I shared a post recently about an Instagram influencer that I follow who shares a wealth of information.
And while most of his content is interesting, he posted something that stumped me for days. He claimed that caffeine intake can count towards your daily water intake. (Coffee, tea, etc. since it contains water.) I drink about 100 ounces a day. I feel sick when I drink any less than that. Staying hydrated helps me to feel on top of my game, productive, less sluggish, etc. especially since I work out so much. When he posted this, it's not like I had never heard others claim this before but hearing him say something like this caused me to wonder if it's true. After all, he has thousands of followers and supposedly does extensive research on nutrition. So, I experimented with this. I drink a ton of caffeine in coffee and teas. I limited my water intake back to 60 ounces. It only took me a day to feel the side effects of not drinking my usual 100 ounces. Pure water is so good for you. Sure, eating an apple or any other fruit contains water and it can count towards your water intake but how do you even measure that water consumption? It's so important to drink at least half of your body weight in ounces. At least. I drink more than that because 100 ounces is where I feel the most hydrated. If you're only counting the water in your food, your gatorades or other electrolyte drinks, or other drinks, chances are that you are definitely dehydrated (especially since caffeine dehydrates you). The whole point of this post was mainly to emphasize the importance of staying hydrated, especially since it's almost summer but I would also like to stress falling back on basics. Just fill up a water bottle, try to keep track of how much you're drinking, and try to stay consistent. There are so many social media "experts" who will mislead you based on their "research" and understanding. Fall back on the basics and rely on common sense. You don't have to do extensive research to know what's healthy for your body. We all know fruits, vegetables, and water are essential. People who don't like consuming these are more likely to research reasons why they don't have to consume them. Stay hydrated, my friends!
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Today, I want to talk just a little bit about MyFitnessPal and how it's changed how I view food and my fitness goals. I downloaded the app about two or three years ago. I intended to use it to obsess even more about my weight loss. At the time, I was starving myself, restricting myself, and working out way too much. My priorities were centered around the scale. I actually deleted the app when I realized it wasn't helping me at all in my food disorder. Postpartum When I had my son, I started working out when my doctor said I could (six weeks). I downloaded the app again, followed a few people on social media that I knew would help promote a healthy lifestyle, and changed my focus to "reaching" my calorie goal instead of taking away from it. It's such a good feeling when I can say "I need to reach x amount of calories today" instead of "I need to stay below x amount of calories today." For me, knowing that I need to eat more and giving myself permission to eat more is freeing. I eat to fuel my body now. MyFitnessPal App MyFitnessPal actually has a free version of the app that I used for a long time. I pay for the premium version of the app and only intend to keep that once I reach my goals. Now, I know that weight loss and fitness goals aren't meant to happen overnight. It takes time. I actually talk more about this in this blog post, Eat More, Live More. I want to make healthy living a lifestyle, not something that I make hard to obtain. So, instead of stressing over whether I've eaten too many calories that day or if I've worked out enough that day, I stretch out my goals for the week. And if I haven't hit my goals or ate too much for the week, I still don't stress it because the week before I probably worked out too much or didn't eat enough. Like I state in my blog post mentioned above, weight loss is not linear. It takes time. With MyFitnessPal, I can see my weekly reviews. I keep a separate album on my phone for my screenshotted weekly reviews so that I can compare. I rarely ever hit the exact numbers and I don't stress it at all. I just try not to go too far off of the numbers. This app has truly changed my perspective and has helped me not to stress as much as I used to. I lose weight slower but I also have a healthier mindset and am able to focus more on becoming stronger. This photo is not mine and is also not representative of my macros or exercise. Photo credits to the blog: 8 Tips for Making the Most of MyFitnessPal).
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