Do You Know How To Tell If You Are Dehydrated?

          Do You Know How To Tell If You Are Dehydrated?

 When it comes to fitness and working out most of us under estimate the importance that proper hydration plays in how well we perform. It seems that one of the reasons for this is that we don't truly know when we are dehydrated. Most of us think that when we feel thirsty then we are dehydrated and need to drink, but dehydration happens way before thirst ever kicks in. Greg Justice, an exercise physiologist at AYC Fitness in Kansas City and author... of Mind Your Own Fitness, composed a list for Shape magazine of the top signs you need to get way more H20 HAPPY:

 #1 YOU HAVE A HEADACHE
- Unless you're chugging water 24/7, your body is constantly losing fluid. That means you're also losing essential salts like sodium and potassium because those are in the fluids you're losing. Now get this: That salt loss actually changes the chemical makeup of your blood. Your brain, in turn, is super sensitive to that change—and it's that sensitivity that triggers a headache. Make sense? The headaches get even worse, too, depending on how much water you lose. "The more water you lose, the more your blood volume drops, which causes less oxygen flow to the brain," says Justice. "That causes your blood vessels to dilate, which can make your headache feel even worse." Moral of the story: Not enough water equals headache central.
 #2 YOUR PEE IS EXTRA YELLOW
 Gross, right? But it's true. The reason this happens is that your urine is over-concentrated with waste. "When you're fully hydrated, the waste is easily flushed out in a more efficient manner," says Justice. But when there aren't enough fluids in your body, the waste isn't as easily flushed out, so it stays there.
 #3 YOU'RE CONSTIPATED
A once again gross! But, totally true. And the reason is somewhat similar. See, water helps move your waste through your colon and out of your body. "But if that water isn't there to begin with, it won't be able to move your food waste onward and outward as efficiently," says Justice. Hence the constipation.
 For more information and details check out Shape magazine December 2014 edition.
For dieting and fitness tips, recipes and motivation visit my FB page at www.fb.com/LorimuddWTF3 or check out this blog.