Welcome to the Day -2 of my 3-Day Free Challenge that you can do anytime of the year. Today, we are going to talk about water and how important it is to include water on a daily basis.

 

DAY 2: DRINK MORE WATER

Your body is about 70% water, and drinking enough of it is vital for optimal health.

Water plays many roles in your body, including maintaining electrolyte balance and blood pressure, lubricating joints, regulating body temperature, and promoting cell health.

While everyone knows that it’s important to stay hydrated, doing so can be difficult at times.

1. Understand your fluid needs

Before you decide to drink more water, you have to understand your body’s fluid needs. A common recommendation for daily water intake is 64 ounces (1,920 ml), or 8 cups, but this is not based on science. The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) recommends that men consume 125 ounces (3,700 ml) and women about 90 ounces (2,700 ml) of fluid per day, including the fluid from water, other drinks, and foods. However, NAM acknowledges that it isn’t ideal to make broad recommendations about fluid needs, as they depend on your activity level, location, health status, and more.

For most, simply drinking to quench your thirst will ensure you meet your fluid needs. Yet, you may need more fluid if you exercise regularly, work outside, or live in a hot climate.

2. Set a daily goal
Setting a daily water intake goal can help you drink more water.

Simply the act of setting a goal can be motivating and make you more likely to make positive changes that last. To be effective, goals should be SMART, which is an acronym for the following criteria:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time-bound

For example, one SMART water-consumption goal might be to drink 32 ounces (960 ml) of water per day. It can also help to record your progress, which can keep you motivated to achieve your goal — and make it a habit.

Keeping a water bottle with you throughout the day can help you drink more water.

When you have a reusable water bottle, you can easily drink water in any setting, whether you’re running errands, traveling, or at home, work, or school.

Keeping a water bottle handy can also serve as a visual reminder to drink more water. If you see the bottle on your desk or table, you will constantly be reminded to drink more.

Plus, it’s better for the environment than relying on single-use plastic water bottles.

Another simple way to increase your water intake is to make a habit of drinking one glass of water before each meal.

If you eat 3 meals per day, this adds an extra 3 cups (720 ml) to your daily water intake.

Moreover, sometimes your body may mistake feelings of thirst for hunger. Drinking a glass of water before eating can help you discern whether you are feeling true hunger.

What’s more, if you’re trying to lose weight, drinking a glass of water may help you eat fewer calories at the following meal.

So, how much water can you drink in a day?

DAY 2: Workout Challenge

Diastasis Recti Abs Workout

One in two women experience ab separation after pregnancy, but these at-home diastasis recti exercises can help repair it more quickly.

During pregnancy, your body undergoes some incredible changes to accommodate your growing baby. One of them is the expansion of the muscles in your abdomen: As your pregnancy progresses, the right and left sides of the abdominis rectus muscle separate as your linea alba (the tissue between that set of muscles) stretches to make room for baby.

Because of this, after pregnancy, many women will notice an indentation in the middle of their bellies, right down the center of the “six-pack” area. But for some moms, that gap is wide and needs help being repaired. A wider separation is called diastasis recti.

Some separation is normal, but it is considered diastasis recti when the gap is significant. Diastasis recti is common, and an estimated 1 in 2 women experience the condition postpartum. Symptoms can include back pain and feeling abdominal weakness.

Ab separation often heals on its own, but targeted exercises may help close the gap more quickly.

You should always have a doctor, physical therapist or trained professional diagnose your diastasis recti, but you may be able to detect it yourself, too.

To test for diastasis recti:

Lay on your back with your feet flat on the floor and knees bent.
Curl your head up off the floor so your rectus or “six-pack” muscles are engaged, and feel along the indent down the center of your stomach. That’s the linea alba, the tissue that stretched when you were pregnant.

Start at the belly button and feel just above and below in a vertical line. If your fingers can press down, you may have ab separation.

Again, a small gap is normal. It’s important to determine the width of the gap and push down gently to see if there is any tension or pushback, or if your fingers sink right down. You want to assess the width and, more importantly, the depth of the split. You can measure the width with your fingers: One- to two finger-widths is normal; three or more could be a sign of diastasis recti.

How to fix diastasis recti?
The key to healing diastasis recti is rebuilding your core from the inside out. You need to strengthen the transverse abdominis (TVA) muscle, which is the deepest abdominal muscle and can provide support for those muscles that have been stretched.

The simple and easy at-home exercises below can help rebuild your TVA muscle. But it is also very important to regain strength in your pelvic floor and diaphragm, which work in conjunction with your ab muscles. Remember to breathe and engage your pelvic floor when doing these exercises.