Sip n' Sweat

The islands have been quite hot and humid the last several weeks. Walking outside is like a constant battle against a wall of humidity. My hair frizzes out, or is just completely flat, sweat drips down my back (and I'm sure for everyone else too), and the windows in air conditioned businesses start sweating. Humidity has been at 100 percent for I don't even know how long now. Now, we hear that this weather will continue into our Hawaiʻi "Winter." Shoot. I'm hoping for some cooler waters and some northern winds.

All this heat and water loss has lead me to think about hydration and dehydration. Our bodies need to be replenished with water and vitamins, electrolytes etc., especially with all this sweat! Often times you won't know if you're dehydrated, but a good sign is when you're thirsty, this is sign of mild dehydration. Weird, right? But, keep in mind that thirst is not a complete accurate way to diagnose your self with dehydration. If you use the bathroom and the color is well, dark yellow or amber, you're dehydrated.

Beautiful West Side - green and lush.
Photo: Instagram: EpicAdventureHI 

A few other signs, you might be lightheaded, dizzy, haven't used the bathroom in a long time, or even a dry mouth. Mild dehydration may not be require you to head to the doctors, but in some cases if you don't address the situation, you may have to do just that. Read EveryDayHealth.com's article on dehydration to get more information.

Don't let this sway you from having a good time outside, inside or where ever. Just be prepared, stay hydrated and enjoy the final days of summer.

Healthy Tidbits to live by: Part 2

1. Stay Hydrated:
• Bring a water bottle with you and sip throughout the day. I usually bring no less than 24 oz. If you're walking around at school, that's a easy size to carry and you can refill a fill station, or water fountain. However, if you don't want to fill up at a water fountain (which can sometimes be not the best water), go for some like 34 oz or more. 
• Concerned if the water is filtered or not? bobble water bottles filter your water
2. Have a sweet tooth? 
• If you've got as sweet tooth, or just enjoy your treats, go for it. Just don't indulge everyday. Find something healthy, like a small square of dark chocolate (70% or higher). Lindt is my ultimate favorite, smooth, chocolatey, and the darker the chocolate, the yummier it gets! 

Lindt has a 60-piece Dark Chocolate Sea Salt for $21.
 It'll last you two months if you eat one a day!  Photo: screenshot

• Don't be afraid to indulge everyone once in a while, just figure out how your body works. If you indulge on, say, a piece of cake, or two (or three) cupcakes, you may have to fit in more exercise the next few days. Don't beat yourself up about it though. 

Get your hydration on!

Drinking water is vital to our survival, it's an important factor to weight loss, and feeling good in life.

• Sometimes when you think you're starving, you're actually really thirsty, especially if you've eaten not to long before hand. Give it a shot. If you feel like you're hungry sitting in front of the TV, or studying, get  glass or bottle of water and sip on it. You just might notice that the hunger feeling dissipates. 
• Another good reason to drink water, it keeps your kidneys healthy. If you've ever come across a kidney infection or UTI, drinking water is KEY to flushing out "germs." 
• Always get your hydration on. Staying hydrated keeps you in a good mood. Even when you are just a little bit dehydrated, you'll get cranky.

HYDRATION!

A while ago I wrote about how important it is to stay hydrated.
Again I'll stress it's importance. Especially when living in hot places, well anywhere it's important to drink water. Sometimes is hard and kind of a drag to carry around a water bottle, but you'll be thankful.

those of you athletes out there, peak performance is achieved also through being properly hydrated. I'm sure you know that, but Like me sometimes, it's hard to carry bottles on a long and strenuous hike, but that dry mouth feeling isn't fun, and getting light headed isn't safe either. Becoming dehydrated while working out decreases the body's ability to cool off and leads to heat exhaustion.

We also lose water through out the day, going to the bathroom, sweating and breathing, according to livestrong.com

OK even with losing weight. Drinking water and staying hydrated keeps the good ol' appetite in control. Water in your stomach makes you fuller.

For certain health conditions, it's important to stay hydrated. Kidney infections require a lot of water drinking and going to the bathroom, so do bladder infections or kidney stones. Kind of intense conditions, but it's good to know. I mean for other health conditions and just to stay healthy in general.