Tips on how to stay hydrated

Welcome to another exciting post from Barbells and Boy shorts. On today’s post we’ll be talking about my favorite Apps, how to stay hydrated and people who can’t keep their thoughts to themselves!

(enter theme music here)

So, what theme music did you think of? Mine was very instrumental and almost reminded me of the intro music for Love Connection. Everyone knows about Love Connection, right? The TV dating show? If not, then I’m old and you need to You Tube that ‘ish because it was the best dating show ever!

Let’s talk Apps, shall we? There are sooooooooo many Apps out there It’s overwhelming to say the least. Again, showing my age, remember when your cell phone screen was that weird grey/green color and the phone was only good for texting and calling? Oh! And to text you had to hit the key however many times to get to the letter you needed? What a P.I.T.A. Man technology has skyrocketed. I mean think about it, that was only a few years ago, now we can have a full conversation with our phones. If you ask Siri nicely she’ll even sing to you. But, back to Apps, we have those now and they are great! So many of them help keep us organized, informed and entertained. I wanted to share with you all a few Apps that I particularly LOVE so in case you aren’t familiar with them you can check them out. A little disclaimer, I NEVER pay for Apps so these are all free. If it’s free it’s for me….a mantra to live by.

iHeart Radio-This one is a MUST for me. I have a good size library of music on my phone but when you’re in the gym everyday those songs get old fast! With iHeart Radio I can create play lists, listen to radio stations around the country, listen to playbacks of morning shows I like or my favorite the 24 Hour Cardio Mix. Aww yeah! And right now I’m addicted to the iHeart 90s station, its rad!

My Fitness Pal- This App allows you to track the food you eat each day. There is a ginormous list of foods you can choose from or you can enter your own information. It adds up the calories for you and provides you a pie graph with a breakdown of your macros. This app is great to help you choose the number of calories you should consume daily based on your goal.  It also helps you see what you need to eat more or less of and gives you a place to track your weight. It really helps me stay on track……when I use it….I’ve been slacking.

Body Space- by BodyBuilding.com. This App is your one stop shop for work out routines, supplements, social media, it’s all in this App. Up until recently when I started using a training guide from my girl crush, my American Idol, Dana Linn Bailey, I used this app EVERYDAY. I would pick a fitness regimen and follow it for however many weeks it ran for then choose a new one and do the same. It keeps your workouts fresh. If you participate in the forum you can speak to others through the App that are trying to achieve similar goals and can give you ideas on how to succeed. You can even purchase any supplements you use right from the App.

Digit- This App is pretty new. Digit is an App that helps you save money. I’m horrible at saving, not because I don’t want to or don’t know how. I have lived paycheck to paycheck for so long I don’t ever have money to save. With Digit, it takes money out of my checking every couple of days and saves it for me. It does so in small increments so I don’t even feel it leave my pocket. I have had the App since November 2016 and have already saved $300. That doesn’t seem like a lot but that’s way more than I had.

Do you use any of these? Which one is your favorite? If you use Body Space hit me up on there! We can be workout buddies!

Ok so lets get to the real topic....hydration. If you’re a gym rat like me then you know how important hydration is. I drink water constantly during the day. When the water bottle is empty I fill it right back up. But what if you just don’t like water? What if water is just plain and gross to you? I’ve been there. Heck, I still have times when I am so over water. It’s boring, let’s be honest. Juice or soda (if you’re from the mid-west, Pop) are way more appetizing. But, it is what it is, your body needs water. Being well hydrated provides your body with the resource it needs to maintain your body temperature, remove waste and lubricate your joints to name a few. If you really can’t stomach plain water try adding slices of lemon, orange or cucumber. These items are natural and will add some flavor. Also, try sparkling water. Just make sure you read the labels. Some contain sodium which you do not need excess of. When I’m at home I drink sparkling water because I’m over plain water by the end of the day. Try to avoid using drink mixes. I used to be addicted to Crystal Light. That was my jam! I would drink it by the pitcher full. I truly should have bought stock in the company. Finally, the hubs and I decided no more crystal light. It was an effort to move away from artificial sweeteners. He still says we probably have the crystal light version of the black lung after inhaling the powder while mixing it in our water. YUCK! Some additional tips for staying hydrated for you:

Always keep water with you- whether you refill a water bottle, have an adorable reusable water bottle, use a camel pack, keep it with you. When its empty, fill ‘er up!

Set a water schedule- pick times throughout the day to purposely drink water and drink it!

Log it- If you use My Fitness Pal App it has an area to log your water for the day. Logging it will help you stay on track and encourage you to reach your goal for the day.

Man, I’m thirsty just writing all of that.

And don’t get discouraged if people question how much water your drinking. Be proud. You’ll have awesome skin and joints when your 83 and they won’t. so, nah!

Which brings me to final topic. People who can’t keep their thoughts to themselves. SMH. Let me tell you, I am all for people who are out spoken. Heck, I wish I could be more like that. I was raised to have a filter but sometimes I wish I could just be straight forward with people. But, I feel there should be a limit. I mean, when I was heavier I was ridiculed for being fat. If I drank a diet coke I was made fun of for being on a diet. Now that I eat clean whole foods, drink lots of water and exercise regularly I am still criticized. Did I miss something? I thought losing weight and eating well would solve all my problems but they are still there, just in a different form. Why do people feel the need to comment on what I eat? Why do they feel the need to comment on how much water I drink or when and how much I exercise? I don’t question them or make comments every time they shove another donut in their mouth or drink tons of soda or eat all the candy. For example, there is this person at work. This person, I still can’t feel them out. One day I feel like we’re getting along and I’m making head way. The next day this person has some snide remark to throw my way, or tells me to be quiet or purposely mispronounces my last name.  Just the other day we we’re having a nice conversation and then out of nowhere this person stated that I don’t eat. This person says “you never eat. I never see you eat. You work out but you don’t eat.” I think it was more how this person said it that really irritated me. I advised this person that I do eat. In fact, I eat all day. I eat several snacks and a lunch, all of which I bring. They wanted to argue, as if they know what happens at my desk. I’m sorry if you don’t see me bringing in fast food every day, or going out to lunch or eating the snacks in the office. That certainly doesn’t mean I don’t eat and if my exercising offends you well….I dunno. And it’s not just this one person. It happens to me a lot.

To be honest, a lot of the time this makes me feel ashamed. Ashamed for eating the way I do, ashamed for working out like I do, ashamed of the amount of water I drink each day. When people continuously comment it feels the same as when I was heavier. Different words but the same affect. I feel like something is wrong with me. Why can’t I be normal? Why can’t I eat normal? I go from 33 back to 13 in a matter of minutes. If people want to know about my lifestyle or want to pick my brain about exercise, meal planning, weight loss, please! Ask away. I want to help others achieve their goals. My dream is to help others meet their physical and nutrition goals. I would love to do that full time even, but if you just want to criticize and scrunch your face at how I live my life well you better shut your mouth when you’re talking to me. I don’t have time for your negative energy.

Growing up my mom always tried to make me feel better by saying things like, “they pick on you because they are jealous.” “They pick on you because they are unhappy with themselves.” “They pick on you because misery loves company.” While all of that may be true, if you are so miserable, jealous or unhappy then make a change in your life. Instead of trying to take a giant dump on mine. Change what makes you feel that way. Only you have the power to improve your quality of life. Being critical of me may feel good for a little while. Seeing my face turn red or tears welling up in my eyes may make you feel less alone for a moment but it won’t change your life, it won’t right any wrongs. Only you can do that by taking the necessary steps to rid your life of whatever is negative and improve upon the positive.

Phew! That was a lot. Can you tell that one has been bothering me? Mini rant, my bad. But do you feel me? Are you picking up what I’m putting down? This happens to other people right? ::Sigh::

So to recap, Apps are cool, drink your water and if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it at all.

Fun Fact: To burn off 200 calories you could chew gum for 18 hours, apply lip balm 1500 times or sing a song 23 times.

Next week is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week.  So, I’ll be posting about that and how it has affected my life. OOOOO Story time!