By aria{3MG}

Greetings Masters,
Greetings Mistresses,
Greetings slaves,

Weight has always been a fight with me. I go up, I go down. Constantly and always fighting. I don‘t know about any of you but I feel that sometimes if I smell food I gain weight. Eventually it keeps coming on and I keep thinking, “ok I‘ll start my diet tomorrow.” Its always tomorrow, until eventually I look at myself and I say, “how did I get so heavy?”

Studies have shown that almost 50% of all Americans are over weight. With being overweight comes a number of health risk, such as: diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol and depression.

There are some things that we can start in a gradual way to getting back into shape, eating right and other things to boost up your morale, get you motivated and on the road to eating healthy and getting back in shape.

In this first, of I hope, to be many articles, I am going to start by giving you the entire scoop on water, and how important it is. Each step I give and all the recipes, tips and tricks, I plan on starting with myself, not just writing about how things work, but doing them myself and being here for any of you who want to lose weight and are having a hard time and for moral support.

You have probably heard many times that you need to drink eight glasses of water per day. That‘s not difficult to heed? Sounds easier then it‘s made out to be. Perhaps people would drink more water if they knew it would lead to weight loss.

How do we determine how much water we should drink and when to drink it? Did you also know you can over hydrate yourself?

Every cell in your body needs proper hydration. A few examples of what water actually does.

• Regulates your kidneys- flushes out toxins
• Maintains metabolism and temperature
• Prevents water retention
• Nourishes skin and lubricates joints
• Helps combats fatigue

Here are a few symptoms of dehydration:

• Water retention
• Dry, itchy skin
• Joint pain
• Fatigue and irritability

If your kidneys do not get enough water, the liver has to help do their job. This slows down the liver‘s work of metabolizing stored fat. Also, if your body perceives the threat of dehydration, it automatically retains more water to help itself function.

I know water seems like a boring drink, and I for one would love to just pop open a soft drink, and I usually do. Try adding a little lemon or lime to your water, it does help.

If finding the time or just making the time is a problem, here are some helpful hints:

• Drink eight glasses (8 ounce glasses) of water, spread throughout the day.
• Add a glass for every 25 pounds above your ideal weight.
• Drink water before, during and after exercise, in addition to eight glasses.
• If you crave a snack, drink a glass of water and wait 10 minutes: the craving might pass!
• Drink cold water; the body absorbs it faster than warm water.

If you don‘t like water, you may have trained yourself not to recognize thirst. If you start drinking water regularly, you may develop a thirst for it.

There is a flip side as well, there is such thing as to much of a good thing. If you drink too much water, you run the risk of over hydrating or water intoxication - when the body takes in more water than it can excrete and sodium levels drop too low. Risks of over hydration are:

• Electrolyte imbalance
• Digestive problems
• Behavioral changes
• Brain damage, seizure or coma

Ok, now that‘s the skinny (no pun intended) on water. It‘s not much, but it‘s a start.

If you have any question on dieting, please feel free to email me at aria93@hotmail.com. I will try to find you the answers and help in anyway I can.

Thank you for your time. Warmest wishes and happy watering,
aria{3MG}