Don't hate; motivate & Hydrate

I know what you're thinking, really B? Drinking water? BORING! Then again, humans are 60% water and blood is about 90% water, so I guess that makes you the boring one? All jokes aside, hydration really is crucial, and it doesn’t have to be boring! It can be a life-changing investment that you will only be ever thankful for. You love yourself right? OF COURSE YOU DO, so love yourself by treating yourself to constant hydration.

Before we get to the fun, let’s just get the basics out of the way; drinking water has so many benefits! Of course, you do need it for actual survival as it aids in delivering oxygen throughout the body, helps with joint lubrication, regulates body temperature, forms saliva and mucus… I know, gross right, but saliva aids in digesting food and helps keep our eyes and mouth moist, how else are we supposed to cry in movies such as The Notebook and drool over our favourite pizza? Guess it helps for kissing as well and having spitting competitions with your brothers… Continued benefits are also prevention of kidney damage, maintaining blood pressure, flushing body waste through urine and sweating and the list goes on and on. Best of all – or I guess the whole keeping us alive thing is the best of all, so rephrase; Second best of all it aids in weight loss and is your skins best friend!

There is no 100% correct by the book reason as to why water aids in weight loss, but there has been enough research done to confirm that it really does benefit this cause. So in my simple explanation for this, I would say that water consumption could encourage the body to produce more heat (cause you’re hot then you’re cold, you’re yes then you’re no… Sorry, blame Katy for the catchy distracting tune), which in turn boosts metabolism and burns more calories. An even easier explanation would be that drinking water takes away your thirst so you put the coke (or in my case ice-tea) down, eliminating sugar and liquid calorie intake. Point is, drinking water helps manage cravings, reduces hunger and all of this leads to losing unwanted weight.

In terms of skincare it’s so easy, hydration. That’s it. Hydrate yourself, hydrate your skin. A hydrated skin glows and as mentioned above, flushing body waste is also a natural detox, which further promotes glowing skin (Isn’t that right Kendall Jenner?). This detox results in reducing pimples, marks and acne. Furthermore, water is the absolute key to prolong your youthful look and enhance your natural beauty. As in literally glow from within (bye-bye blush and highlighter!) Hydrating and replenishing the skin tissues leads to an increase in the elasticity of your skin which in turn delays the signs of wrinkles and dark circles.

So this is all great and wonderful but now you’re wondering about how much water you should be drinking and when? Let’s start off by drinking water when you’re thirsty. It’s your body’s natural way of telling you it is dehydrated. Drink water when you are sweating more, so during exercise or a hot day as you want to put the water exerted back into your body. To test whether your water intake is sufficient, simply check the colour of your urine, the lighter the better, the darker or more yellow in colour, the more water you should consume. Make drinking water easy for yourself by carrying a water bottle around or setting a timer to drink a glass every 45 minutes. You don’t have to immediately gulp down two litres, start slow and build it up. If you find drinking water to be bland or tasteless, add some natural flavours! Cucumber, lemon, mint, oranges, strawberries, lavender, rosemary, tomato, basil, pineapple, ginger, grapefruit, fennel, lemongrass, raspberries, cantaloupe, apple, cinnamon, watermelon, etc. Mix and match your own flavours (or if you want to add everything mentioned at once go for it, let me know what happens, although I would advise against it). Who knew drinking water could be kind of like making cocktails? Down those H20 cocktails babes and share your favourites with me!

So many individuals are chronically dehydrated, but I challenge you to take a stand with me, up your water consumption, by 1 glass, by 2 glasses, by a litre; your body and skin will be eternally grateful. Who knows? You might just inspire the next person to do the same.

Keep going, keep glowing, keep growing. You’re doing amazing.

• B x