Month / October 2019

by susanmcrae75

The Love (Hate) of Water

Ah, the benefits of water.  We all know we are mostly made up of water…make that about 60%.  As a former swimmer, I should love it, but it has always been a love hate relationship with me for sure.

Love:  got me into college with a scholarship, I loved racing and playing in it, love floating around relaxing in a pool or lake, love catching fish from it, and will probably retire somewhere where I can see it daily.

The hate runs a little deeper.  When I was very young, I would watch my older sisters dive into our pool.  So of course as soon as I could toddle around?  Yep, right into the pool-the deep end specifically, and my father had to perform rescue breathing on his one year old.  So not sure if it is due to this subconscious memory or not, but my whole life, I’ve been afraid of water and drowning (vehicle, ocean, lake, pool, whatever!).  Several teenage boys likely have permanent scars from my fingernails and knees when they thought it would be fun to hold teenage girls like me underwater-yep, they learned.  And, to this day, I really do not enjoy getting wet-pool or water gun-doesn’t matter!  Crazy for a swimmer I know.  I also never quite understood the importance of it with exercising and my sport.  Knew I needed it, knew I was thirsty, knew it possibly provided a nice 4 lap break during a workout, but no one really ever explained it.

So, fortunately now that I have learned a lot more about health and nutrition through my current fitness/health program, I have another mark on the love side.  I admit sometimes it is much easier with a little natural flavoring from fruit, etc.  However, I have been told once you get accustomed to drinking water, you crave it, and now I’m a believer.

Why drink it?  And why have the goal of half your body weight in ounces per day?

Reduces fatigue, decreases some headaches (one of my migraine triggers is dehydration…of course), aids in digestion/regularity, curbs appetite/assists with weight loss, decreases frequency of muscle cramps, improves hydration/appearance of skin, and more!!  Who out there could not benefit from improving one, more or all of these areas, simply by drinking more water?  It has definitely helped me lose 23 pounds recently, and helped me recover from the workouts I am doing!

I challenge you to start by adding one more 16 ounce serving to your day.  Gradually increase towards your goal of half your body weight and see how you feel.  Set goals and keep track.  It will help you on your fitness journey, doesn’t cost a thing (unless bottled of course!!) and improve your overall health in the process.

And as usual, if you are searching for an awesome program with and awesome group with awesome results, let me know!  There is always room for more people trying to get back out there, reach fitness goals, cross train to prevent injury, whatever!

Now go fill up!

-S

 

Our challenge group: https://www.teambeachbody.com/shop/d/annual-all-access-bod-shakeology-challenge-pack-BODChallengePack?referringRepID=1977090

by susanmcrae75

Tunes

When I swam in college, we had an underwater speaker system.  It was awesome, especially for back then, and it was amazing how many yards you could plow through when you had a beat and/or were distracted.  Also, depending on the tempo, it could really have an effect on how fast you went as well!  Mental?  Maybe, but who cares!  It also was great for those 5:30 practices.  There is nothing cool in my mind about having to get out of bed only to listen to myself struggle, grunt, huff, etc while trying to complete my morning workout.  Add some tunes…and you get into a rhythm and it actually “gasp” becomes somewhat fun!

Now, pick your tunes wisely.  The Train lyric “She listens to Mozart while she does Tae Bo” does not apply to me…I will fall back into bed.  Our college coach was stuck on playing “What’s Going On?” every morning.  Every.  Morning.  He was in charge of the tunes initially, but we did get that privilege away from him thank goodness.  Talk about not wanting to warm up to that playing-again!  My friend replaced it with the Pulp Fiction soundtrack (much better!)  Yep just aged myself there but that is ok.  Pulp Fiction soundtrack is always cool.

For me, it has to be fun, something with a beat, something that makes me feel kick ass.  My playlist is quite a blend, but all those songs make me feel good.  Songs by those who inspire me to have abs like them (J Lo, Pink, Sheryl Crow) don’t hurt either.  Or, a few that make you feel like you are the sexy love interest in an 80s hairband (or country crop top short shorts) video.  Maybe that’s just me, lol, but like I said-fun!

Music definitely makes you feel a certain way.  So I challenge you to make a play list.  When you turn it on, you and your mind are ready to go!  Otherwise, enjoy your various noises 😉