Kick Start Your New Year – Day 1
What if you could make one small change in your diet that would create a domino effect on your entire year? The keys to more energy, better focus, and weight loss in 2018 all hinge on one medical marker: your blood sugar. From the moment we wake up, our blood sugar takes us on a roller coaster ride that continues throughout the day.
Often, we break the fast of slumber with sugary goodies. This surges energy into our body. Then around mid-morning, we feel the crash of low energy. Into the break room we go, looking for something to boost our energy. The snack works until just about lunchtime. The collective grumblings from our bellies create a loud uprising. Across the office, the text messages begin in earnest, “Lunch?”
High To Low
We’re satiated afterwards, driving the roller coaster back up until mid-afteronoon. The blood sugar roller coaster takes another free fall, and we scurry off to the vending machine. Up and down the rails the roller coaster travels, carrying our energy along for the ride.
The energy highs and lows drive us to snack. Before we realize it, we’re eating between meals, before meals and after meals. Then it becomes a habit. This ritualized feeding has created lifestyle diseases like obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis and heart disease. These are called lifestyle diseases. They are born of industrialization, and they can be prevented by habit changes in the areas of diet and lifestyle. The needle mover in the American diet, therefore, is balancing blood sugar.
Day 1 – Add More Water
Blood sugar is the fuel that drives the roller coaster and the diet. Balancing it becomes the respite from the highs and lows encountered in a typical day.
The first step to balance blood sugar is to increase your daily intake of water. Water is one of the main nutrients in the body, and it’s most commonly underestimated when considering a diet.
Water fights inflammation; it regulates metabolism and provides extra energy. Unfortunately, the typical American is dehydrated daily. Many drink far less than the average minimum requirement of 64 ounces. Checking for adequate water intake does not require a fancy test or a jab with a needle. Simple observation of the abundance of urine and a pale yellow color is validation of being fully hydrated.
Make It Tasty
Many people complain water “Doesn’t taste like anything.” This is a simple fix. Adding pure essential oils like lime, lemon or sweet orange add taste without adding sugar, caffeine or excess electrolytes to the diet. Natural spring water, purified water and tap water carried in a refillable bottle make access to water uncomplicated, albeit its consumption is not inevitable.
Make It Subtle
When adding water to the diet, it must be done incrementally, adding approximately 4 – 8 ounces until the 64 ounces or .67% of the body weight is achieved. Keep in mind that as with any habit change, it will require time for the body to adapt. When adding water to the diet, you will be in the bathroom more often than you’re used to until the body adjusts to the increase.
Make It A Habit
Also, remember that knowledge does not equal behavioral change! Just because you know what you’re supposed to be doing, doesn’t mean you’ll make a change. We spend our lives in the realm of knowledge. We must move from knowing to doing. We have to re-wire our brains so that our go-to responses are those which support healthy lifestyles.
The post Kick Start Your New Year – Day 1 appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.
