Photo Courtesy of Jeff Schans

A few years ago I recall being out for a bike ride on an early fall day.

The temperature was perfect, not too hot nor too cold.  I soaked in the beauty of the red, brown, and gold foliage as I pedaled the rural Central Pennsylvania roads near my home.

I was about seven miles from home on a downhill run when I heard a “ping” and a few moments later, as if the first “ping” did not catch my attention, the sound of an encore “ping” chimed in.

It was the sound most cyclists do not want to hear while out on the road – the sound of a popped spoke which resulted in a wobbly back wheel and the hassle of making it home safely.

There are times in one’s life where the moment arrives to get down to the nitty-gritty – time to pay attention to the spokes on the wheel and make sure they are in alignment so the proverbial bicycle does not wobble.

Let me ask you a question.

Would you rather a smoother ride or do you prefer an obstacle laden path – especially if the latter could be avoided by paying attention to certain matters within your control?  

I would rather take measures to enjoy the adventure.

This is one of those times in my life where I am being asked to “pay attention” .

According to the Song of Songs it states,  “Look, the winter is past and the rains are over and gone.”

I am all for the winter is outta here part.  My hunch is you might feel the same!

I am not normally sedentary during the winter as I attend Spinning classes and when not in an organized session, I do it on my own as a means to stay in shape for outdoor cycling.

However, since I decided to do an imitation of a hockey goalie making a split save on the ice while attending to a matter at work, I have been on the Injured Reserve list for the past six weeks.

Strained muscle in the upper leg regions.  I’ll leave it to your imagination to diagnose the location of my precise issue.

Not good.  Activity down, pounds up.  You get the picture. Uggh!

Hollywood producers called the other day to offer me the lead part in another sequel of a Shamu movie.

I declined!

In an effort to row in the same boat and not sabotage each other, Jackie and I decided to take some steps to seriously look at several of the spokes on our wheels.

First up, the nutrition spoke.

Not only has the lack of exercise been a contributing factor to some weight gain for me, so has compromising in the nutrition department.  Bad habits need to be dealt with and have to go.  Change is in on the menu.

It’s been said that “doing the same thing over and over expecting the same result” is a definition of insanity.

We decided to avoid insanity and to do something different – take another route in tandem.

We are working with holistic health coach – one who focuses not only on the physical issues, but the soul and spirit as well.  Again, one spoke affecting the others.

Through several of my online circles I came in contact with a wonderful woman, Ann Musico, of Three Dimensional Vitality.  She quickly is becoming a friend of ours and is a delight with which to work and has clients in many part of the country.

I would highly encourage you to check out her website (click on her name above) if there is a need in your life along these lines.  She provides a wealth of information and resources and does so in a sincere spirit of serving her client’s needs.

Although Ann’s focus has her working primarily with women, she also works with men and couples as the shoe fits.

Enter Bruce and Jackie -Stage Right.

All good plans have as their cornerstone a primary building block.  One of Ann’s first questions to us was:

“What are you doing to hydrate or in other words, are you consuming ample water for your weight?”

In her book, Today’s the Day, 2^nd Edition, (also available on Kindle) Ann states:

Begin today to gradually increase your water intake so you are drinking one-half your body

weight in ounces daily and using ¼ teaspoon of unprocessed sea salt, Himalayan crystal

salt or Pink salt per 32oz. daily. Begin to increase water intake gradually—adding 8-16 oz.

per day until you reach the amount you need to be drinking daily. This is very important—

proper hydration makes a huge difference in whether you will lose weight or not and I factor

it into your daily meal plans. If you do not drink adequate water in order to see your weight

drop as some who use drastic weight loss methods do—you risk dehydration and serious

health issues. Also, you are not losing FAT, which is the goal, but simply losing water and in

the process damaging muscle and tissue. This is of critical importance.

The thoughts begin to swirl in my brain.

• Yo Ann, say what?
• You have got to be kidding me, right?
•  Did I hear you correctly?
•  You are recommending I drink one-half my body weight in ounces.
•  That’s a tad over one gallon of water per day in my case.
• Please,  someone point me to the nearest potty I already have to pee!
•  Holy cow!
• Why don’t you ask me to drink an ocean?

If I were back in my basketball playing days, my thoughts would take this path:

• We asked her to help.
• She’s the expert, the coach.
• It might be wise to heed her advice and recommendations.
• Follow the game plan and drink the water.
• Sounds simple enough.

Any nutritional information that is credible will tell you the same thing – one of the basic keys to good health is to consume adequate amounts of water.

Ann explains in great detail the reasons for doing so.

By way of personal testimony, I have consumed a little over one gallon of water for the past several days.  I can honestly tell you there is a noticeable difference I am experiencing.  I am:

• Less mentally foggy.
• More mentally alert -even with the lack of exercise due to injury.
• My appetite has been curbed.
• I sense my mood has been elevated.
• I feel on top of things.

Aside from the wish to have a line connection to the restroom and getting used to going “potty” more frequently, I am adjusting quite well to the new health habit I am adopting.

However, I am a “numbers guy” and needed something to help me make the daily expedition down H2O Boulevard.

“I wonder if there is an IPhone app that could help me out”, sounded the bell in my head.

Sure enough, I found one and it has helped me focus on the task at hand to consume enough water to meet my daily goal.

The app is called Waterlogged and is available on the IPhone App Store.  It is free of charge with premium options offered.

• It is easy to use and setup.
• It’s customizable.
• It requires literally seconds to record water consumption information.
• It’s pretty cool and integrates with Fitbit, for those of you inclined to “techy”.

As we continue our journey toward adopting better health habits, paying attention to proper hydration is certainly a solid foundation in our plan.

You may not be working with a health coach and the issue might not be front and center in your thoughts.

However, proper hydration is most likely a solid choice if you want to experience less aches and pains, decreased inflammation, and overall better health.

Why not challenge yourself to increase your water intake.  Your boss with be OK with more “potty” time in your daily regimen.

Are you willing to take the challenge? 

If you are I would invite you to say so in the COMMENTS and state your goal. 

Need an incentive?

For those taking part in this challenge, your name will be entered into a drawing (1 lucky winner) for a brand new water bottle to help you in your quest for better health.

In order to qualify you need to do so by way of using the COMMENT button at the top or bottom of this post so others can join you, hear what you have to stay, and perhaps encourage you.

If this post has been helpful to you consider sharing it with someone who might benefit from the information.  You can do so by using the Facebook share or Twitter tweet buttons at the top or the bottom of the post.

Ready-Set-Gulp-Gulp-Gulp!