One of the biggest mistakes made in any health and fitness journey is the neglect to take in the recommended amount of water each day. Water intake is one of those simple tasks that is easy to do, but also easy not to do. When you are drinking a shake, coffee, maybe enjoying juice or sports drinks – the need might not be there to grab a glass of H2O since you are not physically thirsty. Truth is: water needs to be your go-to drink when completing any sort of fitness program:

1. Water Curves Your Cravings for Munchies: Did you know that often times when you think you are hungry you are actually heading into an area of dehydration? It’s true! Dehydration has many phases to it before you actually end up in a very dangerous area, and “hunger pains” are one of those “zones”. The next time you think

you are hungry, grab yourself some warm water and drink away! Odds are your body was just needing some hydration.

2. Water Fuels Your Muscles: Workin’ out? Of course you are! Water is ESSENTIAL to the recovery of your muscles and proper hydration aids in reducing the amount of soreness you feel the next day. Not to mention, when you sweat, you need to replenish your bodies natural water retention with -water!

3. Water Lubricates Your Joints: Speaking of being sore – does anyone else ever feel like they have the body of an 80 year old the next day after they work out? I know this happens to me from time-to-time and it is way too early to feel such a way. When I look back and ask if my water consumption was on point the day prior – odds are it wasn’t. Or I had more coffee than usual, or alcohol – both of which speed up the process of dehydration. So drink up!

4. Water Wakes You Up! I always thought this was BS (if I’m going to be honest), but it works. When the items mentioned above are not taken care of, the body’s natural response is to slow down. This means we feel sluggish, weak, lazy, fuzzy-brained, etc. Grab yourself some cold water for this situation, and wake yo ass up!

5. Water Flushes Out the Sh!t: Ooookay before you start throwing shade due to my choice of words – let me clarify. When we eat like crap, crappy stuff builds up in our bodies. Artificials, excess salt, grease, high fat foods – they taste good in the moment but they do some damage after (and I swear the feeling gets worse the older you get).  We all know water makes you use the restroom – that is no secret – but just know that every time you go – more and more of that junk gets released from your body.   So if you had a wild weekend – drink up!

Hint: You should be drinking your weight divided by 2 in ounces of water per day. You can also get more water intake by taking in more water-based fruits and vegetables.