As it gets a little colder out there, the desire to hydrate tends to go down.
And that's BAD - it's so bad!
Drinking only if you think you're thirsty is the worst indicator there is to whether or not you need water. There's a really simple way, and the benefits are huge. In fact staying hydrated is one of the best, cheapest things you can do for your daily health.
It's so easy to get dehydrated and dehydrated is bad for all sorts of reason. One of the main causes of constipation is not enough water. Folks who go without water - those 8 glasses of 8 oz's a day - also tend to get a kind of sticky facia. If you go for a massage, a massage therapist can almost immediately tell if you're dehydrated becuase your skin won't move as freely under the fingers.
But if weight loss/fitness is your goal, being under-watered is really bad for your muscles. Water in the cells of the muscles is critical. Muscles contract by hooking myocin on one fiber to actin on another. Imagine pulling up a rope by reaching one hand over the other: you get a much better pull if you can reach your left hand past your right hand and then pulling back. Imagine trying to pull up a fifty foot heavy rope by only being able to move your left hand one inch away from your right on the rope rather than say about a foot away. It's less efficient.
Same with your muscles: less hydrated, means they're less efficient. Less efficient muscles means less energy being produced, less calories used, less fat burned.
By the way, coffee and tea do not count as drinking water - they're sort of the opposite of water in that coffee and tea have diuretic effects, which is not what we want here.
Now the question may be, gee, i don't want to gain weight and i do when i drink lots of water. Well yes and no: you'll pee out what your body can't use, and unless you're about to pose for a figure competition, or deal with weighing in for a lifting competition, taking off water weight is one of the worst ways to diet - you want to diet healthy. Cutting out water isn't healthy; it's fake. Indeed, it's one of the biggeest reasons people on the Atkins diet gain all their weight back after going off the diet: cutting out carbs also causes mostly water loss. More on that some other time. Suffice it to say, a hydrated body is a happy body.
Also, quick note, thirst is NOT a good indicator of whether or not you need to take on water. The best indication is to carry a water bottle and empty it into yourself a few times a day. If you haven't refilled and emptied that bottle to the equivalent of 64oz, time to start doing some serious drinking.
One of the pluses of being hydrated: better rest; more energy too - it's all about that muscle efficiency thing.
Happy Fitness.
Remember there's lots of free nutrition resources at Precision Nutrition's forum too
