P90X Tony Horton Quote, “Drink Your Water People”.

By Jeff Ochoa April 20, 2010 Nutrition, P90X 3 Comments

Tony Horton said in best in one of the P90X workouts, “Drink your water people”. I think this is a classic P90X Tony Horton quote that might be often overlooked. Are you getting enough water? How do you know? Every second of every minute of every day our body is experiencing chemical reactions where water is the common ingredient. if your not getting enough then it is going to have an impact on these processes.

Water makes up 60% to 70% of your body so how much do you need in a given day? Well, without getting into a mathematical calculation of how much fluids go how vs. how many come in, let’s just try and keep it simple for arguments sake. Some people say to drink 8- 8oz glasses of water a day and you should be ok. Others say drink half your body weight in ounces of water per day. Another good thing to look at is your urine. You want your urine to be colorless to slightly yellow. If you fall into this category then you are most likely properly hydrated.

A couple of things you need to take into consideration that could affect your water intake are:

Exercise– If you exercise you are going to need more water. If you exercise intensely then you are going to need even more water. It is a good idea to try and replace some of the fluids lost while you are working out and to continue hydrating even when you are finished working out.

Where You Live– Someone such as myself that lives in Michigan is going to need less water than someone who lives in Arizona where it is hot all the time. Also, if you live in higher altitudes you make be urinating more and breathing harder which will cause you to need more water.

Health Conditions- Are you vomiting? Have a fever? Got diarrhea? UTI? In all of these cases you are going to need more water. Gatorade or Pedialite might even be better but if you are sick consult with your doctor to see what will work best for you. The last thing you want is to end up in the hospital with an I.V because you were dehydrated.

Pregnant/Breast Feeding– If this is you then you are going to need more fluids. Especially if you are breastfeeding. If you are exercising, trying to lose that baby weight and breastfeeding then you are really going to need to watch your fluid intake. (Just something to think about)

Also remember that you get about 20% of your fluids from food. Watermelon and tomatoes are about 90% water but it is always a good idea to keep some water close at hand. Milk and juice are mostly water as well. There is also coffee, tea, beer, wine etc but you should stick to the water since it has no calories and it is pretty cheap.

Don’t wait until you are thirsty to get you water. By then you are most likely already a bit dehydrated. Drink your water before meals, during meals and after meals. Make it a habit. Make staying hydrated a priority in your life and your body will thank you.

If you are doing P90X and want some simple sheets to keep track of everything you eat including your water then just download the P90X meal tracker sheets. These make eating easy while doing P90X. Eat it then check it off the list.