Thanks for sharing the article, Pres. According to it, I am on target with about 6 cups a day.

Maybe I should have said in the beginning that I was getting fluids all day, just in the form of (too many) diet sodas and sweetened iced tea (nothing like it in the south!). Replacing those unhealthy fluids with water seems to be making a difference in how I feel and look. Maybe it's just in my head, but I'll stick with it!

You sounded right on target to me, Halfpint!
If water replaces less healthy drinks, and if you were perhaps borderline dehydrated before, should help you feel better. It's also good as a zero-cal stomach filler (although fleeting) for dieting.

I am starting to see folks really overdo it at work, with the constant water bottle and leaving their posts for the obvious result. And, there's no health benefit for going overboard (ha!)

Pres, nice artticle, thank you. Siepres, that is exactly my little trick too! A little piece of dark chocolate really does help.

One thing I can add about fluid intake and "breaks" is that juice has as high a sugar content as a glass of soda! This is an unfortunate fact of life I've had to deal with.

Basically, to rid itself of excess glucose, the body demands more potty breaks, so to speak, so someone drinking a lot of fluids with sugar is actually going to be leaving their desk more often than if you stick to water. And your thirst will increase.

I used to love to drink orange juice all day long, and yesterday I was just craving juice so I mixed a glass of half juice, half water. I was even thirstier afterwards! I'm back to water and feel much better, not thirsty at all. I'm getting used to drinking water only and while it's really boring, I feel so much better.

quote:

Originally posted by cathlib:

quote:

Originally posted by matthelm:
Actually, more recent research has said it doesn't necessarily have to be water. The idea is to be hydrated. We also get the hydration from milk, wine or fruit juices. Cut down on the carbonation because the body holds water to fight the acids that make the carbonation, not to mention the sugar factor.

You still have to be careful, because it's not an ounce-for-ounce, and indeed wine (or any alcoholic drink), and caffeinated drinks, dehydrate you. Milk is heavy on the protein, and takes almost as much water for your body to process as it provides.

So although you may get a fair amount from food and drink, it's probably a good idea for most of us to add a few glasses of straight H2O to our daily routines.

I never said that increasing your water intake was a bad idea. I just said that a lot research shows that it doesn't have to 64 ounces a day, and we get a lot of our hydration needs covered in other ways. Of course increasing your water intake is good idea, and I would never say it wasn't.

Matt, I wasn't disagreeing with you--just refining something. Proteins and sugars (which are found in milk and juices) take water for the body to process them, and so you can't count an ounce of juice as equal to an ounce of water, because some of the water in the juice has to be used to break down the sugars in the juice.

And wine? Forget it. Alcohol actually depletes the body of fluids, and you end up with a negative intake.

My experience with water has been that once I really get in a groove with drinking it the way I should, I lose about half the total amount of weight I'm going for in the first 30 days. To make it doable, I break it up and drink a 16-oz. glass after breakfast, one with lunch, one after dinner, and at least one before I go to bed, and more if I can. I try to make a game out of it, and push myself. It takes me about two weeks to really get going with it, but once I do, I find that I actually crave water over any other beverage. And I am a card-carrying Coca Cola fiend!

I love Coca Cola! Grew up drinking it every day. It is pure poison! Coca Cola is a product of the corn industry, it's chief ingredient being corn syrup. I actually have written a piece about how industrialized food corporations are poisoning us, and how we have to literally fight for our lives by not using those products. I have it on another site. But I do love it! It also took me about 2 weeks, well maybe a bit longer, to get really comfortable with just drinking water but I am in the groove now. I am eating well but I almost feel as if Im losing weight too fast. Feels good though. Yeah, Coca Cola..in the pretty little bottles in the bright red cooler..poison.

Oshngrl, I feel your pain! I live in the same hometown as Coca-Cola! But it's been over a week since I've had any. Yesterday, I decided to have a Diet Coke with lunch and after the first couple of sips, poured it out. My mouth felt "dirty" compared to the water. That's something I never noticed when I was drinking one after the other. But after a week of having only water, DC was not palatable at all.

I live in a cold climate and find it is sometimes easier to drink hot water with a slice of lemon instead of cold water. I believe up to half of the recommended fluid intake can be decaf tea, milk, and other non caffeinated liquids. Much easier that way.

I spent a week on a cruise ship and don't think I gained any weight at all. There was an outdoor track and I ran twice in the first half. The humidity was in the high 80's and the track was outside so when you were going against the wind (toward the bow of the ship) it was about 30 mph resistance. I didn't manage my usual distance or time but worked pretty hard.

We also climbed a water fall in Jamaica and that was a good hour and a half of climbing in water. Good work and a lot of fun. In Cozumel we went on a mountain bike tour so I got in close to an hour and a half of cycling. I hadn't ridden a bike in many years and really enjoyed it. I think I'll buy a bike in spring and add cycling into my routine.

I was ill the last few days of the cruise and for a bit after I got home so I had about 10 days without exercise. Yesterday I went for my first run and managed about 4.25 miles. Not too bad. Today I had my first intro to boxing class and I suspect my arms will be a bit sore tomorrow. It was fun but mostly conditioning - running, skipping, and lots of crunches and sit-ups.

I also bought the book "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" and a friend of mine bought the men's version. We both have busy schedules for the next month so we are going to ease into the lifts in that time and then start the programs. We are using fitday.com to track food and activities and shared our passwords so we can check on each other. My goal is to drop about 5 pounds of weight but add a few pounds of muscle. I think it is quite do-able.

I'm also starting a series of indoor golf lessons in late Feb to prepare for the season.

Sounds busy now that I put it in writing. Ah well, I truly believe that exercise is the fountain of youth.

Halfpint, I know that feeling. Isn't it amazing after just one week that your body told you it wanted water. That is great!

I've also read that when we have the munchies, we are actually craving water. Our society is so inudated with food advertising, and why would these companies want us to drink water, since it's free. I drank three 16 oz bottles today, working on a fourth and not "leaving my desk" nearly as much as I did when I drank juice.

Cheryl, your vacation sounds wonderful and wow, you are doing so much! Reading about everything you are doing is an inspiration.

I apologize in advance but feel the need to whine a bit.

Its almost 2:00 and I haven't eaten anything. I don't get hungry all that often but today i have to fast as I'm having a colonoscopy in the morning. In addition to fasting, I have to drink the most vile concoction, citromag, later today. Just the thought of it makes me feel nauseous.

On the upside, I lifted weights twice this week, ran twice, and today is my second boxing class. I'm not sure how it will go given that my quads are a bit sore from my run (which was shorter than usual) but I plan to take it easy if I don't feel up to it.

I hope you are doing better today. I hadn't read this thread for awhile but if I had I would say, don't overdo it when you're fasting. Hope you are doing better today.

I have not been feeling well and I think I tracked it down to Splenda. I used to love hot cocoa and since I can't have that any more, I tried some decaf coffee with Splenda sweetener but the next day I had kidney pain, and fatigue, and depression..so I looked it up and apparently there are a lot of problems the company is denying. I just know that I felt awful after both times I used it in my coffee. Well, so much for that..so back to a little honey in my tea. Just wanted to put that out there in case anyone else can use the info.

Hey guys, I've lost 10 lbs since November! Just keeping to a diet of salads and low fat food, and I have not gone hungry. Just wanted to share that good news with everyone. It takes 2 weeks to 21 days to break a habit and I broke the sugar habit! Being terrrified of diabetes is a great motivator. I'll post one of my favorite things..maybe someone else would enjoy it.

I mix a little low fat cottage cheese with a bit of honey and add blueberries, sliced banana, walnuts, a couple of spoons of sugar free mueslix and some cinnamon. I can hear everyone going "yuck" but I love this combination of crunch and sweet fruit. I never thought I could break the sugar habit but I did and the best thing about it is, when sugar goes, many, many cravings also leave.

10 lbs tells the tale. I hope my success helps or inspires anyone who is struggling with diet, especially a persistent sweet tooth. It can be tamed!

Okay, majorly long thread. First, OSHNGRL awesome quitting smoking. Oprah just did a show on this. You have added years to your life. Work on the diet and exercise now. Congrats! Try rice cakes with a small amount of cottage cheese and cream cheese mixed together with sugar free jelly. It is a nice treat when trying to lose weight.

Moonlady-If you are still trying to do workouts in a small space, try powerblock. It is a small weight system with multiple weight increments. Good for small spaces. Also a Ball which you can do squats with, exercises for your back, abs, even your hamstrings and chest! Keep up the good work/workout!

Oshngrl, congratulations on your weight loss! And your recipe sounds delicious to me. I'm another one who loves the mix of the crunchy nuts and fruit. And, blueberries and walnuts are foods that everyone should eat every day.
Last night on World News with Charlie Gibson, there was a story about diet sodas and artificial sweetners actually causing weight GAIN. Apparently, if your body gets the taste of the sweetness, it assumes that it has gotten the actual sugar and adds bulk to the waistline. Made sense to me, and all the more reason to be thankful for giving up diet sodas a few weeks ago.

You gave up diet sodas, that is wonderful! I'm so glad that people are getting the real news. We may actually be seeing a return to good eating habits now that we are dealing with the effects of 40 years of fast food, especially on children who never knew society without KFC and Micky D's, etc.

So glad you like my little recipe. I eat that every day. There's a crisis around here when there are no blueberries. Frozen berries work too.

Cote, thank you so much for your recipe and encouragment! I still to this day would love a cigarette. One day at a time.

I have another recipe that really makes me feel good. I take an acorn squash, a yam and a few carrots and steam them, then I mash that up and sweeten it with a teeny bit of orange juice. It's a very healthy carb. I love that my jeans are getting big!

Beth
I Care

I stopped at the store on my way home from bowling league last night and was craving ice cream. Instead I bought yogurt. Reading the tips on eating healthier choices reminded me of a favorite treat to stave off the ice cream craving.

I mix 3/4 cup of fat free sugar free yogurt (Danon silhouette vanilla is my favorite) with 1/3 cup of frozen sour cherries and use a hand held blender to mix it. It is very very close to as good as ice cream as the frozen cherries thicken the yogurt.

I gained a few pounds while on vacation (went on a cruise and three weeks later to Mexico). I lifted on Monday and am running tonight. Unfortunately, I have to fly to Calgary on Friday so my schedule will be messed up already but I started.

I could just cry! Cry cry cry cry cry!!!!!! What, you may ask, am I crying about? Simple. I've lost weight (Hello Size 12's again!), and nearing my goal. BUT, my beautiful new bras don't really fit that well anymore. For some reason, I think my chest got larger but my band got smaller. I'm still trying to figure that out because at 22 (and not being pregnant), I should not have an expanding bust line while losing weight! My only guess is that strengthening my pecs created a "lift."

Anyway, now, I need new bras, which are always so darn expensive. Alas, I think I will wait till I drop that last 15 pounds though so I can avoid this situation. Grrrrrrrrrrrr

siepres, in what way does the bra not fit?

If you're doing a lot of weight training, you may be gaining muscle around the chest area, which is going to make the bra fit differently. If you're losing fat around the ribcage, you will need a smaller band but bigger cup unless you're also losing fat from the bre@sts.

Any big weight change can affect the bra size.

The bra does not fit in two ways, Cathlib. First, the part in the center where the under wire meets no longer lays flat against my chest. Now, I have cleavage there instead, even when standing perfectly straight. Secondly, the band is too big. What once fit beautifully on the widest (or first) hook, now has to worn on the narrowest (or third) hook. I also measured my ribcage and saw a difference from my pre-weight loss measurements. I also wore the bra on the widest hook to see if maybe wearing the bra on a different hook was creating the excess cleavage, but it's now. Even on the wider hook, the cleavage is still there. I showed my mom how the entire bra fit, and she said it was definitely time for a refitting. I mean, these bras fir PERFECTLY when I bought them 2.5 months ago, and now, it's not so perfect anymore. One of the bras (my Fantasie one, actually) still fits pretty well. I don't think it's the right size, but it's not nearly as bad as the Le Mystere bras.

Its an unfortunate side effect of changing body composition. I think you should wait until you lose the last of the weight if you can. I find that the difference between weighing 130 and 135 is a whole cup size. I lost less than 5 lbs last summer and my 32E bras were way too big in the cup for me. I am back to about 135 and they fit well. For me, that is the point at which I lose fat from the breasts. You may find if you wait, enough of the last 15 lbs will be in the breasts that you can have the band shortened on some of your existing bras and they will still work.

Congratulations on the success of your exercise plan. You should be very proud of what you've accomplished.

Another suggestion I have is to check on e-bay for the next smaller band size and bigger cup size. I often can buy fantasie and panache bras that are brand new for about $30-35 including shipping. Just make sure to change the settings to include international sellers. They have access to the factories for some of the better brands.

I posted a fairly lengthy reply but its under review.

I have noticed that a bra that seems to fit very well in the cups, isn't as accommodating when I have it altered to reduce the band size. It does make a difference when you tighten the band.

My other response should show up in a few hours. I forgot that br*ast is a forbidden word.

Cheryleb, I am definitely going to wait until those last few pounds come off before I get remeasured, mainly because I'm not sure why the bust measurement has gotten bigger. Once I get down to my goal "body," I'll be sure to be refitted. Technically, I plateaued weight-wise, but I am still seeing weight come off in inches, so I must be building muscle.

My brother came home last week and will be here until the end of this week. We have been working out together. He's an insane personal trainer because he uses military style workouts. Last night he had me do a total of 45 push ups among many other activities. When we get done, I'm like: "I could never make it in basic training! This is just too hard for me." And he says: "Oh, don't feel bad. The women don't have to meet the same standards as the men do. I've been making you do things like I had to do it, not the way the women did." Jerk....