Hydration Facts And Stuff

You always hear that you need to stay hydrated when you exercise and even that it helps in fat burning. If you're like me hearing THAT you need to do something isn't as useful as knowing WHY you should so here it goes.

When you don't properly hydrate the first thing that happens is your blood volume decreases because blood is primarily composed from water. That results in your blood pressure going down and reducing the blood flow to your muscles so that they can't operate efficiently anymore. Your body then attempts to compensate by raising your heart rate, but that doesn't help either. That results in more fluid loss and overheating. That results in premature exhaustion and less performance. Since it is your muscles that actually burn the fat, No hydration - no fat burning!

So how does one properly hydrate?

Start before you exercise. Have at least 12 ounces of water before you begin your exercise. That will get your muscles working and help to keep your body temperature down as well.

You need to drink about 10 ounces of water per 15 minutes of exercise, so if you are doing an hour long spin class you need to drink more than a quart of water.

The easiest way to keep yourself hydrated is with a hydration pack. The other helpful thing is to filter your own water at home. I know this works because it worked for me.

Exercise:

Today Athena was feeling fast so we busted out the 6.3 mile route in 1:20 and some change. I ran out of my 70 oz. water pack along the way. Athena sources water from freshly sprinkled lawns as we go.

Recipe:

So we have squash coming ripe daily right now as well as peas, peppers, garlic, 3 types of basil and more. Last night I made "spaghetti" from 2 decent sized cocozelle squashes and made a sauce from onion, thin sliced garlic, Anaheim pepper, Tomatoes, Lots of basil (1 cup of chopped mix of Thai, Genovese, and sweet basil)

I lightly sauteed the onions and pepper then added the garlic for about 1 minute. Then added 2 cans of organic diced tomatoes. Let that cook down for 5 or 6 minutes and then add 2/3 cup fresh peas and the basil and cook another minute. Then add the squash and toss for 1 or 2 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with some freshly grated Romano cheese.

Enjoy!

More soon.....