Water

With Spring in the air, I've been so busy with outside work and indoor spring cleaning. I'm enjoying the open windows and fresh air. I've also noticed that I have been drinking more water lately! For some reason, I hate hate hate drinking water when it's cold outside. So, I'm loving the feeling of hydration! :)

Interesting story. My 12-year-old really fights me about drinking water. She always has. Well, last week I called her for dinner and she appeared very agitated about something. When I asked her what was up, she responded very sharply, "Nothing!" At first, I was a bit miffed, but when I looked into her eyes, I could tell she meant it. I dismissed it, and we began dishing up salad. We began our normal dinner conversation, talking about our days-the good, the bad, the funny, etc. My 12-year-old kept asking really strange questions to her siblings. I didn't take a lot of notice as I was trying to do a few things at once. Finally, her brother said, "Lydia!" very sharply. I looked at Lydia and didn't see anything odd, so I asked him what was going on. He said, "Lydia doesn't know anything! She keeps asking me questions that I already told her!" I looked at her and asked again what was wrong and she responded with a monotone-like "Nothing." Her eyes were glazed and she seemed unaffected by what her brother said.

I had a thought. "Lydia, how much water did you drink today?"
"I drank water today, Mom."
"Yes, but how much?"
"I don't know."
"Go bring me your water bottle."
She brought it to me, and there was maybe....maybe....1 ounce gone.
I sat her down and said, "Drink. Now. All of it."
She did, and within 10 minutes, she was smiling, laughing and interacting normally with her siblings. When I asked her if she felt better, she rolled her eyes at me. Yep, my 12 year old was back. We then talked about the importance of drinking water.

My friends, our bodies NEED water! Our bodies can't perform their functions without it. We feel sluggish, tired, brain-dead, hungry without it. Our brains struggle with memory and performance without it. Our organs and kidneys can't provide us our necessary vitamins and minerals without it. We struggle with balance, focus and response time when we are dehydrated. Also, we are often dehydrated and don't even know it! If we are feeling thirsty, we have been dehydrated for a while. Drink often throughout the day.

If you drink something besides water (sugary things, soda with chemicals, etc), you need even more water to flush it all out of your system. As a rule, we try to drink half of our body weight in ounces each day. At least!!!  So, let's say I weight 150. I would need to drink 75 oz every day at a minimum.

If it's difficult, add some lemon to your water (or lime). Lemon actually adds some wonderful antioxidants, as well as purifies your liver and kidneys. If you want to detox? Fresh lemon juice is how you do it. I personally don't like it, but I try to have the juice of at least 1 lemon a day in my water. You can also add frozen fruit to your water for a sweeter flavor, but if you can, drink pure water, and lots of it, every single day!

Happy Spring, friends!