Fitness, Food and Focus - Hydration

Fitness

Hydration levels are proportional to performance and how we feel. It is essential we stay hydrated. To monitor hydration levels 2 simple methods can be employed.
1. The colour of your urine. Target = a pale, straw colour. If your urine is getting yello or darker then you are getting dehydrated.
2. Your weight before and after exercise. This is the only reason to weigh yourself regularly. You should weigh the same after training as you do before.

Food

Current guidelines are that you should have a fluid intake of around 2.5litres per day, however that very much depends on how active you are and how warm it is. The thing to remember is to maintain your fluid balance, what comes out, needs to go back in. We lose water through our urine, stool, sweat and breath, whilst we gain fluid from what we drink and the food that we eat – you get around 100ml from a portion (80g) of fruit and vegetables, so eat 5 portions a day and that’s half a litre which counts towards your 2.5 litres.

Be careful with caffeine drinks (that includes cola and many energy drinks) as these can act as a diuretic and cause you to urinate more, as does alcohol – that’s what causes the hangover the morning after the night before.

When it is hot you do need to drink more, as you are perspiring more, similarly if you are sat out in the sun, or driving on a sunny day with your car roof down, you are going to lose more fluid than being in the same temperature in the shade.

A final word of warning, you can drink too much. When we sweat, we lose water and salts, often when we drink, we only take in water, and so our body can be in a sodium deficit. If you have sweated a lot, use an isotonic drink to rehydrate which should contain some sodium, drink little and often, and never drink more than 4 litres of water per day without expert advice.

Focus

Simple tip to help you keep hydrated: Get yourself a bottle of a known size. Fill it up in the morning and keep drinking throughout the day. This will help you visualise how many fluids you are taking on board.

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