Our gifted friend and healer, Ash from Soul House, shared her take on hydration with us this week  …..

Our body’s are made up of around 75-78% water, a similar percentage to the planet (this fact blows my mind every time I think about it), yet we tend to consume more food than we drink water.

At the end of last year I observed how much water I consumed and found that it was very little. I either drank it to wash my food down or it was accompanied with something else like tea. I noticed that my brain began to confuse my body’s signal that I was thirsty, with hunger. So instead of reaching for a glass of water, I would reach for food. This troubled me because the imbalance in consumption of food to water is one of the many factors that leads to the physical dis-eases that exist amongst humanity – obesity, fatigue, headaches, muscle strain, mobility problems, etc. So what did I do? I simply changed my behaviour, and you can too.

I now smash back 1 litre of water when I wake up in the morning, and at least half an hour before lunch and dinner. I also drink a litre of water in the evening well before I go to sleep at night. That’s 4 litres of water on average per day.

This behaviour change wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be either. I started to notice that I was actually extremely thirsty and could differentiate between my body’s signals for water as opposed to food.

Funnily enough, my consumption of food and water now matches the percentage of water my body is made up of – so my daily consumption is around roughly 70% water and 30% food give or take. My eating is a lot lighter (I crave salads because they’re light) and I only eat when I am actually hungry. I even refused a meal and dessert on my plane ride back to Sydney over the Xmas break because I wasn’t hungry. Instead, I asked for more water.

My skin did breakout to begin with but it is starting to return to it’s normal self again – clean and clear. Although I wasn’t thrilled about it, it just showed how much rubbish and toxins were stored in my skin and my system.

After 2-3 months I am feeling really awesome and noticing what I need less off, not just food but other things in my life because of the change in my relationship with water.

So what’s your relationship with water like and what changes can you make to better incorporate it into your life?

Arohanui whanau X