The Three Watered Down Lies We Believe About Hydration

 

It’s all around us. We love to waste it, swim in it, wash our bodies and even our vehicles with it.

And it’s a surprising portion of our body. The human body is mostly water: about 55% to 75%, on average (and depending on how well hydrated you are). That’s about 10 to 12 gallons of water in your body!

The average human brain is composed of about 73% water. Our body mass is about 60% water.

You lose about 10 or more cups of water every day just living: breathing, sweating, urinating, etc.

Yet SO many people rarely drink it. I mean really drink it. Most say they do but truth be told, the reality is a completely different story.

 

Let’s Look at Three Watered Down Lies We Believe About Hydration:

 

1. Most People Believe They Consume Enough Water Within Their Day

They assume drinking any liquid is satisfying their thirst when it actuality “the beverage of choice” is doing the exact opposite.

Alcoholic beverages have the most dehydrating effect. IF drinking, aim for one glass of water per alcoholic drink especially with wine. You’ll see a dramatic difference.

Your body has water in every cell, tissue, and organ. It helps move nutrients, get rid of waste, keep your temperature at the right level, lubricate and cushion joints, keep your skin moisturized, and lots of other things.

So, what’s the point? Our bodies need and crave water to work properly. It’s the one area you can almost overdue it.

 

2. Most People Believe They Have Little to No Effect of Even Mild Hydration

Yet the research could not disagree more with this belief. According to a blog article by Jon Beaty, mild dehydration occurs when we lose only 1.5% of our body’s optimal water volume.

When the water volume gets low, our brain functioning suffers. Research demonstrates that even mild dehydration can negatively affect our mood and our ability to think clearly.

Thirst is one of the first warning signals that you may be getting dehydrated. But don’t rely on thirst alone. Other early signs are fatigue, flushed skin, faster breathing and pulse rate, and having trouble exercising.

You can’t rely on your sense of thirst to tell you if you’ve had enough water, Dr. Drewnowski warns. Citing research from Johns Hopkins University, he says the sensation of being thirsty fades as adults age—regardless of water intake—which might be one reason older adults don’t drink enough.

Here are just a few of the many side effects:

1. Dry Skin
2. Decreased Urine Output
3. Dry Mucous Membranes in the Mouth and Nose
4. Fatigue
5. Decreased Coordination

But wait, there’s more. Then you could add more serious consequences: blood pressure changes, allergies, asthma, and back pain. Just giving you something to look forward to if you choose a parched life.

 

3. Most People Believe They’re Just Set in Their Ways and it’s Too Difficult to Change Now

Have you ever noticed how open people are to change on the things they want to change?

But if it’s something they’ve made up their mind and not willing to even explore changing, little to nothing will change their mind.

The reality is we need far more water on a daily basis then we think and even consume so we should be willing to explore how to consume more water in a creative way.

I was personally resistant for the longest time. But when I chose to lose 30 pounds, I went on a research kick about losing weight.

The shocking reality was how almost every blasted author wrote about the importance of hydration.

At this point, I SLOWLY changed my ways with the following ideas…

Here Are Five Minor Adjustments for Major Results

1. Drink a glass of water when you get up in the morning, before you have coffee or tea.

I put a water bottle by my bed and try to finish it or at least half before I do anything else. Your body is dehydrated from many hours without water. Inhale it before you bathe in it.

2. Keep a cup or water bottle by your desk at work.

Take several sips of water each hour. If you don’t have a desk job, carry a container of water with you, and take sips throughout the day.

3. Take a sip whenever you pass a drinking fountain.

Most of us work at a location that has a water fountain or water cooler. Or, like me, in an airport. Take a hit every time you pass. If you try this easy action item, you could potentially add another glass of water to your day

4. Eat foods with high water content.

The foods you eat supply about 20 percent of the water you need. The rest comes from the beverages you drink.

Watermelon, celery, cucumbers, and lettuce are good, healthy choices. The average person gets about 20% of their water for the day from food. An apple is 84% water. Bananas are 74% water. Broccoli is 91% water.

5. Add natural flavor to your water (such as lemon / lime / Cucumber / strawberries)

Tip: Flavor your water ahead of time. If you truly dislike the taste or texture of water, pop a few slices of orange, lemon or lime into your water bottles the night before.

Fresh berries are equally delicious. Since I travel a ton for work, I pick up creative ideas from hotels. Any nice hotel will have chilled water with fruit in the water by the front desk. As a result, we do that at home all of the time.

After a night of chilling in the refrigerator, you’ll have a tasty, satisfying, virtually calorie-free beverage to keep you hydrated. Just don’t forget to grab your bottles before heading out the door.

I switch it up. I may have water with fruit in the morning then water with lemon or lime in the afternoon. You know, livin’ on the wild side.

 

 Here’s the often asked question:

How much water should I drink on a daily basis?

 

How much fluid you need depends on a number of variables:

• Age: Kids need plenty of fluids; they can get dehydrated much more easily than adults. Older people may need more fluids because of health conditions or because they tend to lose their sense of thirst.
• Gender: Men need more fluids than women. (And pregnant women need more fluids than other women.)
• Weight: Heavier people need more water.
• Health: Conditions such as diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and kidney disease can boost your need for fluids.
• Environment: You need more fluids in extreme weather conditions (especially hot, humid, or cold) and at high altitudes.

The Institute of Medicine, which advises the United States government on health and health care, recommends women drink approximately 2.7 liters—just under 6 cups—daily. They recommend men drink 3.7 liters—just under 8 cups—daily.

According to WebMD, the easiest way to know if you’re drinking enough fluid is to look at the color of your urine. If you’re drinking enough water, your urine will be clear or pale yellow. A darker yellow means you aren’t drinking enough water.

People who drink enough water also usually have soft bowel movements. Hard bowel movements or constipation can be signs that you aren’t getting enough water.

Here’s a great tool to measure your hydration. Check out:

Hydration Calculator – http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm

Eventually, you will just know. I can tell in my body when I’m needing water. Crazy, I know.

If I’m on the road, I MUST carry water and NOT rely on others around me who’s only water intake was when water accidentally splashed in their mouth during their morning shower.

Here are a few suggestions on HOW MUCH water you should consume in a day

• Aim to meet at least the minimum recommendation amount for water each day. Women require 9 cups or 72 ounces daily, while men need 13 cups or 104 ounces, MayoClinic.com reports.

• One method of determining your need for water is by taking your weight in pounds and dividing that number in half. This gives you approximately the number of ounces you should drink each day. – Shereen Lehman, MS, Nutrition Expert
• On average, you should take a rehydration break about every 20 minutes. Most people would stay adequately hydrated by drinking 5 to 10 ounces of fluid every 20 minutes. But your exact need depends on things like how hard you’re working, whether you are indoors or outdoors, and your age, gender, and weight.

• Be prepared to go to the bathroom more often. It’s a worthwhile adjustment because of cleaning out your body and so many more benefits.

Water could help with weight loss. Studies show that by drinking water, people tended to eat and drink fewer calories, probably because the water filled them up. As a result, they lost weight.

 

In the End…

Here are some additional details:

It is possible to drink too much water. Healthy kidneys in an adult can process anywhere from 20 to 1,000 milliliters of fluid per hour. It’s not easy to overload them, but it can happen.

Getting too much water, especially in a short time, is dangerous. Symptoms of too much water include weight gain, bloating, nausea, and vomiting. Sudden cases of water intoxication can cause low blood sodium, which can result in headaches, confusion, seizures, and coma.

The International Marathon Medical Directors Association recommends that athletes drink no more than 31 ounces of water per hour during extended exercise.

 

Closing Actions:

1. You need to accept the reality of how much water you actually drink within a given day

2. Make a decision to drink more water

3. Get creative how do add more water within your daily routine

 

Closing Question:

How can you add more water to your daily routine?

 

Additional Reading, Resources, and References:

http://www.ehow.com/how_12304036_habit-drinking-water-hate.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Drink-Enough-Water

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/drinking-enough-water-topic-overview

Hydration Quiz from WebMD:

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/rm-quiz-know-about-hydration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reputation vs. Character – Do You Care Who Wins?

Four Revealing Ways You Care More About Your Reputation Than Your Character

 

Jason had a great reputation. He was charismatic, well liked, and excellent at his job. But he was living a double life. He was not faithful to his wife and not living up to the values that he said he actually held.

His reputation was everything. When his world began to unravel, the first thing he cared about is what everyone knew and what they thought of him. The last thing on his mind was the demise of his character.

Reputation vs. Character – Do you care you wins this fight?

 

How often do you hear the following?

• His reputation took a hit
• She has a reputation as…
• I’ll put my reputation on the line and say…

Your reputation is important. But when it becomes MORE important than your character, you’re entering some choppy waters, my friend. And often the discovery comes well after the fact.

I absolutely love this quote by Hall of Fame UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden:

“Be more concerned with your Character than your Reputation because your Character is what you really are where your Reputation is merely what others think of you”.

Coach Wooden spent more time in his pursuit of creating men of character than just a winning basketball program. And ironically, he did both.

[tweetthis] Character is one of those difficult and challenging words to define yet when someone doesn’t have character, you know it immediately.[/tweetthis]

I travel an absolute ton and often I meet someone who “appears” to be one person but over time and the more I get to know them (the blessing or curse of being a question asker) their character comes out.

Sometimes it comes out and is a light shade of gray. “Did she just say what I think she said or meant it that way?”

Other times it comes out and is a charcoal shade of gray. “Hey man, let’s hit the club and I don’t mean health club. We’re on the road and our wives will never know. It’s not like I’m having an affair or anything.”

Little did they know the original reputation of what they thought they were,  changed with me to a completely different reputation of which ultimately revealed their character.

 

Here are 4 Revealing Ways You Care More about your Reputation than your Character:

 

1. You base your decision first on what others would say or think

When your 1^st impulse is how others would react, this is a reputation play, not character.

It should also be an obvious indicator that your reputation is a bigger deal to you than you even realize.

It’s also the first of four steps that lead down a slippery slope of being consumed with your reputation far more than your character. But wait, there’s more…

 

2. You feel you need to justify your actions to others

So you make a decision and if you feel it is in question, you immediately need to let EVERYONE know WHY you made the decision.

Wondering what someone thinks is one thing. But when you start to “sell them” on why you made the decision, this is something completely different.

This should be a warning sign that your impulse to justify that decision is leading you further down a dangerous path and is easily leading you to the next step…

 

3. You defend yourself more than what is right

Further down this path of guarding your reputation at all costs you begin to switch your focus.

[tweetthis]When your defense immediately defaults to you and not truth, then your reputation is FAR more important than you probably even realize. [/tweetthis]

My wife and I are in the process of teaching our kids to “always do the right thing, not just the easy thing”. But this is SO much easier said than done and so much more as the stakes are higher as an adult.

But reputation rears its selfish head when what is right is lost for who is in question.

 

4. You would do absolutely anything to preserve your reputation

If you find yourself going to great lengths to keep your reputation in tact, you are far down the path of losing your character.

It may begin with shading the truth and could end up in full on lies to keep your coveted reputation in tact.

This is a slippery slope because you could ultimately compromise your values just to please others.

This is a progression from #1 to #4. It’s a downward spiral that will erode your character over time.

And you will begin to gain momentum the further down the spiral which will make it incredibly difficult to stop the train. Be careful.

 

In the End…

Reputation is important and should be guarded. But the moral of the story  is character is MORE important than your reputation alone.

Take care of your character and your reputation will take care of itself. Rarely it’s the other way around.

Motivated, busy professional who want to escape their average need to, at some point, make the shift from caring more about their character than their reputation.

But this takes two things: maturity and growth.

I encourage and even challenge you to see which of the four revealing ways and see where you are in the process.

 

Self-Revealing Question:

 Do you personally care more about your character or your reputation?

The Biggest Daily Lie I Tell Myself

Three Challenging Reasons Why Something, Anything Is Better Than Nothing

 

So, I have a plan for my day but somehow it goes sideways.

I know that I need to get a workout in and even planned a time but for circumstances beyond my control (or at least I tell myself that), I’m at the place of asking this question.

Now, it’s not like I’ve never asked this question and ironically, it’s a question that has the same answer every time. Yet I ask it like it’s brand new to me.

Here’s the question:

“Do I have time to workout?”

 But here’s the point. It ALWAYS leads to a lie that creeps in every single time. Ready for it:

“IF I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TIME FOR A FULL WORKOUT, DON’T WORKOUT AT ALL. IT’S NOT WORTH IT.”

Do you hear it’s subtleties and persuasive tone? And sadly, too many times I all for the lie. I actually want to believe the lie some days. I rationalize how much time it’s going to take to get to the gym, or get changed, warm up (which I rarely ever do but count it as one more excuse).

But here’s the truth, “SOMETHING, ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING” when it comes to working out!

And Here are Three Challenging Reasons Why Something, Anything Is Better Than Nothing:

 

1. MINDSET

The more serious I become about fitness and getting into great shape, the more important my mindset becomes in making healthy choices in this area.

Here is my current mindset: I’ll take what I can get and make the absolute most of it!

It’s changed from looking for excuses to get out of a workout to looking for reasons to actually workout!

Did you catch the difference? It was the mindset. One was MAXIMIZING and one was MINIMIZING.

My mind is my biggest challenge, even more than time, soreness, or simply just being tired. If I can convince my mind to “show up”, most of the battle is fought with my body.

 

2. ROUTINE

I’m a routine person in certain areas of my life. I absolutely love variety and creativity but not in my workout schedule. I thrive on CONSISTENCY.

And here’s a secret my mind has not figured out: it doesn’t remember if I spent 15 minutes or 45 minutes working out. It just remembers that I worked out yesterday which makes it easier to workout today and not justify skipping because I missed yesterday.

And EVERY SINGLE TIME I show up to workout for “just a few minutes”, I not only stay longer but often have a better workout. Imagine that.

Absolutely use this psychology to your advantage. Have the right mindset that “something, anything is better than nothing to start then play the consistency card and lock in that routine.

 

3. NUTRITION

EVEN if I only work out for a few minutes, I have FAR LESS of a chance to be lazy on my food choices the remainder of the day. I feel better about myself and as a result, want to keep that momentum going.

Now, if I’ve believed the biggest lie, that if I don’t have enough time for a full workout, don’t workout at all… it has a domino effect and I easily justify poor eating choices.

If my workout is in the morning, my lunch is ALWAYS healthy. If I workout in the late afternoon, my dinner is ALWAYS healthy. Crazy how that works, huh?

And here is when the key is just showing up. Don’t believe the biggest daily lie that wants to take down both your fitness and your nutrition. Check out the post on the Direct Correlation Between Nutrition and Fitness here.

Here’s the SIMPLE POINT for me:

[tweetthis]Some of my best workouts are when I’m pressed for time. I’m more focused & motivated because every minute counts. [/tweetthis]

 

ADVICE AT NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE:

Plan ahead and think through your day to determine two decisions:

• When you CAN / WILL find time for a workout
• What you will do with those precious few minutes

Often, I know when my day is going sideways and there is little to nothing I can do about it. But I also know when I could find time to “sneak in” a quick workout. Plan ahead.

For example, when I’m traveling, I don’t always have control of how early my morning begins like I do when I’m at home. So, I have a couple of options:

1. Sneak in an AB workout in my hotel room

2. Look for margin within my day which is usually after the day and before dinner

Now, if I choose #1, it’s only 10-15 minutes (currently Insanity Max:30 ab workouts) and I definitely eat a healthier breakfast AND more likely to do #2 and MAKE time later in the day for a workout.

It simply goes back to Mindset, committing to your Routine, and letting the Big Mo of Nutrition drive it home.

 

CLOSING QUESTION:

Assuming I’m not the only one who struggles in this area of fitness…

 How do you handle this lie each day?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do You Have It?

Three Foundational Reasons to Live a Life of Purpose

 

So many people just simply don’t IT.

They think they do. They may even fake they do, but the reality is they don’t have IT.

Some people go through their entire lives and find out at the end they didn’t have IT and as a result feel like they wasted their entire lives.

How could someone live their life and even see that other people have IT yet still never find IT themselves?

IT ironically will look different for each person but the reality is in the end, IT has common characteristics to anyone who has IT.

So, What is IT?

IT can be defined in just seven letters: P U R P O S E

The definition of Purpose is “the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.”

 

My simplified definition of Purpose is as follows:

“Doing something bigger than me or living for something bigger than myself”

 

Living with purpose is bigger than money, power, or prestige. So many thought that was their purpose but when they achieved IT, they found themselves hollow and left wanting more.

IT was NOT what they had thought or hoped it would be and often SO much valuable time was lost that will never be regained.

There are countless stories of people who go through life assuming IT was one thing and found out IT was something completely different. Let me give you an example.

 

IT IS OBVIOUS WHEN YOU SEE IT

Most days I don’t run across someone with Purpose. Its just business as usual. But when I meet someone with purpose, I am drawn to him or her.

The irony is they don’t have to announce to me “I have Purpose”. Why? It’s just evident in everything they do and they way they approach life.

I may not even understood or agree with their Purpose but I instantly respect IT.

 

There are three foundational reasons to live a life of Purpose:

1. Purpose Gives Life Meaning – Why I’m Here

Mark Twain was once quoted for saying, “The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you found out why.”

[tweetthis]Life must have meaning. Too many people walk around on a self-imposed life sentence just doing their time. – Bryan Paul Buckley[/tweetthis]

Is this you? Do you know why you’re here and does your purpose give your life meaning?

 

2. Purpose Gives Life Direction – Where I’m Heading

Once I know the why, I know where I am headed. Most people have little to no direction in their lives.

They simply log another day in the books, saying “thank God it’s Friday” then “oh God, its Monday.”

This is language of someone who lives his or her life without direction. If you had a direction you were heading, you would have the motivation to live life with purpose.

 

3. Purpose Gives Life Focus – What I Should Be Doing

When I know why I’m here (meaning) and where I’m heading (direction) then I will know EXACTLY what I should be doing (focus).

This will unfold the rare gift of clarity and will affect everything else in your life most specifically, how you should use your time.

The guesswork and meandering through your days are gone. There is no longer time to waste. You have a purpose and you are compelled to accomplish IT.

 

Closing Thoughts

The sad part is just how many people use SEVEN LETTERS to describe their lives:

S U R V I V E

 I believe most people would not readily offer that as their actual life purpose but their day-to-day behavior and decisions point to that as simply surviving.

You can hear it in their language:

• Just trying to make it through the day
• Can’t wait for the weekend
• What’s the point anyway?

 Question and answer with complete honesty:

So, where are you in this process? Do you have IT yet? Are you fulfilled right now in this place in your life? If not, do not lose heart.

If you’re a motivated busy professional, you have the desire and motivation to make the necessary changes in your life to make a difference.

What if you had a true and clearly defined purpose to guide your life? I mean intentionally guide your life.

I hope this challenges you to begin thinking about finding IT and changing your seven words from merely S U R V I V E to P U R P O S E.

In future Purpose posts, I plan to unpack each one of the three main reasons to live a life of purpose but wanted to give you something to think about right now.

 

Closing Question:

What is your IT in your life right now…?