Geelong's Gym

I was having a workout the other day and happened to overhear a member telling her friend that she needed to drink more water.  The young girl had been explaining how she only drinks about 600ml whilst she’s in the gym training and that’s it for the day!

I was astounded to hear she was drinking so little!!!  She also mentioned that she finds the taste of water bland.

This got me thinking… so I went and talked to a few of my team to see if they knew of the benefits of putting lemon in your water.  Those conversations made me realise that many people don’t know about the beneficial properties of lemon.

You see lemon is an acid, but the moment it is digested/consumed it goes through a transformation which gives it alkalinity benefits.  For those who don’t enjoy the bland taste of water, it’s a great way to bring flavour to your drink while also turning it into an alkaline drink, which gives it many, many more benefits.

Some of us fail to realise that a large part of our body is made up of water.  Muscles are 75% water, blood is 82% water, your lungs are 90% water and your all important brain is 76% water.  Even your bones are made up of 25% water!

So how much should we drink? A great rule of thumb is to start of by halving your body weight in ounces, which requires a quick conversion as this is an American formula.

Therefore, take your weight in kilos x 2.2.  Then half that figure. (90kg x 2.2 = 198   Then half it = 99)

For every ounce you should be drinking .0296 litres of water. (ounce / litre conv.)

For example, I’m 90 kilos (or 198lbs).  Using the above formula, I get 99 ounces (99 x .0296) = 2.95 litres of water.

Another simpler method which equates to pretty much the same answer is one litre per 30 kgs of body weight,  ie 58kg person 54/30 = 1.8 litres of water.

Do the sum for yourself and find out whether you’re drinking enough water.

Below, is a short video clip which talks about the added benefits to your health and well-being you can get just by adding lemon into your water.

Happy New Year to one and all.  Now that the celebrations are behind you, it’s time to remember those resolutions you made last night.  I’m willing to bet that the majority of you resolved to eat better, drink less and exercise more.  Right?

The best way to start putting those resolutions into practice is to kick off the New Year with a full body detox.

I know it sounds scary, but you won’t beleive how amazing your body will feel with after just a few days detoxing.

There are many detoxes out there that are so complicated you couldn’t possibly keep up with them.  So here are a few simple tips on how to have a successful detox:

• Drink plenty of liquid, between 2-3 litres of water daily.  Adding fresh lemon to your water will also make it alkaline and help push out all those toxins.  (To find out more about alkalinity, check out our blog on Alkaline vs Acid foods).
• Cut out coffee and black tea and replace them with green tea or peppermint tea.  These herbal substitutes are great for your digestion and your metabolism.
• For the hardcore, eat fresh fruit and vegetables only; for those who don’t think you can manage that, eat mostly fresh fruit and vegetables and add tuna, salmon or fresh fish and brown rice to bulk things up.
• Cut out all junk food – I know that one is pretty obvious.
• If you really can’t give up dessert completely, try having fresh fruit (berries are particularly good) with low fat Greek yogurt.  It’s yummy and healthy.

Asparagus is great for a detox and can be used in lots of different ways. Try making asparagus soup - beautiful!

If you do this for a minimum of 3 days and no more than 7 seven days you will feel fantastic and you’ll be surprised at just how much energy you’ll have.

Add in regular exercise to help lift your fitness and those extra Christmas kilos will disappear faster than you know it.

There are heaps of fantastic Detox Recipes out there to help you on your way to a healthier body, both inside and out.

Please note: if you have any exisiting medical conditions, always seek a medical practitioner’s advice before starting a detox.