H2...Oh! Hydration Challenge!

       Ok, I promised myself that before the summer was over, I would do a post about good hydration, because ensuring you're well hydrated is just so darn important! The human body is comprised mostly of water, 70% to be exact! Just being slightly dehydrated can cause some serious problems - nausea, headache, foggy brain, muscle weakness, dry and sunken skin/lips, even syncope (that's the fancy name for fainting y'all).

       Also, I have found that it's a pretty safe assumption to say that a majority of us are not meeting our bodies need for water, let alone even know how much water we should be drinking.  Do you know the daily recommendation of water?

Quiz Yourself: What is the daily adequate intake of water?
                     (a) 8, 8 oz. glasses/day
                     (b) 3 liters for men, 2.2 liters for women
                     (c) just enough to not be thirsty
                     (d) 4, 12 oz. bottles a day

       The answer is (b), however, that amount increases slightly depending on a few other factors, such as exercise, environment, health conditions, illness, pregnancy and breast feeding.  For exercise lasting an hour or less, it's recommended that you drink an extra 1.5 to 2.5 cups of water. For extensive exercise, drinking a low-calorie sports drink is probably a good idea.  Just be mindful of the sugar!  What I like to do, is drink a watered-down version.  Half low-cal sports drink, half water, ice and a little slice of lemon is perfect for super hot days and replenishing electrolytes after a good sweat session.
      

Here are some quick tips to help make staying hydrated easier:

• Drink a large glass of water, or a 24 oz. water bottle with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus   one between each meal.  If you weren't counting, that's a total of 5 a day.

• For every caffeinated beverage and serving of alcohol you drink, drink an additional 8 oz. of water.  Caffeine and alcohol are dietetics, which means even though they are liquids, they don't count towards your total fluid intake, since they promote your body's production of urine, thus eliminating more water from your body. 

• Try to make it a habit to always keep a bottle of water on you at all times.  This makes drinking water throughout the day easier since you always have access to it.

• Always be sure to drink water or a low-calorie sports drink before, during and after physical activity.

• On particular hot days during the summer, increase your normal fluid intake by a few cups or so. 

• Sometimes drinking water is easier to do when it isn't ice cold.  If you're feeling particularly parched, opt for a glass of room temperature water, and you should find it's easier to drink a larger quantity.  I do this all the time, especially at restaurants.  I order my water sans ice cubes, and I always notice I end up drinking more than I would otherwise.  

       This week, I'm challenging myself to drink my allotted 2.2+ liters of water a day.  Join me!  Tell me how you stay hydrated in the comments, and if you join me in my challenge, how you felt. Did you notice a difference in how you felt/looked?   Bottoms up guys!

Recipe of the Month: Turkey Squash Bake

       It's that time again! Get ready for a delish meal guys, I'm absolutely in love with this one.  I got this recipe from one of my best friends, Christy, and bugged her incessantly for over two months to get it. 
      She graciously let me stay at her house a while back for her engagement party, and my flight didn't land until 11:45pm!  Needless to say, I was runnin' on fumes by that time.  She just so happened to have made this bake the night before, and warmed me up some in the microwave so I didn't have to go to bed starving. Oh. My. Gosh. it was fantastic, even as left overs! 

       An additional bonus for this meal: it's Paleo!  As I've mentioned before, I don't subscribe to any particular "diet", but I do try ("try" being the important word here haha) to limit my grain intake when I can, I've just noticed it makes me feel better.  Problem is, I LOVE carbs/bread/grains.  But as a carb-craver, let me tell you that I don't miss them at all in this meal, it's too yummy!

Alright, enough jabbering, here's the recipe:

What You'll Need (It's not much!)

• 1 lb ground lean turkey
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 2 yellow squash, sliced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 eggs
• 2 tomatoes, slcied
• 1/2 cup - 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

What To Do 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Sauté the onion in the olive oil until tender. Add the ground turkey, mushrooms, and garlic. Cook until turkey is browned (keep an eye on the heat so you don't burn the garlic!)  In large bowl combine the sautéed ingredients, 2 eggs, rosemary, squash, salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish, top with sliced tomatoes and the Parmesan cheese, and bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

                                             And there you have it - a big bowl of comfort!

It might not be pretty, but it sure is yummy! Also, my photo skills suck, sooo...yeah.

Side note:  I still don't have a camera (lame, I know), but I just upgraded to an iPhone 5, so hopefully my picture quality will go up a little bit from here on out!