Get Healthy Challenge Week 1: Get Hydrated

Welcome to Week 1 of my 12-week challenge. Quite often when we set a goal, we charge in head-first in the first week or two and generally we stick to that goal. But often after this life will get in the way, or we will slip back into bad habits.

I don't want this to happen and remember that I am doing this challenge alongside you, so I am instead just easing into the healthy habits starting out with one that seems pretty simple and straightforward, but most of us probably don't do very well, including myself at the moment.

Water.

The human body is predominantly made up of water, therefore, drinking plenty of H2O is essential for good health. You can read more about this in my post here. However, with so many drinks available to us, juice, coffee, soft drinks etc. how much water are you actually drinking in a day? Yes all of those other drinks still provide you with hydration, but often they also provide lots of unwanted sugar and other additives.

So this weeks challenge is about increasing water intake in 3 simple steps.

1. Today start by tracking your water intake. This could be about mentally recording how many 500ml bottles you have drunk, writing it down in a notebook, or I really love using a water tracking app such as Waterlogged or Plant Nanny (drinking water helps keep your plant alive). Please don't cheat with this, only record water with no refined sugars or artificial sweeteners in it!

2. Eat day, try to add one more small glass to your amount. For example, if you consumed 500ml of water on Monday, you may try for 700ml on Tuesday, 900ml on Wednesday etc.

3. On Sunday, post in the comments below or on my Facebook page how much water you have got to.


Here are some tips to help

• If you don't like the taste of plain water, try adding some fruit and herbs to it, such as lemon slices, apple slices, berries, cucumber and mint. Play around and see which combination tastes best.
• If you really must buy flavoured water, look for one with stevia in it rather than using cane sugar or artificial sweeteners. 
• If you have a desk job, try taking a 10-second sip every hour. It is just what it sounds like, count to 10 while sipping from a glass or bottle.

Keep following me on my Instagram and Facebook pages and I will keep you posted with how I am going with my water consumption and I will give you some more tips to help you out.