Staying active is one of the most vital contributors to a healthy life. By simply moving your body every day, you’ll be able to reap loads of health benefits. For instance, movement improves your fitness, makes you more capable of doing household chores, and minimizes your risks for certain ailments.
Likewise, staying active is particularly crucial as you age. Surely, you want to work your muscles, take back control, and remain independent.
Importance Of Drinking Water
For individuals with an active lifestyle, staying well-hydrated is a factor that’ll keep you going as it aids the heart in pumping blood through the blood vessels. Likewise, when you’re drinking enough fluids, your heart doesn’t have to work hard all the time to support your activities.
Moreover, water helps your muscles perform efficiently. It increases your energy, helps you stay sharp, flushes out toxins from the body, lubricates joints, regulates body temperature, prevents constipation, and so much more. Considering its significance, drinking the right amount of water is crucial as this helps support normal body functions.
Also, not only people with a regular workout routine or a busy schedule need to stay hydrated. Drinking enough water is a requirement everyone must adhere to.
Staying Hydrated With An Active Lifestyle
It can be quite challenging to drink enough water throughout the day. You might wonder how you can squeeze in time to consume fluids amidst your rigorous routine. Despite this, there are effective and no-brainer ways to fulfill your hydration requirements.
To show you, below are hydration tips for people with an active lifestyle:
1. Grab An Electrolyte-Enriched Drink
If you’re training intensely for an incoming competition, it’s important to support your hydration levels with drinks that’ll give you an energy boost. Alternatively, if you’re always working for long hours in a humid environment, refueling with an electrolyte-enriched fluid is recommended.
One common example of drinks loaded with electrolytes is sports drinks. While drinking plain water may suffice for some, people who lead active jobs need to consider taking sports drinks to maintain electrolyte balance.
Electrolytes—sodium, potassium, magnesium, and the like—play an important role in preventing signs of dehydration such as exhaustion, dizziness, dry mouth, and the like. Moreover, electrolytes aid muscle contraction during rigorous physical activity, helping you minimize chances for fatigue and injury.
However, sports drinks can be high in sugar content. Hence, it’s important to be mindful of your consumption. If you’re bothered about the added calories, you can try diluting your sports drink with water.
Alternatively, you can try oral rehydrating solutions. This is a great alternative to sports drinks as it’s low in sugar content and it’s easy to prepare. You can visit dripdrop.com and other similar sites to know more about these fast-relief hydrating solutions.
2. Try Flavored Water
Having flavored water can help you keep up with your hydration levels. If you dislike plain water, you can try to experiment and add lemon, mint, cucumber, and berries into your drink. Instead of adding any artificial flavors and coloring, you can opt for fruits as this brings the same tasty flavor and zest to your regular water. You can also put an assortment of other fruits as you wish.
3. Set A Reminder On Your Phone
A good habit to get into is to drink fluids before, during, and after any intense physical activity. This is important, especially if you’re about to expose yourself to hot environments. However, if it seems difficult to remind yourself to drink, you can set a timer on your phone. For instance, during the activity, aim approximately 4-6 ounces of water every 20 minutes.
Alternatively, you can set a reminder on your phone to notify you every time you need to drink fluids. This is a great hydration tip that’ll replenish your body.
4. Bring Your Reusable Bottle
A reusable bottle is an eco-friendly alternative. Instead of purchasing a plastic bottle every time you ran out of water, you can simply grab and refill your tumbler. This helps you save money and do your part in minimizing waste disposal problems.
Bring a large tumbler as you exercise and head outside. Having your reusable bottle in close proximity would remind you to stay hydrated. Instead of reaching out to any cold beverage, you can grab your bottle and quench your thirst.
5. Pack Your Meals With Vegetables
Putting in the effort to incorporate vegetables into your meals won’t only keep you full and energized, but it’ll also help you keep up with your hydration levels. Vegetables are nutrient-dense, water-enriched foods that are always available, affordable, and accessible in nearby markets. They’re refreshing and easy to prepare too. For instance, you can mix up all your vegetables in a bowl and make a salad. Drizzle it with oil and voila!
You can prepare and pack this for lunch, especially if it’s going to be a long day. You might be too tired to think about what to eat during the next meal. Your salad will keep you full and energized for the next few hours of work.
During evenings, you can blend tomatoes, squash, onions, bell peppers, and garlic gloves for a soup that’ll keep you warm and cozy.
Vegetables with high water content include but aren’t limited to cucumbers, zucchini, watercress, tomatoes, celery, asparagus, lettuce, radish, and more. They’re made up mostly of water and offer crucial nutrients such as antioxidants, vitamins, potassium, minerals, and dietary fiber.
6. Sip A Smoothie
Apart from your vegetables, another thirst-quenching food is fruits. Fruits are nature’s candy, offering you loads of vitamins and nutrients. There’s an array of water-enriched fruits to choose from—oranges, strawberries, watermelons, cantaloupes, peaches, and the like.
While you can enjoy and consume these foods immediately, you can put all these into the blender and make a smoothie. You can enjoy it as a light breakfast, post-workout snack, or put it in a bowl and top it off with yogurt and granola.
Additionally, preparing a tasty smoothie and keeping it within arm’s reach allows you to stay hydrated. Instead of opting for dehydrating and sugary beverages, you can make it a habit to have your smoothie.
Takeaway
There are several, creative, and easy ways to keep yourself well-hydrated amidst your hectic schedule. By following the tips above, you can keep up with your hydration levels and support your active lifestyle.