Besting Drinking Habits for a Healthy Mind
Besting Drinking Habits for a Healthy Mind
Most people think that only runners are supposed to drink much water due to their tedious exercises. This is far from the truth. We all need water irrespective of what we do. The factors that determine the amount of water you are supposed to drink include the climate or weather conditions, your health status, your daily routine but all that notwithstanding; you need at least eight glasses of water daily and more of it if you are ill or exercising. Water is an essential part of our human body. More than 70% of our bodies are made up of water. There are many health benefits associated with water intake in our bodies. One of the benefits is that water protects your joints, tissues and spinal cord. Water acts as a lubricant and a cushion for your joints. Water keeps your body tissues moist. Good water intake ensures that optimum moisture level is retained in the brain, bones, and blood. This makes you feel more relaxed, and you can consequently sleep well. Water also plays the role of waste removal through sweating, defecation, and urination. Your intestines and your kidneys use water to flush out waste.
Water also helps to prevent constipation since it helps food move through the intestinal tract and helps soften your stool. Water prevents you from dehydration and regulates body temperature. When it is too hot, you sweat more. This makes you feel thirsty or crave for water. Drinking water will make you feel cooler and more hydrated. It can be noted from all the above functions of water that water in your body plays many roles in ensuring that your body is healthy, and as it is said, a healthy mind is always in a healthy body. We, therefore, need to take in much water to ensure that both our body and mind are healthy. Below are some besting drinking habits for a healthy mind.
Don’t wait till you are thirsty
One of the besting drinking habits for a healthy mind is drinking water at regular intervals per day. Make sure you have a glass of water immediately after waking up, in between meals and prior and after any form of exercise. Drink water before and after meals, before taking a shower, after finishing your job in the office, after talking to a client, after dropping your child in school, after opening the mail, after each activity you carry out. The idea is to drink water as many times as possible. Having that feeling of thirst means that your body is already dehydrated, and you should not allow it get to that point. Always drink water at the least opportunity. Come up with even the most stupid reasons to drink water. You should not allow yourself to feel thirty, not for any reason in the world. Getting dehydrated is not only unhealthy but is also a sign of being mean to yourself. It shows that you deny yourself water, which is cheap and accessible. So love yourself and drink this healthy beverage called water.
Filter your own water
Buying bottled water can be expensive and can prevent you from drinking enough water. You should, therefore, make a point of filtering your own water, put it in your water bottle, and enjoy drinking it all day at zero cost. It is, therefore, one of the besting drinking habits for a healthy mind to invest in a water cooler, which gives you cold, clean filtered water. You can then add lime or ginger to this water to add natural flavor to it. This will also mean that your water is free from commercial preservatives and other chemicals that are added to bottled water to make it sweeter. You are also safe from drinking water that has been on the shelves for years. You will be sure that you are drinking safe and clean water. You can also invest in water heaters to heat your water, especially in cold seasons when you cannot drink cold water. This will ensure that you can enjoy your water drinking whether or not you have had your pay cheque.
Exercise and weight loss
Exercising is also one of the besting drinking habits for a healthy mind. It increases your craving for water. You will want to drink more and more water during exercise. You should drink water in place of sports drinks especially if you are exercising for less than an hour. Drink water a few hours before exercise to allow it to get through your system in time. Make sure you also drink water during and after the exercise. This will replace the water you have lost through sweating when exercising. Being overweight or obese is one challenge faced by many people in the world. Many ways have been invented to lose weight, and all of those ways involve lots of water drinking. Evidently, loss of weight is much accelerated by drinking lots of water. Drinking water before meals curbs appetites and makes you eat less. Water has no calories and fats unlike other soft drinks and hence drinking water comes in handy when you want to lose a kilogram or two. If you are plus size, the fact that drinking water will make your weight loss venture much easier will make you want to drink more and more water.
Drink your daily intake of water
Some foods have water in them. It may not be enough to take care of all your water needs, but it can help a great deal. Fruits and vegetables have a high water content and another of the besting drinking habits for a healthy mind is taking them in place of fries and candy. Examples of these fruits and veggies with high water content are lettuce, cucumber, celery, tomatoes, radishes, cauliflower, bell peppers, watermelons, strawberries, spinach, grapefruit, broccoli, apricots, grapes, zucchini, and cherries. You should take more of these fruits and veggies, but that should not mean that it should totally replace direct water drinking. You should also continue drinking water even after consuming these fruits and vegetables.
Make it more fun
Another one of besting drinking habits for a healthy mind is making drinking of water more fun. You might want to drink more water if you made the water drinking experience more enjoyable. Try adding some fruit or cucumber to your water to add a little flavor. Freeze a few lemon slices in ice cubes or a little ginger and some herbs for easy and healthy water upgrade. Use a glass you love to drink water as this will make you drink more and more water. Admire the drawings in your cup or water glass and you will be surprised at how much water you will drink without realizing it. You can also consider a fun straw. This will make you sip and sip without realizing how much water you have had. Sipping from a straw is less tedious and more fun. You can also decide to agree with your colleagues at work to play a drinking game regularly. You can be idle that any time your boss does something funny of if any of you says a particular thing, you will all be draining a glass of water to that. That will make water drinking more like a game than punishment. You can also decide to drink water with all your colleagues at certain time intervals and a penalty to anyone who does not drink the water at the specified time.
Make it a priority
One of the besting drinking habits for a healthy mind is making water drinking something that has to be done. There are things that are not so fun doing, but since you have to, you find yourself doing them anyway. Examples of these things are taking medication as directed by the doctor or waking up early in the morning to go to work or even going to school each day. The reward for these activities is what motivates you to do them. That should also be the case when it comes to drinking water especially for those who even hate the taste of it. Make it look like you cannot live another day if you don’t drink lots of water. You can set alarms for your drinking intervals. Each time your alarm goes off, grab a big glass of water, and drain it down your throat. You can also consider creating your own mental triggers. You can, for example, make it a routine to have a glass of water anytime you feel hungry. This will help you a great deal. It will curb your hunger, hydrate your body and also help your intestines and stomach on the digestive front. You can also decide to take a glass of water each time you stop working, or anytime you crave for junk food. This may seem little, but you will have taken much water by the end of the day.
Get a decent water bottle
Anyone considering adopting the besting drinking habits for a healthy mind can also decide to go for a decent water bottle, a water bottle you can take anywhere with you. It may be more expensive than ordinary water bottles but buying it will be worthwhile. Consider a stainless steel or a heavy-duty plastic bottle. You can also decide to come up with your drinking goals and mark them on your water bottle. Clearly state how much you would like to have taken by a particular time each day. This will help you know if you are on the right track or if you need to pull up your socks. Another way could be decorating your water bottle with for example your best cartoon characters, best quotes of just buying a water bottle of your favorite color. Cindy Dyson once said that the more you like your water bottle, the more you would want to use it. Try to bond with your water bottle as much as possible and you will even be afraid to lose it or to keep it empty. You will want to refill it as soon as it is empty. You will never keep on track with a water bottle you hate or are even embarrassed to be seen with. Get a water bottle you will want to show to your friends, and this will encourage you to carry it with you all the time.
Replace other drinks with water
Carbonated drinks and alcohol are the main drinks in parties and restaurant. Another one of the besting drinking habits for healthy mind is to try to replace them with pure drinking water. Some of those drinks can have high levels of sugar and fat, which can be harmful to your health. Most alcoholic drinks put you at risk of lung diseases so go for a bottle of water, which will never harm your body, no matter how much you take. This might seem old fashioned, but it will help am a great deal. You will not have any hangovers to nurse the following day or any embarrassing moment due to drunkenness. It is always good to be different especially for a good course. You can also decide to replace soft drinks in your meals for a glass of water for reasons such as stool softening and to help in digestion.
Hide it in your routine
One of the besting drinking habits for a healthy mind is to make drinking water part of your daily routine. You can decide always to take a glass of water before your morning coffee, right after you get out of a shower, before washing your face at night, after brushing your teeth, before preparing dinner or during any other time depending on your preference. To avoid forgetting to incorporate water drinking in your routine, make your water always visible. Place it on your table when working or on your nightstand before going to bed. You can also decide to carry your water bottle by your hand instead of putting it in your bag for easy remembering.
