Staying hydrated helps to keep us refreshed, energized and healthy! Water serves many functions which include helping with digestion, transporting nutrients and eliminating waste. Water helps us digest our food and helps prevent constipation and water retention. It also helps regulate our body temperature. It helps all our organs function optimally, including our skin’s look and function. Water also cushions our joints and organs, increasingly needed as we age!
If dehydrated, we can experience, dry mouth, headaches, irritability, low blood pressure or dizziness, tiredness, thirst. All of these can be confused for hunger, especially when on a weight loss program.

To prevent dehydration, adults should consume this amount of fluid per day:

3 L (12 cups) for men 19 years old and 2.2 L (9 cups) for women 19 years old.

Especially when trying to lose weight, these fluids should primarily come from water, as to decrease calorie consumption while staying hydrated.

1-Pick a glass that holds more than 1 cup of water. A tall glass can hold up to two cups of water, cutting in half the “8 glasses of water” needed daily.
2-Start your day and end your day with a glass of water. Have a glass with each of your snacks and meals (3 meals, 3 snacks= 6 glasses), for a total of 8.

3-Better yet, have a glass of water before your each meal and one after each meal!

4-Consume a cup of water at every transitional point of your day: When you get up, when you brush your teeth, when you have breakfast, before leaving the house, when you get to work, when you go on break, when you get back from break….

5-Drink with a straw, studies show we will drink more. The gulps intake more water than a sip.

6-Get in the habit of drinking plain hot water, or add a twist of lemon or a splash of milk. Can be as comforting as coffee or tea.

7-Replace high calorie sports beverages or pop with water.

8-Replace tea or coffee with water.

9-You can add flavoring to your water in the form of herbs like basil or fresh mint, grated ginger, fruits (orange, lime, lemon, cranberries), veggies like cucumber or even crystal light type of sweetener.

10-Keep a pitcher of flavored water in your fridge at all times.

11-Add ice cubes and a straw to your glass of water.

12-Munch on ice chips.

13-If you have juice, dilute with water, Do this for the kids too!

14-Crush your ice in a blender, fill with water, drink with a straw. It’s more fun!

15-Only serve and drink water at all meals for all family members. You or the kids can then have milk after you drink all your water.

16-Keep a big full water bottle with you at all times. Keep one in your car, one at the office, one at the gym, one at home. This way you won’t forget it anywhere.

17-Drink when bored. By carrying your water bottle with you at all times, you can drink when at a red light, waiting in line, on the bus or train… Drink as often as you check your phone! Lol

18-Drink while watching TV, doing laundry, preparing meals!

19-Make sure you keep a water bottle in your car, drink at least two cups on your way home to hydrate and decrease the likelihood of coming home ravenous and overeating everything in sight!

20-Anytime you feel the urge to eat or a craving, gulp a glass of water first! IT will help you feel full and can prevent you eating extra calories.

21-Set up physical reminders to drink water such as watch or computer timers on the hour. A cup an hour at work, and your 8 glasses are done! Or fill a one litre bottle (4 cups), have half a cup every hour on the hour—easy to do do—and half your intake of water is accomplished!

22-Stop at the water fountain or water cooler every time you walk by, every sip counts!

23-Keep a chart, tick off every time you have a cup. Keep track in your daytimer, create an excel spreadsheet or a paper chart for yourself. Better yet, get the kids to design a chart. Have the whole family partake.

24-Send water to school instead of fruit drinks or juices.

25-Get in the habit of drinking a glass of water before brushing your teeth and one after brushing your teeth. Morning, noon and night= 6 cups! Remind the kid to do the same thing!

26-When washing/shaving your face and hydrating your skin, remember to hydrate your body too! Have a glass of water to nourish your skin from the inside, not just the outside!

27-Drink water before, during and after working out!

And to put a smile on your face:

28-Drink while taking a shower. Open your mouth and drink! It’s fun!

29-Replenish with water every time you go pee!

30- Drink water after sex!If dehydrated, we can experience, dry mouth, headaches, irritability, low blood pressure or dizziness, tiredness, thirst. All of these can be confused for hunger, especially when on a weight loss program.

To prevent dehydration, adults should consume this amount of fluid per day:

3 L (12 cups) for men 19 years old and 2.2 L (9 cups) for women 19 years old.

Especially when trying to lose weight, these fluids should primarily come from water, as to decrease calorie consumption while staying hydrated.

General guidelines are for adults 19-51 years of age to eat 26 grams of fiber per day for women and 38 grams of fiber per day for men. This is best accomplished by eating a variety of soluble, insoluble and functional fiber found in Fruits, Vegetables, Whole Grains and Legumes, Nuts and Seeds.

It really depends if your goal is to lose maintain or gain weight; what your sex, age, activity level and health is. Here is a starting point:

http://hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/basics-base/1_1_1-eng.php

Call me to determine your exact needs: 403-660-8614.

There is a great “getting active” tip sheet on this link:

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hp-ps/hl-mvs/pa-ap/04paap-eng.php

Call me to determine your exact needs: 403-660-8614.

An RDA is Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
The RDA is the average daily dietary intake level that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirement of nearly all (97 to 98 percent) healthy individuals in a particular life-stage and gender group.
The RDA is the goal for usual intake by an individual.
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/reference/table/index-eng.php 

So yes, the RDA’s are a good starting point! Take a peek at pages 6 to 13 of this Dietary Reference Intake PDF to see the Recommended Dietary Allowance for each nutrient.

 http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/alt_formats/hpfb-dgpsa/pdf/nutrition/dri_tables-eng.pdf

I would need more info to determine the right answer just for you.

1-     The current Recommended Dietary Allowance is 0.8 grams of protein per kg of body weight.  (See this chart for more info on RDA specific nutrients 

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/alt_formats/hpfb-dgpsa/pdf/nutrition/dri_tables-eng.pdf

2-     While coaching for weight loss I usually consider a value of 0.8 g to 1.1 g of protein per kg of body weight, depending on your weight loss or weight gain goals, your activity level, health factors, age, sex, height and food preferences….So if you weigh 200 pounds (200 pounds divided by 2.2 pounds in a kg= 90.9 kg), I may recommend 73 g to 100 g of protein per day (90.9 kg times 0.8 to 1.1 g). If you weigh 150 pounds, take 150 pounds divided by 2.2 pounds in a kg= 68 .2 kg; times by 0.8 to 1.1 g= 55 g to 75 g of protein per day.

3-     Here is a third way of calculating your protein requirements. Protein should comprise about 15 to 35% of an adult’s daily caloric intake, according to Health Canada’s Dietary Reference Intakes for Macronutrients. (Check out page 13 of this link: 

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/alt_formats/hpfb-dgpsa/pdf/nutrition/dri_tables-eng.pdf)

So on a 2000 calorie diet, this indicates you would need 300 to 700 calories coming from protein. How much protein is that in grams? There are 4 calories per gram of protein. So 300 to 700 calories divided by 4 calories per gram equals 75 to 175 grams.

If you have decreased your daily caloric intake from being on a weight loss program, you likely should not eat less than 1200 calories per day. So 15% to 35% of 1200 calories is 180-420 calories from protein. Divided by 4 calories per gram, gives you about 45 to 105 grams of protein per day.

As you can see, based on recommended formulas and varying body weights, I have calculated a wide range: from 45 to 175 grams of protein per day.

The 175 grams is likely excessive, and I would personally rarely recommend this much as to not stress your kidney function. Especially considering that the Recommended Dietary Allowance, (average daily dietary intake level that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirement of nearly all (97 to 98 percent) healthy individuals in a particular life-stage and gender group.) is currently 46 grams of protein and 56 grams of protein per day for women and men respectively.

In this sea of information, it can get confusing, Call me to determine your exact needs: 403-660-8614.