As the weather turns warmer and you start spending more time outdoors, it’s more important than ever to stay hydrated. Dehydration can have many negative effects, including dizziness, headaches, low energy, constipation, and decreased athletic performance. Luckily, Herbalife Nutrition has plenty of tips to help you stay hydrated.
Basic Guidelines
You probably know that your body needs about eight glasses of water a day, and that’s a good general rule. However, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to hydration, so make sure you consider factors like your age, gender, size, and activity level when you set your hydration goals. Fortunately, coffee and tea count for some of your fluid intake, but water is always the best source.
How to Up Your Hydration
Using resources such as Herbalife Nutrition can be a great place to start if you’re unsure of how to start prioritizing your hydration. There are many simple steps you can incorporate into your daily lifestyle to make hydration easy!
- Drinking water as soon as you wake up can set the tone to drink water throughout the day.
- You are more likely to remember to hydrate if you have water right in front of you, so keeping a water bottle with you or a pitcher nearby can be a great way to make sure you get your fluids.
- Stick to a schedule. If you set reminders on your phone to drink water regularly, you will eventually drink at those times out of habit. In the meantime, reminders can also generally increase your fluid intake.
- Choose hydrating snacks. Foods with high water content, such as fruits, can be a delicious way to incorporate a little more water into your diet.
- If you don’t love the taste of plain water, add some fruit juice or infusions.
Hydrating While Active
You lose water when you sweat, so you need extra fluids when you exercise. An extra glass or two of plain water will be enough to replenish your body after light workouts. For long or heavy workouts, however, your body needs electrolytes to fully recover, so you may want to drink a sports drink. Herbalife has several tips on choosing the ideal sports drink, but the most important thing is to shoot for between 8 and 16 grams of sugar and between 80 and 160 grams of sodium.
Hydration for Your Kids
It can be hard to keep your kids hydrated while they run around, so making sure they stay cool and drink water whenever they slow down is important. If they have been especially active, they might need a sports drink. Incorporating fruits into their snacks can also help them as well as you.
Especially in the summer, staying hydrated can be tough, but making a few simple changes to your daily habits, and consulting resources such as Herbalife, can help you stay healthy and get the most out of your exercise and outdoor activities!