Category: Fitness

Drinking Water Can Help You Lose Weight

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Everyone tells you to drink more water– and it can be life threatening if you don’t get enough.

However, not only is it important to stay hydrated for health reasons, being properly hydrated also helps you lose weight.

Let me explain.

Being properly hydrated helps you stay energized during physical activity and throughout your day.  The more active you are, the more calories you burn.

A hydrated body looks leaner. Why? Because when you’re dehydrated, you retain water.  Yikes!

I bet the magazine rack has at least one headline screaming “Rev up your metabolism with this one trick!” Well, here’s a good one.  If you drink enough water you help your body to metabolize properly. When you’re dehydrated, your metabolism can slow down.  We all know what that means for weight loss.

So how much water should you be drinking?

It depends. The suggested guidelines for water consumption used to be sixty-four ounces per day. While it is still a good amount of water for some, others may need more. Here are some guidelines to help you decide:

Drink more fluids when you are in situations where your body loses water:

in warmer climates,
during more intense exercise,
at high altitudes.

Try to be more aware of your water intake:

if you’re the type of person who usually doesn’t notice thirst; or
when you are very busy and likely to forget to drink.
If you talk for a living. Water is lost though saliva.

Here’s five tips to increase your fluid intake:

1) Try naturally flavored waters. Flavored water and various other “hydrating” drinks usually have some type of sugar in them, pay attention to the calories on the label.

An alternative to buying flavored waters would be making your own. The possibilities are endless. Cucumber, mint, ginger, lemon, lime, strawberries, and raspberries are all examples of natural foods and herbs you can flavor your water with.  Allow the fruits, vegetables, or herbs to soak in the water for a few hours for the flavors to release.

2) Eat foods that are mostly water each day.  Include foods high in water like oranges, watermelon, yoghurt, grapefruit, pineapples, and broth-based soups when choosing your meals and snacks.

(3) Replace still water with sparkling water. If you discover sparkling water works for you, consider getting an in home soda machine. They take up very little counter space. You also save money and there are less bottles to recycle. This helped my husband Matthew go from not liking water to drinking plenty of it!

4) Add a glass of coconut water to your day.  Coconut water is a great way to hydrate and get potassium.  It’s used as a natural alternative to sports drinks, but you don’t have to be a professional athlete to reap the benefits of this popular beverage.

5) Have a hydrating beverage with every meal. Tacking a new goal on to an established habit is usually less daunting than trying to develop a new habit on it’s own. For example setting a goal of drinking a glass of sparkling water at dinner seems more manageable than a goal to drink 64 oz. of water every day.

How do you know when you’re getting enough water?

The best way to tell if you are hydrated is the color of your urine. Clear to pale yellow is ideal. Yellow to dark yellow means you need water, and if it looks like tea or beer you are dehydrated! Supplements can also cause urine to be dark yellow. So keep that in consideration.

Avoid allowing yourself to get “thirsty”. If you are getting a thirst signal then the body is already too low on water!

At first it may seem like you have to go to the bathroom a lot. This is normal when you up your water consumption. It is not uncommon to have to use the restroom every hour.

If you sit at a desk, this will encourage you to get up and move every hour. It also allows you to monitor your progress!

Have a question or a comment? Leave a note for me below. I love to hear from you!

Blessings!

Jennifer Ledford

Why I Stopped Comparing Myself To Others

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It’s pretty normal to have experienced comparison to others at some point or time in your life.  For example, that moment you see someone on the street, in a magazine, or in your neighborhood that seems so put together and successful that you are tempted to be just a tad bit jealous. You know what I mean, from appearances it looks like they have the perfect hair, body, home, job, family, pet, etc.

And then, you start thinking “if only I had what they have I’d be happy.”

I’ve even heard personal growth gurus say “if you see someone that has what you want then do what they do. “

Um, yes and no.

I agree it’s a great idea to pick the brain of a successful person to learn proven principles that produce positive results. However, if you don’t know the person well or their history all you get to see and hear is the finished product. Behind every successful image lies a story of personal dreams, hard work, and failures.

And once you see the sacrifices they make, or they daily schedule they keep, you could decide their path is not for you.

If you find yourself wanting what someone else has, the best thing to ask yourself is are you willing to do what they did to get there? And, do you really want their life or is it the outward appearance you desire?

Years ago, I was sure that I wanted the exact life of a certain mentor I was learning from. I thought she was just like me. Funny thing, the more I coached with her and became more comfortable with who God designed me to be, I realized how different we were.  I really didn’t want her life at all. Not because there is anything wrong with her life, but it’s not who I am.

This set me free to be confident in my own skin. I no longer desired to be just like her, I wanted to become the best me I could be and fulfill my own dreams.

Friend, whether you are pursuing weight loss, health, fitness, relationship, business, or even philanthropic goals, it’s important that they mimic the desire of your heart and they serve the life you want to live long term. Whenever we try to copy someone else’s life it can turn out to be unfulfilling and unsustainable. In the end, this can lead to depression. No one wants that!

I truly believe that God has a path for each and every one of us. And, when you choose to listen to your heart and walk down that path, you will experience success in every area of your life beyond your wildest dreams!

That, I can promise.

With much love,

Jennifer Ledford

 

Weight Loss Goals That Work!

Millions of Americans will start off the New Year with the goal to lose weight and exercise more. It’s always great to hear those statistics! However, as a health and fitness coach for 24 plus years, I can also tell you from experience that 1/3 of the goal setters will have already broken their resolutions by January 7th. That is frustrating because I also know from experience it doesn’t have to be that way.

It is totally possible to set weight loss goals that work!

Before setting any new health and fitness goals, it’s important to know what causes people to fail in the first place. One of the main reasons people have a hard time keeping their resolutions after the new year is that the goals they’ve set are usually unrealistic. Even the most disciplined person on the planet is going to have a hard time keeping a goal that is way too lofty to start with.

Permanent weight loss and maintaining a regular exercise routine is a lifestyle that is built by developing one healthy habit at a time — not created by some unsustainable fad diet or painful exercise routine!

Five tips to set weight loss goals that work!

1) Know what you want. Take a moment to decide what you want your end goal to be and whether or not that is aligned with your values and current priorities. While looking like the model on the cover of a magazine is a great goal, after discovering what’s required, you may decide that’s not for you.

Look at your calendar and be realistic about how much time you can commit to your new weight loss goal. If you are struggling to find  time, ask yourself if there are other commitments that you should put on hold to prioritize your health and fitness goals.

2) Change one thing! The people that see the most success do so by setting small incremental goals, knowing that they are committing to the long term and not just temporary behavior change. For example, if you eat out 4-5 times per week, set a goal to brown bag your lunch for the next 30 days. Or if want to add more exercise, tell yourself you’re going to walk 20 minutes per day for the next month.

At the end of the 30 days, commit to another 30 and then repeat. Once the first habit becomes as natural as brushing your teeth, you’re in a safe place to add more to your plate.

Or, if you’ve reached your desired goal, you are now in what we call maintenance mode. You can now continue your healthy habit for life. Mission accomplished!

3) Write it down! People that commit their goals to paper have a higher success rate. So take a moment to write down your goals for each area of your life for the new year. If you are keeping your list realistic, it shouldn’t be too long. You can always add more later in the year once you’ve accomplished the first set.

4) Do the work! Once you’ve set your weight loss goal, follow through and stick to your plan. Research shows us that once one healthy goal becomes a habit, momentum occurs leading to success in adding other healthy lifestyle habits automatically.

5) Don’t quit! From time to time circumstances may throw you off track. This is normal and happens to everyone. All you have to do is get up, get back on track and you will succeed in the long term.

New Year’s resolutions should advance and take you forward, but not be so lofty that they are completely unobtainable.  Keeping this mindset will allow you to set yourself up for total success! I know you can do it!

Have a goal setting tip you’d like to share or a question for me? Please leave a comment below. I really love hearing from you!

Happy New Year!

Jennifer