Wellness Challenge #20- Step 2 towards building your fat loss foundation!

I hope most of you were able to accomplish the 7,000 to 10,000 steps by the end of the week.  I highly encourage you to keep this up as it is an integral block of your health and wellness foundation moving forward specifically towards the reduction of body fat.   This week we are continuing the momentum of building your fat loss foundation by focusing on hydration.  The challenge for you is to drink 7 cups of water every day. Easy!  I’d like to start with some surprising statistics about water: · 75% of all Americans are dehydrated. · The average human drinks just 2.5 cups of water daily. · Water is necessary for human survival. In fact, it’s possible to survive up to 21 days without food, but only a matter of days without water. Your body needs to consume a significant amount of water each day to function properly. Water makes up roughly 60% of your bodyweight. · Drinking water is essential for your body to effectively use the fat you eat as well as what your body has stored. Water is part of the chemical equation used to burn fat as fuel. · The process of metabolizing fat is called lipolysis. The first step of this process is hydrolysis, which occurs when water molecules break down triglycerides (fats) to essentially create energy. Without hydrolysis, the body cannot properly metabolize stored fat or carbohydrates. · When the percentage of body water changes, it has significant effects throughout the body, including on athletic performance. Dehydration of just 1% of body weight is enough to reduce endurance, strength, and cognitive performance. · Drinking an appropriate amount of water literally affects the quality of every hour in your day. Water is much more essential to your body than food. Yet, it can be a neglected aspect of a successful health and fitness plan, just like the importance of walking is often overlooked. Our goal by giving you this information is that it helps you understand your current patterns and hopefully have some “ah ha” moment.  Then with the new understanding of the important role walking, hydration, and sleep play in the foundation of your health you can begin to implement strategies for behavioral change.   Circling back to this powerful quote again this week. “Your life today is essentially the sum of your habits. How in shape or out of shape you are is a result of your habits. How happy or unhappy you are? A result of your habits. How successful or unsuccessful you are? A result of your habits. What you repeatedly do (i.e., what you spend time thinking about and doing each day) ultimately forms the person you are, the things you believe, and the personality that you portray. Everything from procrastination and productivity to strength training and nutrition – starts with better habits. When you learn to transform your habits, you can transform your life.” -James Clear