The focus of the first week with our group will center around creating good habits.
We have all heard that we should drink more water, but we forget to do it! Or, we think it's just not as important as it really is. Here's an few statistics that may help you see just how important it is, and what times of day you should focus on drinking it:
* Drinking 2 glasses of water after waking up helps activate internal organs
* 1 glass of water before a meal helps aid in digestion
* 1 glass of water before taking a bath or shower helps lower blood pressure (without the water, bathing and showering actually increases blood pressure!)
* 1 glass of water before bed helps avoid stroke or heart attack
Spark recommends 8 glasses a day. The above list is a total of 5 glasses. If you make it part of your routine, you'll be more likely to stick to it for the long term.
I can attest to the power of drinking water. Here's a little story about how I found this out by accident:
When we moved to Colorado in 2009, I hated drinking water. Well, moving to such a high altitude changed that! Just sitting and being at rest, your body dehydrates MUCH faster at higher elevations. I had moved from sea level (Virginia Beach area) to a house sitting on top of a mountain in the Colorado Rockies at 9,100' above sea level! (Denver is the "Mile High" City at 5,280' elevation. Do the math!) I found myself with altitude sickness as a result. The symptoms are: headache, body aches, lethargy and overall feeling like poop (and not being able to, either)! The cure? WATER.
I started drinking more water to stave off the headaches and dehydration. I felt SO refreshed after I drank water. So, I did it again. And again. And pretty soon I couldn't stand to be without my water.
I lost 15 lbs the first six months I lived here and the ONLY thing I did differently was drink more water.
Booyah!
The other habit we need to focus on, which I realize is probably the hardest one of all, is getting a full 8 hours of sleep. That is a habit that isn't going to happen overnight, but if you lay down each night at the same time and schedule 8 hours (at least) of sleep, you give yourself the tools you need to cope with the stress that comes with each day.
I confess...I am particularly bad at this, as the best time for me to get work done is after everyone else has gone to sleep. If you don't get your full 8 hours, just try to squeeze in a nap to make up the difference if you can! Over time it will be easier to do because you make it a habit.
Don't fuss with the need to log calories or exercise this week. Use this time to poke around the site and see how everything works. In case you haven't noticed, you get points for posting, points for checking in each day, and points for every goal you meet. Log your goals each day (at the bottom of the group page, or via your own tracker) and watch how you get to the next level of the program very quickly. That means you log your water (even if it does seem silly to do) and log your sleep. It's SO easy. By logging those minor items, you are creating a third habit that will help you be more successful here on the site...logging your progress. If it helps you to use the free iPhone application (or Android, Blackberry, iPad, etc) to log this info in, be sure to check out one of their three free apps here:
www.sparkpeople.com/mobile-apps.asp There will be plenty of time for exercise and diet. Right now you just want to work on a really great foundation with your water and sleep!
Good luck everyone! Let us know how it goes for you or if you have any questions!
Edited by: TORREYLISA at: 5/25/2012 (03:18)
| Pounds lost: 0.0 |
 |
FORUM: 
TOPIC: 
