Some other benefits of water include healthy looking skin and normal bowel functions.

Water rich foods include fruits, vegetables, broth based soups, oatmeal and beans

An interesting fact is that bottled water is the second most popular drink behind soft drinks. I hope that is because people are consuming a significant amount of good tap water.

Fact or Fiction?

A person can live for about a month without food, but only about a week without water.

THE "SIX PACK"

Abs, or a “six pack” as they are affectionately call, tend to be the hardest muscle group for most people to make progress when training. There several important things to keep in mind when working abs.

Like all muscles, the abdominals require a period of rest in order to recover. If you train your abdominal muscles within this recovery period you risk the possible breakdown of muscle fibers which will inhibit your abs from growing and becoming more visible.

Next, in order to illicit new gains in strength and definition, you must overload your abs with more intense training than they are accustomed to. Your ab muscles are at work all day, supporting your trunk and stabilizing your body, so you must perform exercises that feel very difficult within a range of 10-20 repetitions. If you can do 50 crunches, then they are too easy! Pick a different exercise such as weighted sit-ups or weighted cable crunches. These difficult exercises will produce invaluable muscle cell growth.

But the most critical components of building visible abdominal muscles is a strict diet and cardiovascular training program. No matter what type of abdominal training you perform, six-pack abs only become visible after burning the fat surrounding that area. Typically, this type of fat is the last to go so for women to lose it they need to go down to 12-13% body fat and males down to 6-7% body fat. Having said that, you're cardiovascular and nutrition programs will play a huge role in helping you burn that stubborn fat.

Good Luck on your quest #staymotivated

BUYING ORGANIC

Buying organic... There is increasing concern about the safety of synthetic pesticide residues in food. Many reports site lower pesticides in organically grown produce and a likely lower risk of exposure to drug-resistant bacteria.

Research suggest that buying organic is wise for certain foods, such as beef or strawberries, but it doesn't make much difference for others, like avocados or eggs. They warn against assuming that all organic foods are healthier than non-organic options, or that organic equals healthy. Oganic high-calorie, high-fat granola bars and sugary cereals, for example, are just as bad for you as the non-organic version.

Organic choices are usually pricier, for one thing, so it's important understand the health benefits and weigh them against the increased cost to avoid wasting money. It is important to note that people buy organic foods for what it doesn't have rather than what it does.