Let Her Eat Clean

I drink about 3L of water a day. It’s not greedy, it’s nothing short of essential. These 3,000ml of liquid goodness are not only keeping me hydrated but giving my body a helping hand to detoxify.

• Up to 60% of the human body is water
• The brain is composed of 70% water
• Lungs are nearly 90% water
• Lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water by weight

That’s some pretty major parts of the body asking you nicely to water them on a regular basis.

If you’re a fellow CrossFitter, hydration is the greatest determinant of strength. A drop of 1.5% in water levels translates to a 10% drop in your max strength. The leaner you are, the worse it is. The more (water) you’re drinking, the more you’re RXing.

But even if you’re not throwing around barbells in the gym you can’t go wrong from drinking that 3L a day. Your skin will look and feel brighter, you’ll almost certainly get a lot less headaches and along with the detoxifying come fat loss benefits as you flush away any nasties your body may otherwise be holding onto. That and the fact hunger is all too often confused with thirst and you end up unnecessarily eating something when you’re actually just thirsty.

Council lemonade is free to all from the nearest tap. But we can’t always be sure what’s in it. Bottled water is bankrupting but a Brita, a Bobble or a special gadget fitted to your kitchen tap will make sure you’re having the water in a purer form. If you do opt for bottled water, the stuff in glass bottles is better given it doesn’t carry any of the horrors (BPAs etc) that sometimes leak into plastics.

Work up to hitting that 3L of water a day slowly. Here are some top tips for drinking more water.

At work:

• Compete with yourself and your colleagues – at the start of the day determine how many glasses you want to have put away. Keep a little tally for every glass you drink (generally office glasses are 250ml). Perhaps the person to have drunk the least water that week buys the first round in the pub on Friday
• If you’re super busy and on a deadline – fill up a jug or a big bottle to have beside you. Don’t go thirsty, it’ll make you tired and less productive
• This will make you the envy of the office and as good as applauds every time you take a sip
• Going to the water fountain is good for you – look at it like this, the more times you get up, the more you’re moving and the more likely you are to bump into someone for a gossip along the way

At the weekends:

• Never go anywhere without at least 500ml of water on you – and keep topping up, especially if you’re working out
• You’re likely to be drinking some alcohol so balance this out a bit with one glass of water to every alcoholic drink you’re having. You’ll thank me for it in the morning…
• Establish some sort of a hydration routine to kickstart your Saturday and Sunday. Line up a pint glass, fill it up and put it away before you tuck into that likely delicious brunch

If you don’t like water:

• Herbal teas are a great way to take on more water. Pukka teas are an immensity. My colleague Celia introduced me to the mint one and swears by the ginger one when you’ve got a cold
• Limes and lemons add a fantastic kick to water; infused waters are also all the rage…
• Sorry but squash is for dorks! We’re lucky to have access to drinking water, make the most of it. Don’t pollute something that’s so valuable to your body with some sugar-loaded / artificial sweetener laced cordial

How much water do you drink a day? Do you think you can improve on that?